Dignity Index releases scores for 4th Congressional District debate, campaign ads

SALT LAKE CITY — The Dignity Index released its latest round of scores Friday for Utah's political candidates for federal office.

The index is a pilot program in Utah to rate public messages by candidates running for the U.S. House and Senate. The first scores were released last week, and more ratings will be available every Friday through Election Day on Nov. 8.

Organizers of the index released the following scoring criteria that will be used to examine the words and messages that candidates use:

• 8: Each of us is born with inherent worth, so we treat everyone with dignity — no matter what.
• 7: We fully engage with the other side, discussing even the values and interests we don't share, so we know where they're coming from.
• 6: We always talk to the other side, searching for the values and interests we share.
• 5: The other side has a right to be here and to be heard. It's their country, too.
• 4: We're better than those people. I don't trust them.
• 3: We're the good people and they're the bad people. It's us vs. them.
• 2: Those people are evil and they're going to ruin our country if we let them. It's us or them.
• 1: They're not even human. It's our moral duty to destroy them before they destroy us.

4th Congressional District Debate (Wednesday)

Darlene McDonald

"The good thing about having everyone at the table — and that is having all political parties at the table, having diverse voices at the table — is that you create better policies. And one of the good things that I will say about the Republican Party is being able to provide a check on the Democrats. Let's say if there is a bill that spends a little bit too much, that someone in the Republican Party could say maybe that's a little too high." Score: 5

"It is OK to have difference of opinions about politics. It is not OK to use that as a personal attack against your neighbor. Love thy neighbor; I take that very literal. I take that to mean that we should at least know who our neighbors are and get to know our neighbors and have conversations with them, to be able to even break bread with them. It is good when you can share a good meal with people, even with people that you don't agree with. You can at least come to some common ground, some common consensus. But we don't have that today in our current politics because it's always about getting one up over the other. So we have to do better." Score: 6

"This is going to require representation that's going to work across both — everybody, the partisan line to come to the table to solve this problem. A one-party state cannot solve this problem. A one-party congress cannot solve this problem. We all must work together to solve this." Score: 7

"The reason to not solve this problem is exactly what's happening right now in this election cycle at the southern border, where they use the immigration crisis as a political wedge issue. We are talking about human beings, not a football. These are human beings and cannot be used as your political football. Let's solve this immigration problem by coming to the table, sitting down and actually working this out — because we can." Score: 3

"For him to pull out of this debate tonight citing racism over a statement that he himself made is cowardly. If you think that someone is bullying you and you think that they are racist, then you stand up to them. You come here and you stand up to them. That is what I would have done. That is what I have been doing. I have been standing up. When people call me and they say that their children have been bullied on the school bus, I show up. That is what he should have done: show up and say, 'I did not appreciate that statement.' And then we could have said, 'All we did was just copy your statement.'" Score: 4

January Walker

"Thank you so much for asking that question. When it comes to police brutality and what we can do to protect citizens, it's actually adjusting our approach. When we look at our police population, we expect them to go through incredibly difficult jobs and face danger every single day. And that has created a population — and this is through information that they have given me directly — this has created a population that has high levels of stress, high levels of fear, and they don't know if the next interaction will be their last. And so this means that we have to start prioritizing the mental health of our police officers." Score: 5

"One of the questions that we would go out into the public and ask people is: "What is your shade of purple?" And the requirement was is that you would share with us what your political party affiliation was, and then you would tell us one thing that you liked about the opposing party. So I really appreciate this. Since I am in the middle, I am going to say one thing quickly about each. When it comes to the Democrats, I actually truly appreciate that they take the social front and put in the effort to make sure that everybody is felt like they're heard and included. And when it comes to the Republican front, I really appreciate that they champion fiscal responsibility." Score: 6

"When we look at the elections and the people's concerns that they expressed, instead of going through and trying to find solutions in which we could bridge the divide, instead we told them to sit down and to be quiet and accept that the election results were real without offering real viable solutions for the future. And as part of my campaigning, when I first started it, is I went through and I talked to the people that were election deniers. And I asked them what would it take for you to have full confidence in the United States elections once again." Score: 6

"There is a divide. But the question begs: What is causing that current divide? And as a candidate, one of the things that became very apparent over time is that the people that are currently elected in office have absolutely no incentive to fix the problems that are in our nation today. They actually profiteer off of it. And when we look at the major political parties, they feed off of each other like parasites. And when it comes to taking a look at who we have on the ballot, it doesn't matter in this day and age if you choose to vote for a Democratic or a Republican anymore because the result and the solutions that come from them will be the exact same that we've seen for decades now." Score: 3

"Representative Owens has displayed cowardice. I think that most people here would agree with that. And the reason is that his choosing not to show up to this debate has absolutely nothing to do with the cartoon and everything to do with not being able to speak clearly and concisely. He has been in controlled environments for two years now without the ability to speak freely. If you take him out of those scenarios, he does not have the ability to speak coherently. He has openly admitted to having CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy), or suspecting to have CTE, which that's his prerogative to share. But ultimately, what it comes down to is what exactly is the difference from the Republican standpoint of saying, 'Hey, Biden is 79 years old. He's no longer there in full mental capacity.' So what is the point of making that claim when you yourself are a 71-year-old man? There is little to no difference between those two." Score: 4

