UT-4: Dan Jones: Matheson up by 15

[Miles]

Wonderful news.

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

[Miles]

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.

[Miles]

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....

[Miles]

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.

[Miles]

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.