SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Gov. Spencer Cox is not running for president. Or at least that's how he opens his new book, Off Ramp: How to Be a Peacemaker in an Age of Contempt. Put aside, for a moment, how that went over with Cox's publisher. And whether he'd keep that pledge if he eventually has a more obvious political home than he does in today's MAGA-fied Republican Party. Cox's book is worth reading for anyone who loves politics but hates what it has become. It's also for anyone who hates themselves every time they reach for their phone like it's a pack of Marlboro Lights. The Utahn amasses a Wasatch Mountain-sized body of evidence, dutifully sourced, about why our democracy is turning rancid. Cox also offers some suggestions about how to improve the discourse, and it turns out you, the citizen, carry the burden. He even borrows the old Clintonism that "there's nothing wrong with America that can't be fixed by what's right with America" (consult your trademark attorney, Mayor Emanuel). So if he's not testing material for a future White House bid, what's Cox doing with this book? Well, for starters, his term ends in 2028, and the 51-year-old would be an obvious prospect to join the next administration, whether it's led by a fellow Republican or one of his fellow governors who happens to be a Democrat. But it's also the writing of someone still working through recovery from a Twitter addiction, someone who's done the reading and has something important to say about these times. Yet how candid is he about the role President Donald Trump plays in our corroding politics? Not enough, by my lights, which is why I asked him about how much he spares Trump in a book that, in another section, emphasizes how vital elite signaling is to improving public dialogue. Over chips, salsa and superb mole at the Red Iguana 2 in Salt Lake, we discussed his effort to forge a relationship with Trump, who Cox didn't vote for in the president's first two elections. The governor doesn't deny his political imperative much — he needs Trump's help for local projects like saving the Great Salt Lake. We also talked about perhaps the hottest story in Utah politics (Sen. Mike Lee's current and more cringe Twitter addiction), what Trump told Cox about the prospects for pursuing immigration reform in the… [TheTopNews] Read More.
3 weeks ago
