UT-4: Dan Jones: Matheson up by 15

[Invisible Obama]

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865558012/Rep-Paul-Ryan-courts-fellow-GOP-members-for-Mia-Love-Love-trails-Matheson-in-early-poll.html?pg=all

A new Deseret News/KSL-TV poll of registered voters in the new 4th Congressional District shows Love trailing her Democratic opponent, who has served six terms. She has the support of 38 percent of respondents compared to 53 percent for Matheson.

Eight percent of those polled by Dan Jones & Associates said they were undecided in the November match-up. The poll was conducted June 15-21 of 379 voters in the 4th District and has a margin of error of plus or minus 5.1 percent.

[Pacific Justice IBDD]

no surprise but i still expect it bot be close and Matheson is very popular

[MilesC56]

Wonderful news.

RedRacingHorses.com has it as Lean R....

[RogueBeaver]

He'll get dragged down by the Romney tidal wave in Utah.

[Jayhawker]

Hoping this changes. Mia Love is an excellent, smart candidate, and is a rising star in the GOP.

[timothyinMD]

Yeah Matheson is up 15% in a 2/3 new district.  Sure..

[Sibboleth]

Who are these people and what sort of record (if any) do they have?

[Jayhawker]

Yeah Matheson is up 15% in a 2/3 new district.  Sure..

Matheson is a popular name in Utah. Its not too far out.

[Tender Branson]

Who are these people and what sort of record (if any) do they have?

Dan Jones is a Utah-based pollster and a pretty good one.

[Pacific Justice IBDD]

besides he survived in 2010 narrowly but he won by 5 points

[timothyinMD]

Yeah Matheson is up 15% in a 2/3 new district.  Sure..

Matheson is a popular name in Utah. Its not too far out.

People who vote for a name are morons

[Jayhawker]

Yeah Matheson is up 15% in a 2/3 new district.  Sure..

Matheson is a popular name in Utah. Its not too far out.

People who vote for a name are morons

At this point, it's just a poll months out. Name recognition is key, and the Matheson name is well known.

[Sibboleth]

At this point, it's just a poll months out. Name recognition is key, and the Matheson name is well known.

Hey, he's probably related to about half the state!

[crypto-fascist superhero]

Utahns aren't going to vote for a negress, natch.

[All life is a blur of Republicans and meat.]

He'll get dragged down by the Romney tidal wave in Utah.

He can't even match Bush 2004.

[cinyc]

He'll get dragged down by the Romney tidal wave in Utah.

Coattails are overrated.

[MilesC56]

He'll get dragged down by the Romney tidal wave in Utah.

Coattails are overrated.

Yes. Matheson's old district was 31% Kerry in 2004 and he still got 55%. This new district is even more Democratic than his old one.

[Svensson]

He'll get dragged down by the Romney tidal wave in Utah.

Coattails are overrated.

Yes. Matheson's old district was 31% Kerry in 2004 and he still got 55%. This new district is even more Democratic than his old one.

Which isn't saying much considering it's Utah.

[Zioneer]

To be honest, I'm torn. On the one hand, having at least a single Democrat in Utah is nice, and could be useful on a few votes, but on the other hand, it's Jim Matheson. He's way too much of a conservative Democrat (even for Utah in my opinion), he votes with the Republicans on way too many votes, and he tries way too hard to agree with the Utah Republicans on a ton of issues. Seriously, look at his voting record.

I almost think that it'd be beneficial for Utah Democrats to have Matheson lose, just so we can regroup and have someone other than Matheson be the face of Democrats in Utah. I mean, sure, another moderate-to-mildly-conservative Democrat is the best option, but Matheson, despite his winning streak, isn't a good figurehead for Utah Dems.

[MilesC56]

To be honest, I'm torn. On the one hand, having at least a single Democrat in Utah is nice, and could be useful on a few votes, but on the other hand, it's Jim Matheson. He's way too much of a conservative Democrat (even for Utah in my opinion), he votes with the Republicans on way too many votes, and he tries way too hard to agree with the Utah Republicans on a ton of issues. Seriously, look at his voting record.

I almost think that it'd be beneficial for Utah Democrats to have Matheson lose, just so we can regroup and have someone other than Matheson be the face of Democrats in Utah. I mean, sure, another moderate-to-mildly-conservative Democrat is the best option, but Matheson, despite his winning streak, isn't a good figurehead for Utah Dems.

A Democrat is a Democrat!

