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Colin E. Braley / AP
Senator Orrin Hatch, along with his wife Elaine, thanks his supporters after his primary win Tuesday night.
Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch accomplished Tuesday night what few other veteran Republican senators have done in recent years, managing to fend off a primary challenge from his right.
The Associated Press declared Hatch the projected winner of the Utah Republican Senate nomination, emerging victorious in the first primary the veteran senator had faced since first being elected in 1976.
Conservatives had targeted Hatch for defeat this cycle, throwing their support behind state Sen. Dan Liljenquist, who hoped the Tea Party wave that has caused heartburn for establishment Republicans would carry him to victory versus Hatch.
Beating Hatch would have marked a significant changing of the guard in Utah, one of the most deeply Republican states, where the GOP primary serves often as the de-facto general elections. Conservatives managed to deny longtime Utah Sen. Robert Bennett (R) renomination during the 2010 elections. Mike Lee rallied conservative activists to deny Bennett the GOP nod, and was subsequently elected to the Senate that fall.
Hatch had seemed to have learned the lessons of that campaign, working assiduously to secure his conservative flank and building a warchest to beat back a Tea Party challenge.
He tacked to the right in tone and on certain key votes, locking up endorsements from talk radio favorites and even former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who’s more often than not endorsed challengers to established Republican lawmakers than the incumbents themselves.
Hatch's re-election strategy offered a roadmap for entrenched Republicans looking to fend off a conservative challenge. The Utah senator's approach broke, for example, from that of Sen. Richard Lugar's. The Indiana senator had largely been defiant of Tea Party forces, and lost a primary to State Treasurer Richard Mourdock earlier this year. Both Hatch and Lugar took office in 1977.
The early and aggressive effort by Hatch included an attempt to scare off would-be challengers before they even entered the race. The senator was particularly public in taking on two-term Rep. Jason Chaffetz, who had been viewed as a potentially formidable challenger but ultimately declined to run for Senate.
A major trump card for Hatch, though, came in the form of Mitt Romney. Perhaps no endorsement for Hatch was more important than Romney’s, who is held in high esteem in Utah due to his own Mormon faith, as well as the work Romney had done in 2002 to turn around the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. Romney appeared with Hatch in Utah earlier this month to underscore his support for the longtime senator.
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Close to TWO years ago, Senator Orrin Hatch introduced MAJOR Legal Immigration legislation =
"America's Commitment to Legal Immigration and America's Security Act".
Democrat Majority Leader Harry Reid refused to bring it to the Floor of the US Senate - for debate or a vote.
****
It was Brilliantly written - and is the reason the Democratic Party OBstRUCTED it.
Among other matters, IDENTITY THEFT would be a FELONY = aggravated Identity theft; would halt Green Card lotteries - to prevent people - and their entire family - having access to US soil without any background checks; required Head of HHS to provide a Yearly report - indicating the amount of US taxpayer money provided to every Illegal Alien household - in all FIFTY States; required The IRS to report the identity of the company/business owner who participated in Identity Theft - with Stolen SS#s; required all businesses to use E-Verify; required Sanctuary cities to co-operate with law enforcement authorities - and to turn over "fugitives", etc. etc.
Gerard - Stop - Illegal immigrants cannot vote - and all those young people Obama excused cannot vote
I hate it when someone comes on here and spouts lies
And as far as a Grand Jury only after Bush and Cheney are dragged up before the Geneva Convention
Your like a rabid dog running around to see who you can infect - ain't going to happen little boy -
Stop buying into your propaganda machine Faux Entertainment - nobody is even listening to your garbage
People like barbara are what's wrong with this country and Gerard knows it. obama,holder,napolitano need to be deported.
No, its people like RL56 that is what is wrong with this country, despite the failures of the Bush administration they go on blaming those that were elected and appointed to fix the mess that Bush made. I am beginning to believe there are no republicans left in the republican party and they have been replaced by the American Taliban.
Another 4 years, for a piece of trash! At least he is old, so, maybe he won't last 4 years.
robertlevy--you DO know that Senators are elected for SIX year terms???
