Hatch v. Liljenquist

I confess. During the Tea Party I did something I never thought I would. I registered as a Republican with a pathetic hope that just maybe the Republican Party might change.

That hope has proven wrong, but I haven't officially changed back to independent ... which means I could vote in Tuesday's Republican primary.

The most interesting vote in the primary is the Utah Senate race between Orrin Hatch and Dan Liljenquist.

Hatch's campaign poster shows Mitt Romney with the wording "It's Utah's Time to Lead."

Uh, Mitt Romney isn't a Utahan!

Any non-Mormon with Mitt's record would be discarded as an East Coast liberal-elite.

I've lived in Utah since 1976. I am still treated as a paraiah.

Hatch is running a campaign saying his victory would give collective power to a group code named "Utahan" that includes himself and Mitt Romney, but openly ignores people like me.

Hmmm, I wonder what that group might be?

Hatch has a long history of compromise and favors centralized power over personal ownership. Liljenquist echoes the themes of the Tea Party and Glenn Beck.

I think this is an interesting race that will determine if the Republcan Party under Romney will retain any of the Tea Party flavor or if the Party will devolve back into being a shill for large collective interests.