Gayle and Ruzicka. Two words that make everyone concerned with politics in Utah cringe. Liberals despise her. Moderates wonder why she has so much power. Conservatives wish she’d chill out a little bit. And ultra-conservatives fear her power.
This power is derived from her well known phone tree (that which I call the “Phone Tree ‘O Terror), which she can activate in minutes and inundate any given legislator’s office with phone calls and emails from citizens demanding they vote a particular way on a particular bill. In this fashion she can also mobilize her minions to pack caucus meetings and ensure that the ultra-conservatives control the majority of the delegates to the Utah Republican Convention. (Up until this year at least, when moderates made it out to the caucuses en masse and leveled the playing field a little). Since in most parts of this state a frothing-at-the-mouth teabagger Republican will be elected over even a moderate Democrat, this basically stacks the legislature in thier favor.
This is how a 69 year old mother of 12 becomes a major political power in the State of Utah.