The worse legacy President Reagan left to America, Congress have to lift the mandatory government retirement age; so he could run for a second term, now the country is stuck with theses old white men in congress, who are stuck in their ways. Talking about happy days are here again.
ljac - Au Contraire the legacy Reagan left behind is the de-regulation of the Airlines and the Trucking Industry just to name a few
He also defunded the States for Mental Health Institutions - throwing countless people unto the streets
Reagan was the start of wealthy people putting their agenda forward - google Reagan's Kitchen Cabinet - they paid for his beloved ranch which he was about to lose and also bought him and Nancy their Santa Barbara home
He was bought and paid for by the Republicans and the beat goes on today!
Well said Barbara, well read also. I'm a fan.
Reagan - South American death squads, Iran contra, a bloated deficit that lead to 11 tax increases. Shall we continue? Zero accountability and the rise of Roger Ailes. The downslide of the GOP to the bunch of extremist zealots they are today. Yay for Reagan, Ailes, and the man behind it all, Rupert Murdoch.
I consider Tea Baggers the GOP version of the Liberal Right. Both are extremists controlling their partys and preventing the house and senate from negotiating reasonable legislation. I agree with Voters of Utah waking up and not allowing another extremist in. Democrats ought to look in the same direction and start removing their Right wing liberals and start allowing things to get done. Niether side is going to get their way 100% of the time. UNkess we put reasonable people in office, we will never move forward resolving our problems with economy, energy, naturalization and a lot of other things. I am not asking to get my way on every issue, but would like to see my medicine less bitter whenever I do not.
Dont worry the gop will likely take over everything and will get a lot done or should I say undone such as Obama care, all entitlemnets of the last 75 years and all taxes on anyone who makes more than a million a year, all epa regulations(maybe even the epa itself) the department of education (it will be now a state thing only) the only thing the government will spend money on is the war machine-not the soldiers just the toys they build
If the country is so stupid as to not remember what GW Bush did to them, I believe you're right, not a troll. And if that happens, I can't wait to shoot the first starving tea bagger that shows up at my door. This time around the old rich white guys won't save any of their constituents because they'll know they have exactly 4 years or less to finish off the republic we now know and love. It will take them only a few months to start a nuclear war with Iran, engaging Russia and China along the way, then they'll cut taxes to 0 for the richest and starve the rest of the population. So long tea party, it will go down in history that it only took you ignorant bigots 2 election cycles to end the 'great experiment' known as democracy. You'll find yourselves living in a theocracy run by quasi-Christians with no civil rights, no jobs (unless you're willing to work for pennnies) and no safety net. I hope everyone has their guns ready because it will be every person for themself.
Yeah, like the 8 years we were Bush whacked during the first 21st century puppet regime. Yeah, getting a lot done for their K St whores, and screwing the middle class. Mission accomplished!
Funny..... the "Bibble belt" its now proudly holding the pants of a cult follower (Romney) who by faith believes more in Joseph Smith and "The Pearl of Great Price" founded upon the "Plural Marriage" doctrine, than they believe in Jesus and Christianism!!
Wait until that powerful multi-billionare cult takes over!! Legitimized by real power, the Mormons are going to run the Jesus people out of the game, and get their creed into state policy! Ironic and funny as hell jejejejeje
Never happy to see Orin Hatch win, heck, never happy to see Sen. Hatch at all for that matter, but a loss for the Tea Party is a win for the nation.
Nothing of merit has come out of the House of Representatives since The Speaker of the House lost control over his own caucus.
That news story was put in the can before they even knew who won and was posted online by an intern (he also had a story ready if Hatch had lost). Notice not a single word about the number of votes cast or the percentages for each candidate? That should have been in the first paragraph. It's simple reporting 101, boy nbc news is getting really sloppy these days...
What? You don't like Obummer news? Hatch and all of his croney's think they own their seats in Washington. Did I say seats? That's about all they do. Sit on their a$$es and do nothing for the American people.
By siding with the Tea Party and the romney campaign, Is it his excuses to save his job. Or is this a cover up to get a reelected position as a senator. I am not sure. Or could this be false pretense. Is Senator Hatch a true constitutional Senator of a republican. I hope he is on the right side of the law and knows right from wrong for the American people.
get ready for mc connel leading a super majority senate with a landslide winning president romney in the white house, the gop will own all, god help us all when this happens
You are having a psychotic episode to think for a split second that theBamster will lose in November.
