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Richard Piatt reporting State Sen. Chris Buttars says he now understands why a comment he made triggered such a shock wave in Utah politics. "Yes, I think I do get it, absolutely," he said.
He's hoping a visit yesterday to the Calvary Baptist Church will help heal his relationship with the African-American community. But is Buttars suffering political consequences because of what he said?
This afternoon, we learned that Buttars is no longer the chair of the Senate Judicial Confirmation Committee. But no one is saying if that is because of what's happened with anything recently.
As far as what's happening on Capitol Hill, Buttars says he's ready to move on. But the pressure isn't off yet. He's still getting calls and e-mails from people upset with him for calling a bill he opposed a black baby and a "dark, ugly thing."
But he's hoping that Sunday's apology to the predominantly African-American Calvary Baptist Church congregation will help.
Buttars said, "Rev. Davis talked about if for 10 minutes, and then he said, 'I forgive Senator Buttars, and I'd like to know if everyone here could.' ... Then he said, 'Is there anyone who can't forgive and forget?' and there wasn't a person that raised their hand or said anything."
In his second interview with Eyewitness News in a week, Buttars admitted again that his comment was a mistake. But he says his political enemies don't want it to die. "I've said since I started, 'I guess you won't always agree with me, but you'll know where I stand and why,' and that's worked for me."
Buttars says he doesn't think any of his bills--including a bill, Senate Bill 267, that would affect Salt Lake City's domestic partner registry--will suffer as a result of his comment. His leaders in the Senate back him up.
Senate President John Valentine said, "There is sort of a difficulty with Senator Buttars on that particular bill with the speaker. We're considering as a caucus to have a different sponsor on that particular bill."
Buttars said, "I don't know what the speaker's agenda is, and the statements he's made, that was surprising, and I'm willing to take my name off the bill, but I absolutely believe the bill should pass, and I think it will pass."
In spite of Buttars' desire to move on, the NAACP says it still will look for a candidate to run against him this fall. There are no plans from either side to meet and talk about this further.