If Matheson loses, we'll be one more seat shy of ending Speaker Boehner's tenure.

The liberals tried something similar that with the Halter Experiment last cycle in Arkansas when they went after Senator Lincoln for not being 'pure' enough. Look how that turned out....

[Zioneer]

To be honest, I'm torn. On the one hand, having at least a single Democrat in Utah is nice, and could be useful on a few votes, but on the other hand, it's Jim Matheson. He's way too much of a conservative Democrat (even for Utah in my opinion), he votes with the Republicans on way too many votes, and he tries way too hard to agree with the Utah Republicans on a ton of issues. Seriously, look at his voting record.

I almost think that it'd be beneficial for Utah Democrats to have Matheson lose, just so we can regroup and have someone other than Matheson be the face of Democrats in Utah. I mean, sure, another moderate-to-mildly-conservative Democrat is the best option, but Matheson, despite his winning streak, isn't a good figurehead for Utah Dems.

A Democrat is a Democrat!

If Matheson loses, we'll be one more seat shy of ending Speaker Boehner's tenure.

The liberals tried something similar that with the Halter Experiment last cycle in Arkansas when they went after Senator Lincoln for not being 'pure' enough. Look how that turned out....

Well, I'm not saying he's not pure enough of a Democrat, I'm saying that he's a lousy advocate for other Democrats in Utah, and he's too quick in folding and rolling over for any conservative cause in Utah.

He doesn't help other Utah Democrats at all. I wish that the Democrat running for Matheson's old 2nd district seat ( Jay Seegmiller) had a good chance of winning, because I'd glad trade Matheson for him. Both are moderate/conservative types of Democrats, but Seegmiller at least doesn't have the reputation that Matheson does.

I just want a leading Utah Dem that stands up for other Utah Dems, and agrees with Democratic causes some of the time.

[MilesC56]

To be honest, I'm torn. On the one hand, having at least a single Democrat in Utah is nice, and could be useful on a few votes, but on the other hand, it's Jim Matheson. He's way too much of a conservative Democrat (even for Utah in my opinion), he votes with the Republicans on way too many votes, and he tries way too hard to agree with the Utah Republicans on a ton of issues. Seriously, look at his voting record.

I almost think that it'd be beneficial for Utah Democrats to have Matheson lose, just so we can regroup and have someone other than Matheson be the face of Democrats in Utah. I mean, sure, another moderate-to-mildly-conservative Democrat is the best option, but Matheson, despite his winning streak, isn't a good figurehead for Utah Dems.

A Democrat is a Democrat!

If Matheson loses, we'll be one more seat shy of ending Speaker Boehner's tenure.

The liberals tried something similar that with the Halter Experiment last cycle in Arkansas when they went after Senator Lincoln for not being 'pure' enough. Look how that turned out....

Well, I'm not saying he's not pure enough of a Democrat, I'm saying that he's a lousy advocate for other Democrats in Utah, and he's too quick in folding and rolling over for any conservative cause in Utah.

He doesn't help other Utah Democrats at all. I wish that the Democrat running for Matheson's old 2nd district seat ( Jay Seegmiller) had a good chance of winning, because I'd glad trade Matheson for him. Both are moderate/conservative types of Democrats, but Seegmiller at least doesn't have the reputation that Matheson does.

I just want a leading Utah Dem that stands up for other Utah Dems, and agrees with Democratic causes some of the time.

I do understand what you mean. I think that some Democrats who win in Republican areas should also try to promote the party somewhat.

Matheson is still MUCH better than any Republican, IMO. He votes with the GOP leadership 46% of the time; with a Republican, they'd vote with the leadership on virtually everything.

[Zioneer]

To be honest, I'm torn. On the one hand, having at least a single Democrat in Utah is nice, and could be useful on a few votes, but on the other hand, it's Jim Matheson. He's way too much of a conservative Democrat (even for Utah in my opinion), he votes with the Republicans on way too many votes, and he tries way too hard to agree with the Utah Republicans on a ton of issues. Seriously, look at his voting record.

I almost think that it'd be beneficial for Utah Democrats to have Matheson lose, just so we can regroup and have someone other than Matheson be the face of Democrats in Utah. I mean, sure, another moderate-to-mildly-conservative Democrat is the best option, but Matheson, despite his winning streak, isn't a good figurehead for Utah Dems.

A Democrat is a Democrat!

If Matheson loses, we'll be one more seat shy of ending Speaker Boehner's tenure.

