So, I just refreshed the Guardian and was greeted by this little number that shares that Hatch has (again) declared that he is retiring, however this time it seems to be a bit more substantial than his prior announcement.
“I’ve always been a fighter, I was an amateur boxer in my youth, and I brought that fighting spirit with me to Washington. But every good fighter knows when to hang up the gloves. And for me, that time is soon approaching.”
This was from a video announcement that oddly was not part of the Guardian's article, but was quoted in it nonetheless.
As I put it to my gaming group, Hatch has been Utah's senator for longer than Star Wars has been out (or nearly so).
No one should be allowed to be in any political body for that long, because power corrupts, and while Hatch may have started out meaning well (he did create C.H.I.P. after all)...he doesn't anymore (he let C.H.I.P. lapse in what seems to be an equivalent of a hostage situation with the legislation).
Yes, however at this point, as also cited in the article, three out of four Utahns want Hatch to be done. It's actually been like that for a bit now, but the polling has been pretty consistent with this result, whereas before it hasn't. So it's very possible with the "tax cuts" done and these abysmal poll numbers, Hatch realises he needs to let another Republican step in or stand to have an Alabama happen - which is too embarrassing.
In my opinion, not really.
I would much rather see a progressive stun the nation (and probably the world) and win Utah for a change. It's not like there haven't been Democrats in power in Utah before - there just haven't really been much in the way of Democratic or progressive Senators coming out of the state. I don't think even the chaotic state of affairs that was 2016 and 2017 will change that unless someone absolutely phenomenal ran for the left.
Romney, on the other hand, is not a Trump Yes-Man. Utah isn't precisely a Trump Yes-State either. He could very easily get away with getting elected as the Republican there, and standing up as a more traditional Republican, being critical of Trump and not exactly having to worry about his home base being mutinous over him standing up to Trump when Trump got too far away from Republican values. While that's not exactly a win for Democrats and progressives, having someone who doesn't just automatically go with everything Trump says would be beneficial.
There's no announcement at this point from Romney's camp. There can safely not be until March, though I suspect that he'd file and start campaigning well before then, because he may not be the only person to take a swing at the ballot.
What no one seems to be considering is Evan McMullin.
McMullin ran for president in 2016, finishing 5th in the nation, but taking 3rd in Utah. It may be a good strategy to take in the Senate rather than going after the Presidency again; really, the primary reason he ever was in the 2016 election was because there was a feeling of there being "no Conservative option".
He has stated he's considering running for office again, though it was earlier when another Utah senator stepped down; however, the answer addressed both Jason Chaffetz and Hatch, so I don't get why people aren't saying a word about McMullin or, at the very least, the organisation he and his running mate had started.
"It is likely that I will seek public office again. That might be in 2018 or it might be sometime down the road, perhaps very far down the road. I genuinely just don't know yet. I'm very focused on things that I think need to be done ASAP and Mindy Finn and I, with our team at Stand Up Republic, advancing them now. It is possible that I will challenge Chaffetz or Senator Hatch, but there are a lot of factors that go into that decision."
I don't have many opinions formed on McMullin yet, aside from the fact that it did take some major balls to come into the race that late and try to go up against Trump with such short notice, with so few states having him on the actual ballot. Just reading over his stances, there's a lot of things we disagree on, but things we agree on; from a cold reading, I get the feeling he could be more of an individual that works on solutions than riding a party line, but that's a cold reading.
Based on a cold reading, I'd rather have McMullin than anyone else I've seen come from Utah's Republicans the past few years to a decade.
Utah needs to hold Orrin Hatch to his word this time. If the old dinosaur tries to go back on his statement this time, elect someone else.
Anyone else.
