Hatch's weak slogan
This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Sen. Orrin Hatch's re-election campaign slogan, "It's Utah's time to lead," is a bit puzzling. So … what's Utah's senior senator been doing for the past 36 years? Has he not been representing Utah?
I realize Hatch's point is that due to his seniority, and if the Republicans regain control of the Senate, he would chair the influential U.S. Senate Committee on Finance.
However, according to New York Times statistician Nate Silver in his election blog, Republicans have a 19.8 percent chance of controlling the Senate and of Hatch becoming its Finance Committee chairman. That's a pretty weak reason to keep Hatch in office.
It's time for him to move on.
Julie Howe
Sandy