Utahns, how excited are you about Mitt Romney

[BroncoBot]

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.

What in the world is the purpose of this "alternative path"? That sounds like politics at its worst. Talk about needing term limits.

[BlueK]

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.

What in the world is the purpose of this "alternative path"? That sounds like politics at its worst. Talk about needing term limits.

the alternative to the traditional path is to petition directly to be on the primary ballot so all registered Republicans have a voice instead of only the hardcore wonks chosen to go to the convention. FWIW, a few years ago (I think 2012) the church strongly encouraged the members in Utah to attend their neighborhood meetings so the convention would be less likely controlled by the extremes.

[hawkwing]

I signed the petition to get Mitt Romney on the ballot. I appreciate the fact that I can have a say on who shows up on the ballot and who I can vote for without having to be a part of the Caucus system.