This past Saturday a group of Utah activists engaged in one of the most powerful activities a citizen could engage in.  They gathered together and picked one of their own to run for political office.  So what, you may say - it's that time of year when this happens.  Well this group of citizens gathered to take on an entrenched incumbent that they feel does not represent them.  Again, nothing new you say - look at what UT3 did 2 years ago.  Agreed and in part this group seems to be taking a page from what the citizens in UT3 did in supporting Jason Chaffetz against Chris Cannon.

What is interesting about what this group did is how they went about getting their candidate.....

It started with a Craigslist ad.

"Progressive congressional representative wanted to represent the people of Utah's 2nd District in the United States House of Representatives," the ad stated. "Must have solid moral values and resistance to selling out to corporate interests."

Two months after the ad was posted, more than 100 Salt Lake residents gathered at the Salt Lake Main Library Saturday morning to hear some of those who responded to the ad. Participants voted for John Weis, a scientist and professor at the University of Utah, to run against Jim Matheson, D-Utah, in the upcoming election.

A Craig's List ad is not usually how political parties (or political activists) go about picking a candidate.  Usually they find someone who has either worked on a campaign or with a politician - not someone who has no political experience at all.  Conventional wisdom says that you need to pick a "name" - someone who can raise the millions of dollars that conventional wisdom says you need to run a successful Congressional Campaign.  However, in this Tea Party era, conventional wisdom has been routinely thrown out the window.

Many in the comments of the DesNews article linked were crowing about the small size of the gathering.  I don't agree with them.  I think that these activists should be commended for getting involved.  I have a friend who works with one of the members of the organizing committee and she has been hearing about this for a couple of weeks now.  Through my friend I have offered tips and encouragement.  Why?  Not because I agree with them but because I want to see more people involved in the process and what better way to get people involved.

What better reason to get involved and get out to caucuses in March!