He's a shoo in and just about everybody in the world knows it. Not that he is any good, or that Romney would be any better.
Neither one of them give a damn about you.
Tea Baggers + Romney= dead Christians
HAVING WATCHED THE UTAH political scene "up close and personally" AS A GENTILE living among Mormons - THIS IS A GENERATIONAL BATTLE within the Utah GOP! The "Young Turks" have more ego than brains and money! ** SO FAR - The only thing keeping Cong. Jason Chaffetz busy are: Two tiems = (a) Current House Oversight Committee hearings on US Attorney General ERIC HOLDER, with Floor vote - on likely "Contempt of Congress" - scheduled on Thursday [June 28th]; - and (b) an under construction NSA Data Center in his congressional district - on US Fort Douglas government land - about which the 'No Such Agency' is keeping mum on its mission in life, even from the young Member of Congress, who is NOT on the House Intelligence Select Committee rosters.
@Dave Phillips... Is the "Contempt of Congress" against Holder a significant ruling, or is it just political posturing without any real legal ramifications?
You sound a lot smarter than the bunch, care to explain?
Mormons +tea party= Sanctity of plural Marriage
Conservatism +Tea Party= Trailor Park Fascism
Only a few things to say about RepubliKANS--their creed is greed, their god is Mammon and their master is Satan. May they join their master soon!
Why the Republicans are REVERSE ROBIN HOODS---they rob the poor to give to the rich.
just what we need is another old fart bag to help ruin this country
How about all the Republican BS about "taxing the job creators"? Job creation steadily declined since 9-11 so how many jobs did the "job creators" create? Zero! They sent the jobs oversees where they can make the product for a quarter and sell it here for $100.00 plus! I say tax them until they squeak! Tax breaks should be a factor of how many jobs a company creates HERE IS THE USA. This is logical because for each job created, the company creates another taxpayer. If a company creates a lot of jobs then it should get tax breaks. If it sends them oversees, however, there should be tax penalties!
Supply and demand creates jobs. Look at South America (the path the right are following) the rich elite control the government and get everything they want, the poor just suffer. If the rich were job creators in any huge numerical sense South America would be full of jobs, but they aren't. Billionaires like Rupert Murdoch have to barinwash the general public with b/s from their main propaganda site, the Tax Foundation, to let them keep more and more, that's all that counts.
of course he won! he loves the zionist controled system so much he wrote a song about jews... he serves his masters well.
Another GOP Relic holding back the party. Hatch is out of eggs. And the political omelet he served up, gave us indigestion. Go Away Hatch and take McCain with you.
I've always felt Sen. Hatch was the farthist right one could be but, thankfully I have come to know even he has some worth compared to the Tea Party.
@Alan-1380274 & BearZZZ:
Bravo and Ditto.
Too bad. Once again the public has squandered the opportunity to get rid of incumbents who have sold them down the river.
Shame on you Utah. Take the blame for the state of the country along with Rangel's voters and every other incumbent that is returned to office. Then sit down, shut the hell up, and look straigjht ahead, not one word of complaint for the next several years while your Senators screw the country and you, left and right.
You ignorant twits.
Hatch is so much worse then that socialist lib democrat crook chuckie rangel with a 10 count conviction and you notice msDNC is not crowing about that one! Just the class of crooks you libtards keep voteing back, time and time again!
The Tea Party and all its members who made politics more of a scam than it ever was have kept this country in recession longer than it had to be with their racisism and obstructionism. These ignorant people who do not know the first thing about economics and their ridiculous mantra of get President Obama out of office have done more harm and done more to split this country than any faction in the history of the United States. You people made a mockery of the gop, and everyone is suffering for it and you idiots keep blaming the President. Heads up morons, no President can fix this country by his or herself. Get those bastards out of Congress before they ruin whats left of this country!
Why do ths hil msl kinh waih dksly uls ths cidusjim aslyukn ptskd ki.
Thsm dyui ksh ckgr hp diy eakl wudk?
Luem jd dyah, wijd ked fime kutf, anj wgh jun.