UT-4: Dan Jones: Matheson up by 15

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[Zioneer]

Being very, very liberal, I'd vote for Matherson with no doubts if I lived in Utah. I know he's conservative, I know he may be too oportunistic, I know that he only wants to win reelection and doesn't care about helping other democrats in Utah... But he's the best you have for the moment, Pioneer. Republican leaders in your state don't like him, in fact, they probably hate him. That's a reason to support him if you're a democrat. Republican leaders control almost everything in your state. The only thing that stops a complete happiness for them is called Jim Matherson (maybe SLC mayor counts, too). I know this feeling very well because I live in Madrid, and every politician we elect is a member of the Partido Popular... You, at least, have a member of your party representing you. He may be too conservative for your taste, but he's better than that Mia Love. Ugh.

You have a point, but I don't feel that he deserves re-election. He doesn't deserve my vote if all he's going to do is be a roadblock for the Republicans. I don't believe in the kind of partisanship that says "even though he acts nothing like a Democrat, he still is one, so he needs our support!"

I think Mia Love will win but I wish a true Christian had a shot at this seat.

I know I really shouldn't respond to you, but you can go straight back to intolerant redneck land.

[Zioneer]

By the way, it seems Mia Love has a ready-made Cato Institute plan to gouge giant holes in every budget except the military's budget. It's a Karl Rove-esque tactic, since one of Matheson's strengths is that he tends to be a fiscally conservative budget hawk (though open to compromise, unlike the Tea Party Republicans these days).

Wonder how it's going to affect polling numbers; Utah doesn't tend to have polls very often, but I could see this plan causing a new poll to be put out.