Davis Casts Self as 'Average Utahn' Up Against Ol'Boy Network

Davis is content with these simple moments, content with his house in a quiet neighborhood of Holladay, content with his business a couple of minutes from his house, his brother, his partner for 18 years. It's a life that's regular, steady, predictable.

DAVIS: "I am a husband, a father, have seven wonderful children. I'm a church-going, regular citizen of Utah that loves life and loves Utah."

It could be said Davis is proud to be what he calls the ‘average Utahn.' And if there is such a thing he probably looks it -- average height, average build, short, sandy blonde hair -- nothing really conspicuous in his features either. It's like his campaign brochures read -- "no pretty face, no glossy handouts."

DAVIS: "I felt like somebody had to stand up and speak for the common everyday citizens. I'm not a member of the oligarchy where, you know, I'm anointed to come and stand as governor by a political family. Rather, I am a common citizen who feels very strongly and passionate about certain ideas. So here I am."

In fact, it is Davis' sense of the ordinary that he says drew him into politics. He says he has become disillusioned with government. He says it's back-room dealmaking--with special interests and insiders the only ones who have access. Government, he says, has become a good-ol' boy network, and it bugs him.

DAVIS: "It bugs me, you see, because I don't have a place in government. If it really is the good-ol' boy network, then the doors are closed to me and they're closed to you. They're closed to most of the people of Utah. And that bugs me."

Davis' first real involvement in the political process and his first confrontation with the Republican party elite came in the late 1980s. Davis railed against Gov. Norm Bangerter for raising taxes and became involved in the tax limitation movement.

DAVIS: "I became anxious because it seemed like government was excessive. It seemed that taxes were a passion."

This is likely where Davis first rubbed shoulders with the republican party's right wing. While he's had little or nothing to do with the eagle forum or other conservative groups -- he says he first met Gayle Ruzicka last month and doesn't even know her telephone number -- his political views clearly align with theirs. And, by the time the Republican convention rolled around last month, he was familiar enough to be appealing.

(Sound of jeering at Republican convention)

At the convention, discontented members of the party's right wing booed and jeered Mike Leavitt. The Eagle Forum and other conservatives had galvinized supporters. Davis was one of three challengers. In the end he got 46 percent of the vote, Leavitt 54 percent -- enough to force him into a primary.

DAVIS: "It was a little bit overwhelming to be honest with you. They could feel I was a man of principle. I believe that they were voting in part against the governor. But I feel very solid support that they were voting for Glen Davis."

MAGLEBY: "No, this is not at all about Mr. Davis, this is about Mr. Leavitt and a lot of discontent among the radical right wing of the Republican party."

Brigham Young University political science professor David Magleby says in fact it probably didn't matter who ran against Leavitt. Conservative delegates simply wanted someone else.

MAGLEBY: "And so he's had quite a little ride here, but as the alternative of Leavitt, which is what he really is. He had enough support because of people who feel anybody but Leavitt is the choice this year, that he's going to get to run in a primary and people remember his name for a short time and we'll move on. I think any number of other people, being in the same position, would have done as well or better than Mr. Davis. It's just that he was in the right place in the right time and is the alternative."

But Davis maintains that his plain and simple platform is the reason he appealed to delegates. It's eight pages of his views on everything from education to crime, not heavy on specifics, mostly general statements of principle. There are the typical conservative philosophies. He says he will seek stiffer abortion laws, is opposed to large acres of wilderness designation. He wants to severly limit the government's role in welfare. But he also supports lobbyist reform and doesn't believe taxpayers should be paying for the olympics. It seems his greatest gripe, though, is taxes.

DAVIS: "well, I'm one that believes limited taxation is essential to efficient government."

Davis' stump speech points out that government has grown in Utah 44 percent over the last five year, and the state's budget has nearly doubled in seven.

DAVIS: "with regards to taxation, my position is, is that we should tax the people only enough to accomplish the essential needs of government and leave the money in their hands. You know, it's taxpayer money."

But exactly what does Davis mean by essential needs? He admits he's not entirely sure. This week he announced he could trim 250 million dollars out of the state's budget, but he didn't say just where that money would come from.

DAVIS: "Now Rocky Anderson just cut the city budget 20 percent. Did he go into that campaign announcing where he was going to cut? He didn't and neither am I. I don't know where I'm going to cut but it's just my general core belief that we're in a spending drunk and we can cut."

For the record, Davis is against banning concealed weapons from schools and churches and supported the bill that Leavitt vetoed which would have taught only abstinence in the state's sex education programs. They're views he believes he shares with Utah's mainstream.

MAGLEBY: "That's just bogus."

Again BYU political science professor David Magleby.....

MAGLEBY: "That's laughable, I don't know where these people identify this common man. The common man that you would find in any of the research that has been done in the past decade, would be opposed to concealed weapons in churches and schools, would prefer a moderate position on the wilderness issues, neither of the radical positions. And the positions that many of the legislature have taken, and that Leavitt has had to work around, reflect an extremist position, not the common man position."

Magleby and others don't really give Davis much of a chance in the primary -- Leavitt has more than a million dollars in his war chest and seems to be taking Davis seriously. And even though primaries in Utah usually have a low turnout, Magleby is expecting more mainstream voters to be involved than turned out for the convention, and he doesn't expect lightning to strike twice.

MAGLEBY: "Leavitt has to have a substantial voter activation drive. If that works, as I suspect it will, then I think that Leavitt wins handily."

But Glen Davis says he's 100 percent committed to winning this race. He has only a paltry 60-grand in his campaign coffers -- nearly half of that came from his own pocket. A lot of money for an ordinary man of the middle class.

DAVIS: "I've put in about 28-thousand dollars. That's a lot you know, that's a lot. That's a van. Our van is approaching 100-thousand miles and we need to get another one. That's a lot of money. But when I looked at it as a gift to Utah, it's easier to give, because I love to give and so, if that's giving..."

Davis says, win or lose, he's accomplished what he set out to do -- publish his views and speak to Utah voters about them. Like with most everything else in his life, whatever happens, he'll remain content to either stage the biggest political coup in Utah's history or fade into the background.

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