Evan McMullin for Utah Senate 2018 - As A Dem?

[Bigby]

Considering how strongly GOP the state is otherwise, could the only way the Democrats win Hatch's Senate seat in 2018 is by running spoiler candidate Evan McMullin as a Democrat? The man's entire run in 2016 for President was just to sink Donald Trump, and even after the election ended, McMullin has begun a Twitter tirade against Trump. McMullin may fit better in the Democratic Party thanks to the both parties changing their tunes on trade and internationalism. Of course, this all depends if Hatch runs again or not.

Thoughts?

[Bigby]

McMullin may fit better in the Democratic Party thanks to the both parties changing their tunes on trade and internationalism.

lol what?

The Democrats have become the party in favor of globalism and free-trade agreements while the Republicans have begun to oppose both when they supported them under the Reagan era. One factor causing this shift has been the change in party bases.

[Vosem]

Nah, somebody's got to stay and rally the 60% of the GOP who voted for globalist, anti-Trump candidates in the primaries. I'd love to see him enter the Senate as a Republican successor to Hatch, though.

[Indy Texas]

Would make more sense as an independent.

[andrew_c]

McMullin is too conservative to run as a Democrat.

[Zioneer]

McMullin is too conservative to run as a Democrat.

Exactly. And considering who the UDP nominated this year... I don't think he'd be welcome.

[smoltchanov]

McMullin is too conservative to run as a Democrat.

Exactly. And considering who the UDP nominated this year... I don't think he'd be welcome.

How many seats you won because, not despite this year nominations?

[SUSAN CRUSHBONE]

more likely he remains an independent but the dems endorse him (like bill walker or greg orman)

[BuckeyeNut]

If Utah has open primaries, I could see Dems crossing over to deny Hatch (or Huntsman) another run. But McMullin certainly isn't running as a Dem. He just did an appearance on the Keeping it 1600 podcast. Worth checking out.

[Blair]

What the hell is a globalist?

[Sir Mohamed]

Nah, won’t happen. The dude is a conservative through and through. If Hatch decides to retire, I’ll give him a decent shot for the position. I also think that he would not win as a Democrat, even though he’s somewhat popular in UT.

The thread belongs into the congressional section, btw.

[Zioneer]

McMullin is too conservative to run as a Democrat.

Exactly. And considering who the UDP nominated this year... I don't think he'd be welcome.

How many seats you won because, not despite this year nominations?

Well, we won two state house seats, and lost one. Of the two that we won, one was an open seat that demographically favored us, and the other had a seemingly strong freshman incumbent that had only narrowly defeated the previous longtime Democratic incumbent. The seat we lost was a coal country seat that we'd probably lose in a few years anyway.

So we re-captured one that we had a good chance of winning anyway, surprisingly re-captured one we thought was going to be a tough seat, and lost one that we were always going to lose. So I don't think you could make a heads or tails argument either way. Our state senate seats remained the same.

With Governor and Senate, we lost by a bit more than we usually lose by. With UT-04, we lost by twice the margin we lost by in 2014 with the same candidate. So again, I don't know how much of an effect the lousy Senate and Gubernatorial candidates had, but they had a noticeably negative effect on their own races, and indicated how the Utah Democrats saw themselves this year.

If Utah has open primaries, I could see Dems crossing over to deny Hatch (or Huntsman) another run. But McMullin certainly isn't running as a Dem. He just did an appearance on the Keeping it 1600 podcast. Worth checking out.

The Utah Democrats have open primaries (I am a registered Independent, in fact), but the Utah Republicans do not, presumably to prevent crossovers like this.

[SUSAN CRUSHBONE]

What the hell is a globalist?

pretty much a euphemism for Da Joooooooz

[Maxwell]

i hope democrats never get desperate enough to support a guy who agrees with Paul Ryan 100% on the issues.

[ElectionsGuy]

He's a conservative, he would be instantly rejected by Dems in the primary, and even if he were to advance to the general election he would lose to the Republican.

[publicunofficial]

He should basically try the Greg Orman route. Run as an Indy, as the de facto Dem candidate.

[Maxwell]

He should basically try the Greg Orman route. Run as an Indy, as the de facto Dem candidate.

but I beg the question again, why should dems want someone who would absolutely vote party line Republican? maybe even more so the potential Republican nominee ala Huntsman.

the McMullin candidacy is only good in terms of splitting Republican votes.

[Oldiesfreak1854]

If Hatch runs again, then you can bet that Huntsman and McMullin will keep out.  Either way, there's zero chance McMullin runs as a Democrat.  He's most likely to run as a Republican or Independent.

[SUSAN CRUSHBONE]

He should basically try the Greg Orman route. Run as an Indy, as the de facto Dem candidate.

but I beg the question again, why should dems want someone who would absolutely vote party line Republican? maybe even more so the potential Republican nominee ala Huntsman.

the McMullin candidacy is only good in terms of splitting Republican votes.

because it's utah and beïng consistently anti-trump is about the best we can hope for right now

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Nah, somebody's got to stay and rally the 60% of the GOP who voted for globalist, anti-Trump candidates in the primaries. I'd love to see him enter the Senate as a Republican successor to Hatch, though.

Because support for Cruz obviously indicates an embrace of globalism, free trade, unrestricted immigration, and loosened social mores.

[justfollowingtheelections]

He should basically try the Greg Orman route. Run as an Indy, as the de facto Dem candidate.

Orman was a centrist, maybe even center-left.  McMullin is a right-winger.

[Kingpoleon]

What the hell is a globalist?

A derogatory term for anyone remotely sympathetic to internationalism and/or free trade.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Democratic Party doesn't need and under any circumstances shouldn't accept neocons like him.

[Attorney General, LGC Speaker, and Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

McMullin is Pro-Life, Pro-Gun, Pro-Flat Tax, Pro-School Vouchers, anti-union, and anti-ObamaCare. Definitely not a democrat.

[RINO Tom]

Considering how strongly GOP the state is otherwise, could the only way the Democrats win Hatch's Senate seat in 2018 is by running spoiler candidate Evan McMullin as a Democrat? The man's entire run in 2016 for President was just to sink Donald Trump, and even after the election ended, McMullin has begun a Twitter tirade against Trump. McMullin may fit better in the Democratic Party thanks to the both parties changing their tunes on trade and internationalism. Of course, this all depends if Hatch runs again or not.

Thoughts?

You Trumpists live in a truly delusional world.  The ELECTED OFFICIALS of the GOP are still strongly in favor of free trade (while elected Democrats still aren't), and that will remain true until they all retire.  Trump could have been talking about being pro-free trade, and his followers would think that, too.