quote:

The idea that the state will be blue in 10 years is just wild, hair-on-fire, the sky is falling alarmism.

Okay...twenty years then.

Like it or not, Utah is one of the fastest growing states in the nation. This is both in numbers and in economics, with almost all of that growth centered along the Wasatch Front.

Most of that growth is people coming for jobs, and an awful lot of them are liberals, drawn to Utah's outdoors, thriving economy and the large number of .GOV jobs. But there's a lot scammers who make a living gaming the system for free shit in that mix too. More than you might think or most people realize.

Utah still has a robust and generous welfare system and it's like drawing flies to shit right now.

Then there's the refugees; the Somalis and Burundians. These are not insignificant numbers, and while the original refugees can't vote their two, three, four or more offspring can, and will be in another five to ten years. And they will all vote for the free shit party because that's all they know.

Don't forget the Mexicans and other illegals. Per Capita Utah has one of the larger populations. Again, the illegals can't vote but their kids can, and are. Second and third generation families at this point.

quote:

It was more of an indication of Trump's general unpopularity among Utahns, along with the strong third party candidacy of Evan McMullin. Of the 21% of the votes that went to McMullin, I doubt he was pulling many votes from Hillary.

Bernie was damn popular in Utah. A very significant number of voters who would have voted for Bernie did not turn out to vote, for Hillary, or anybody else. They just stayed home.

Had Bernie gotten the Dem nomination, Trump's victory in Utah (and he would have won Utah in 2016) would likely have been much more narrow. Throw all of those same factors into a race ten years from now-A popular Dem candidate (like Bernie), a spoiler GOPe/Libertarian candidate (like Mullins) and a Republican win is not guaranteed. Not by a long shot.

quote:

Both of those counties voted decidedly for Mike Lee in 2010 and 2016.

And I doubt he would win as a new candidate today. Not against a GOPe candidate anyways. As to winning in 2016, yes it was a comfortable margin, but the incumbent will always have an advantage. The Devil you know and all that. (Hill AFB and other large .Gov agencies, NSA USFS, adds a dynamic to incumbent advantage as well but getting into that would be a whole 'nother discussion)

So maybe Utah doesn't go blue in ten years. Maybe it's twenty. Or thirty. California was a staunch red state up until 1988. That was only thirty years ago. Now it's blue. It turned blue, in large part because it's economy was so good, it was promoted as an "outdoors" state, and at the time had a robust and generous welfare system.

Finally look at the numbers of those under thirty that voted and who they voted for. They did not vote for Trump in overwhelming numbers. In ten years their kids, as well as those now fortysomethings will be voting blue, with a bit of Libertarian thrown in.

That's not being an alarmist, that's being realistic. Where do you suppose the majority of people moving into Utah are coming from? Idaho? Kansas? Kentucky? They're coming from California and they're doing their best to change the landscape.

I voted for Romney as Zippy The Wonder Putz was a non-option. But now that Romney has firmly established himself as an asshat never-Trumper establishment tool, the prospects of him in the Senate as Mclame fades away are utterly repulsive.

My hope is the Utah repubs will have more sense than to send Romney to DC.

MALKIN: An Unfond Farewell To Un-Statesman Orrin Hatch

Michelle Malkin

The longest-serving Republican senator in U.S. history announced this week that he will finally, finally, finally, finally, finally, finally, finally retire.

That's seven "finallys" -- one for each of the consecutive six-year terms Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, served. He begin his occupancy in 1976, when all phones were dumb, the 5.25-inch floppy disk was cutting-edge, the very first Apple computer went on sale for $666.66, the Concorde was flying high, O.J. Simpson was a hero, Blake Shelton was a newborn, the first MRI was still a blueprint, and I was a gap-toothed first-grader wearing corduroy bell-bottoms crushing on Davy Jones.

This encrusted longevity will be marketed by Hatch, 83, and his supporters as proof of his "statesmanship." Indeed, The Atlantic magazine described him this week as "an elder-statesman figure in the GOP." Newsweek likewise reported on the farewell announcement of the "elder statesman." And Hatch's own press minions have disseminated press releases quoting other entrenched politicians such as Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., hailing their boss's "reputation as a statesman."

But that word doesn't mean what Beltway barnacles think it means.

Merriam-Webster defines a "statesman" as a "wise, skillful, and respected political leader." Earning the approbation of other office-clinging politicians doesn't make you a "respected political leader." It makes you an echo-chamber chump.

Wise? Skillful? Hatch was a Big Government business-as-usual dealmaker. His wisdom was of the wet-finger-in-the-wind variety, claiming a Reagan conservative mantle during election cycles and then throwing constitutional conservatives under the bus once comfortably back in his well-worn Senate committee seats.

Hatch joined with his old pal Teddy Kennedy to create the $6 billion national service boondoggle and the $8 billion-a-year CHIP health insurance entitlement.

He preached about the "rule of law," but was an original sponsor of the open-borders DREAM Act illegal alien student bailout, and, despite claiming to oppose it, he voted to fully fund the unconstitutional Obama amnesty during the lame-duck session.

He crusaded for "fiscal conservatism," yet voted for massive Wall Street bailouts, 16 debt ceiling increases totaling $7.5 trillion, and scores of earmarks totaling hundreds of millions of dollars for porky projects. He ends his four-decade reign as the Senate's top recipient of lobbyist cash.

And for the past two years, Team Hatch allies have spearheaded a multimillion-dollar fundraising campaign, squeezing donations from corporate donors and pharma and tech lobbyists to subsidize a "Hatch Foundation" and "Hatch Center" to commemorate the Hatch legacy.

"Statesman" isn't a titled earned by mere length of service. It's not a cheap status conferred like an AARP card or IHOP senior discount. A politician who notches decades of frequent flyer miles back and forth between Washington and his "home" state, enjoying the endless perks of incumbency, does not acquire statesmanship by perpetual re-election and political self-aggrandizement.

The idea of amassing $4 million to $6 million campaign war chests, as Hatch did the past two election cycles, is antithetical to the ideal of statesmanship. In the days of Cincinnatus and George Washington, self-sacrifice and civic virtue marked true statesmen. Affability, which Hatch is credited with possessing by his backroom Democrat chums, was no substitute for the humility exhibited by statesmen who volunteered to relinquish power at the very height of it -- not in its waning twilight.

So: Call Hatch a clock-puncher. Time-bider. Log-roller. Deal-cutter. Back-slapper. Call him most anything else now that he's finally, finally, finally, finally, finally, finally, finally called it a day.

Just please don't call him "statesman."

https://www.dailywire.com/news...atch-michelle-malkin

Can a man be a great success and also, at the same time, a complete failure? To me, Mittens is that man.

quote:

Originally posted by justjoe:
Can a man be a great success and also, at the same time, a complete failure? To me, Mittens is that man.

Mittens is a great success in the world of buying and selling businesses.

As for politics, he should have stayed behind the scenes, using his talents to raise money like the Koch brothers.