Burgess Owens — Video release, Oct. 12

"I will not in good conscience have anything to do with the racist Salt Lake Tribune, and will therefore not participate in this debate. I expect bias from such a liberal outlet, but racism is where I draw the line. I will also not be bullied into participating in a forum of unabashed bigots." Score: 3

"Darlene, while we may disagree politically, I have nothing but respect for you. The constituents of District Four deserve not only to hear our voices but also to have them discussed in our district. I've held numerous town hall meetings across our district and would love for you to join me and share political views in person and directly with the voters of our district. We have allotted time on both Oct. 22 and Oct. 29 to make this happen. Our teams can work out the details, but I hope we could share a stage together over the closing weeks of this campaign." Score: 6

Third-party campaign ads

Club For Growth

Crypto Freedom Pac Mailer

"'Racist,' 'Un-American,' 'Bigot,' That's what Evan McMullin said about you … your neighbors … your family. Evan McMullin is just another Twitter-trolling hyper-partisan political bully trying to divide us." Score: 3

Club for Growth "Parasites" — Oct. 7

Narrator: "Evan McMullin believes the Republican Party is rife with racism. That's the problem, he said simply, the problem with people in its ranks. When Democrats say the GOP is racist, McMullin claimed, they're actually right. Raging against the party on Twitter, he said, racist parasites have sucked the patriotism from its body. And McMullin wrote, the Republican Party is un-American. Evan McMullin is unhinged and unfit to represent Utahns." Score: 3

Club for Growth "Charlatan" — Sept. 28

Actor 1: "What Evan McMullin says, that doesn't feel kind, he's derogatory to a huge group of people."

Actor 2: "To me, Evan McMullin is a charlatan. He's trying to play that middle and be independent."

Actor 3: "He's pro-Utah and pro-this and, you know, pro-this. But then you see this other part and you're like, 'oh wait.'"

Actor 2: "And he's like, 'You're not smart enough to remember what I said.' He's just an opportunist." Score: 3

Club for Growth "Small Business" — Sept. 19

Actor: "I know what it would do to my business if I didn't get paid. I think if people knew that Evan McMullin had stiffed people that tried to help him. $600,000, just think about what these people are going through, and I don't think he thinks about 'em at all. He got what he needed and he's moved on. It's not right. What's sad about it is that people in Utah are good people. I think Utah means a payday for Evan McMullin. That's the trademark of a conman. Once you've been burned, it's hard to go back." Score: 3

Club for Growth "Scam" — Sept. 7

Narrator: "After a foolish vanity campaign for president, Evan McMullin's under a mountain of debt. On the hook for 600 grand, owed to the workers and contractors he stiffed six years ago. So Evan McMullin moved here from D.C., opened a bank account, and started shaking down hard-working Utahns for campaign donations. The desperate schemes of dead-beat politicians. Evan McMullin, so craven he's not who he says." Score: 4

Club for Growth via Twitter

Narrator: "What does Evan McMullin believe? It depends on who's paying him. McMullin took half a million dollars in tax-payer-funded salary working for Republicans in Washington. But the grass is greener on the left, so the next year, McMullin started a liberal nonprofit that paid his own company 600 grand to push a left-wing agenda. McMullin's agenda is profit, not principal, and certainly not Utah." Score: 4

Put Utah First

Put Utah First Website

DO SOMETHING

INACTION

Senator Orrin Hatch passed 192 bills into law in his career as a U.S. senator. Since he was elected in 2011, Sen. Mike Lee has passed …. 10; Three of them re-named public buildings. Score: 4

Put Utah First Website

When leaders care more about playing politics in Washington, whether they are Republican or Democrat, than they care about representing Utahns, we suffer the consequences. We need leaders who will stop sucking up to party leaders, stop playing D.C. games, and docs on one simple thing: putting Utah first. Score: 3

Put Utah First — Aug. 11

Narrator: "Evan McMullin. The independent courage to put Utah first."

McMullin: "Unlike Mike Lee, I won't be a puppet for Trump, or Biden, or either party."

Narrator: "Evan McMullin, Senate. Put Utah First Pac is responsible for the content of this advertising." Score: 4

Put Utah First — Aug. 11

Narrator: "Let's stop the Washington games."

Evan McMullin: "Both parties cater to the extremes and are corrupted by big money."

Narrator: "McMullin's plan: Unite America. Put our fiscal house in order. Tackle inflation now." Score: 4

Put Utah First — Aug. 11

Narrator: "Evan McMullin has always put everything on the line in order to protect America. A CIA officer fighting terrorists. Republican national security advisor. Strong Utah values. Evan McMullin, independent courage." Score: 5

Put Utah First — Oct. 9

Narrator: "After 12 years in Washington, whose side is Mike Lee on? When veterans exposed to toxic chemicals like agent orange needed funding for VA benefits, Mike Lee said no. When 9/11 first responders needed healthcare funding, Mike Lee was one of only two senators who said no. And Mike Lee was the only senator in America who said no to new legislation to fight opioids and fentanyl. Mike Lee. It's time to say no to him." Score: 4

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