Utahns, how excited are you about Mitt Romney

[SpiffCoug]

Here ya go, a chance to invest in your eduction. A good basic economic read, by Thomas Sowell.
Basic Economics, hardcover, new, $27. You can finis it used for around $5. Both new and used available on Amazon.

Excellent book.

[nuk13]

Traveling through the back country of Idaho I was able to get KSL. I don't remember who it was or the show, but it was reported that a European country, Sweden I think, had increased the revenue from their tobacco taxes by lowering the tax. Reducing the taxes turned people from buying from the black market back to buying from businesses and therefor paying taxes.

[BoiseBYU]

Traveling through the back country of Idaho I was able to get KSL. I don't remember who it was or the show, but it was reported that a European country, Sweden I think, had increased the revenue from their tobacco taxes by lowering the tax. Reducing the taxes turned people from buying from the black market back to buying from businesses and therefor paying taxes.

I have read studies that where the marginal tax rate, whether it be income or a commodity like tobacco, is high enough, lowering that rate will bring some revenue back into the fold--buyers will stop using the black market or rich people will shy away from shady tax havens etc. The margin has to be fairly high, but it can happen as was the case in Sweeden.

[BlueK]

Someone like Romney is exactly what the country needs right now in the Senate.

[BroncoBot]

Alright. We have a contender.
Larry Meyers from St. George.
Good luck to him, from what I've seen on his twitter account, I'd vote for him over romney in a heartbeat.

[Ddawg]

It will be interesting to see if Mr. Meyers can make it a horse race. I suspect not. Just based on the overwhelming name recognition Mitt Romney enjoys, and the war chest difference. It will be interested in seeing the angle of attack ads Mr. Meyers uses.

[Ddawg]

Found it. Here ya go - basically 100 days to go.

"Help Larry Beat Massachusetts Mitt–DONATE NOW"
"Don’t Restock the DC Swamp!"

https://meyersforsenate.com

[snoscythe]

Found it. Here ya go - basically 100 days to go.

"Help Larry Beat Massachusetts Mitt–DONATE NOW"
"Don’t Restock the DC Swamp!"

https://meyersforsenate.com

Here's the problem with any challenger to Mitt--they've got 44 days to the nominating convention to build a brand and secure a win there from the caucus delegate.

However, that's not enough--Mitt is also gathering signatures to ensure a primary even if he loses at convention, so a challenger can't just defeat Mitt at the convention and expect to win the primary as well--the primary is open to all registered voters, and name recognition has much MUCH greater impact in a statewide primary than a nominating convention with the die-hards. A challenger has to drub Mitt at convention so soundly that Mitt is forced to withdraw from the primary with his tail between his legs, and that's a very high hurdle.

A guy I didn't know existed until yesterday just has too much ground to make up. It'll take a real ringer to cross that threshold.

[Ddawg]

A guy I didn't know existed until yesterday just has too much ground to make up.

Whaaaaaaaa? No way.

I suspect Mr. Larry Meyer just has an itch he wants to scratch. It's a pretty tall order to upset Mitt Romney in Utah. Not going to happen. Let's be honest. Not even Hillary and her vaunted organization and massive war chest could upset Mitt Romney in Utah in a political race in Utah.

I hope Mr. Meyers enjoys the ride. It will be short and hopefully sweet for him. One of life's experiences he can tell stories about.

[snoscythe]

A guy I didn't know existed until yesterday just has too much ground to make up.

Whaaaaaaaa? No way.

I suspect Mr. Larry Meyer just has an itch he wants to scratch. It's a pretty tall order to upset Mitt Romney in Utah. Not going to happen. Let's be honest. Not even Hillary and her vaunted organization and massive war chest could upset Mitt Romney in Utah in a political race in Utah.

I hope Mr. Meyers enjoys the ride. It will be short and hopefully sweet for him. One of life's experiences he can tell stories about.

To be fair, Utah does have a history of darkhorse candidates unseating or coming close to unseating powerful and popular incumbents.

- Mike Lee took out Bob Bennet in 2010.
- Dan Liljenquist came within 50 votes of topping Orrin Hatch at the 2012 convention (but it was close enough to force a pimary and Liljenquist lost 64%-33% in the primary, illustration how much "safer" your primary voters are than convention delegates)
- Jonathan Johnson (who should have thrown his hat in the ring this year for Hatch's seat, but has waited too long) beat sitting Governor Gary Herbert at convention in 2016 by 11 points, but Herbert was the first to use the new alternate path to the primary, gathered signatures, and beat Johnson 73%-26% with primary voters.

It used to be plausible for upstarts to upstage the establishment in Utah, but with the new alternate path to a statewide primary (supported by out-of-state establishment dollars), it's now a herculean task to unseat an incumbent, name-recognition, or well-funded establishment candidate.