The liberals tried something similar that with the Halter Experiment last cycle in Arkansas when they went after Senator Lincoln for not being 'pure' enough. Look how that turned out....

Well, I'm not saying he's not pure enough of a Democrat, I'm saying that he's a lousy advocate for other Democrats in Utah, and he's too quick in folding and rolling over for any conservative cause in Utah.

He doesn't help other Utah Democrats at all. I wish that the Democrat running for Matheson's old 2nd district seat ( Jay Seegmiller) had a good chance of winning, because I'd glad trade Matheson for him. Both are moderate/conservative types of Democrats, but Seegmiller at least doesn't have the reputation that Matheson does.

I just want a leading Utah Dem that stands up for other Utah Dems, and agrees with Democratic causes some of the time.

I do understand what you mean. I think that some Democrats who win in Republican areas should also try to promote the party somewhat.

Matheson is still MUCH better than any Republican, IMO. He votes with the GOP leadership 46% of the time; with a Republican, they'd vote with the leadership on virtually everything.

I'd say that Matheson votes with the GOP over 50% of the time, but if you've counted (or at least if there's a metric for showing that kind of thing), I suppose you may be right.

I'm still far too disappointed with him to show my support. He hasn't done a thing to support Utah Democrats in the decade he's been in office. Why should I vote for him when he doesn't even bother to help Democrats across the state? I mean, Mia Love is ridiculously right-wing (though she shows signs of reasonable behavior in her old support of a growth-oriented tax increase for Saratoga Springs a few years ago), but Matheson doesn't provide a good reason to vote for him beyond "he's not the other person".

He hasn't even groomed some sort of successor in case he loses this election.

[MilesC56]

To be honest, I'm torn. On the one hand, having at least a single Democrat in Utah is nice, and could be useful on a few votes, but on the other hand, it's Jim Matheson. He's way too much of a conservative Democrat (even for Utah in my opinion), he votes with the Republicans on way too many votes, and he tries way too hard to agree with the Utah Republicans on a ton of issues. Seriously, look at his voting record.

I almost think that it'd be beneficial for Utah Democrats to have Matheson lose, just so we can regroup and have someone other than Matheson be the face of Democrats in Utah. I mean, sure, another moderate-to-mildly-conservative Democrat is the best option, but Matheson, despite his winning streak, isn't a good figurehead for Utah Dems.

A Democrat is a Democrat!

If Matheson loses, we'll be one more seat shy of ending Speaker Boehner's tenure.

The liberals tried something similar that with the Halter Experiment last cycle in Arkansas when they went after Senator Lincoln for not being 'pure' enough. Look how that turned out....

Well, I'm not saying he's not pure enough of a Democrat, I'm saying that he's a lousy advocate for other Democrats in Utah, and he's too quick in folding and rolling over for any conservative cause in Utah.

He doesn't help other Utah Democrats at all. I wish that the Democrat running for Matheson's old 2nd district seat ( Jay Seegmiller) had a good chance of winning, because I'd glad trade Matheson for him. Both are moderate/conservative types of Democrats, but Seegmiller at least doesn't have the reputation that Matheson does.

I just want a leading Utah Dem that stands up for other Utah Dems, and agrees with Democratic causes some of the time.

I do understand what you mean. I think that some Democrats who win in Republican areas should also try to promote the party somewhat.

Matheson is still MUCH better than any Republican, IMO. He votes with the GOP leadership 46% of the time; with a Republican, they'd vote with the leadership on virtually everything.

I'd say that Matheson votes with the GOP over 50% of the time, but if you've counted (or at least if there's a metric for showing that kind of thing), I suppose you may be right.

According to the Washington Post Database for the 112th Congress, he votes with the Democrats 54% of the time.

[Zioneer]

According to the Washington Post Database for the 112th Congress, he votes with the Democrats 54% of the time.

Ah, I see. Still, even by the standards of Blue Dogs, that's a bit annoying that he votes with Republicans as much as he does. I mean, he used have a good-sized portion of Salt Lake City in his district, after all. I really feel that he's just obstructing Democratic candidates that can pull off the "I'm a little bit more liberal than you think I am, though I seem moderate" act a lot better. I don't even feel that he's a centrist; I think he's a plain old conservative Democrat.

Bah, maybe he's a symbol of Utah politics that I just plain don't like. Too bad there's no notable Democrat that could replace him at this point. Most of the surviving Utah Dems are in Salt Lake City; I can count the non-SLC Democratic legislators on one hand.