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Show 6 Wednesday April 18, 2012 OPINION www.dailyutahchronicle.com Should Hatch be re-elected? Conservative principles are only skin-deep CLAIRE SORENSEN StaffWriter W hen I attended my Republican neighborhood caucus last month, I was surprised by the overwhelming support for Orrin Hatch's re-election. The primary reason supporters offered for sending him back to the Senate was his seniority. Having held his office for 36 years, Hatch is now one of the longestserving senators in Washington. It troubled me that people were championing a candidate for his influence but did not establish whether that influence had been implemented in line with their principles. Hatch maintains his claim that he is "one of the top conservatives in the history of this country" by promoting his balanced budget amendment and speaking out against Obamacare. Sure, Hatch stays conservative when his position is spotlighted. When the curtain's down, however, he is far more likely to drift. Despite protests to the contrary, Hatch voted to raise the debt ceiling 16 times. He likewise voted in favor of the Troubled Asset Relief Program's $700 billion Wall Street bailout. He also voted for the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008, using taxpayer funds to guarantee irresponsibly contracted mortgages, among other political payoffs. His staunch support of the $21 trillion Medicare Part D shatters any pretense at fiscal conservatism. So if he's not the constitutional conservative he claims to be, why are conservative voters so concerned with preserving his seniority? Some of it has to do with Hill Air Force Base. As the sixth-largest employer in Utah, the base provides a lot of economic activity to our state. Many of the people at my neighborhood caucus expressed concern that we will lose the base Top-ranked senatorial seniority is valuable MARK PITTMAN Staff"Writer s per Utah's usual voting trend, one of two crazies will most likely become Utah senator this fall. However, Orrin Hatch is a better bet than his opponent, especially for Utah Democrats. In the interest of full disclosure, I have volunteered for the Hatch campaign. However, both Hatch and Utah Sen. Dan Liljenquist are crazy right-wingers from my centrist opinion. In office since 1977, Hatch is the highest-ranked Republican member of the U.S. Senate, loftily sitting at the top of the Senate Finance Committee. Should the Republican Party take back the Senate this fall, Hatch will become chairman, if he still has his job. Nine candidates have filed to run against Hatch. Of the 335 delegates, 62 percent favor Hatch with 16 percent favoring Liljenquist. The next closest challenger is Chris Herrod with 5 percent support, according to a poll by Dan Jones & Associates. Liljenquist looks like he'll be the primary challenger unless Hatch secures the magic 6o percent of delegates to avoid a primary. Therefore, you have two extreme candidates vying for Senate. Hatch has a record of working across the aisle and taking a moderate stance on occasion to work with the other party when necessary for the benefit of the nation — Liljenquist doesn't. The radical right will argue Hatch wasn't acting within the Constitution in voting for the Troubled Asset Relief Program. News flash — without TARP we might not have a need for a Constitution. In the April 2 Salt Lake Tribune article, "Orrin Hatch, rivals wooing 4,000 delegates — one at a time," Liljenquist told delegates, "The whole race comes down to one question: whether or not seniority is so important." It is. Utah's other senator, Mike Lee, was elected in the last cycle. Lee ranks at the bottom of the seniority food chain, barely having any experience in office. We can have two freshmen senators in office, neither with a clue as to what he's doing, or we can let Lee get his legs under him and benefit from the experience and prowess of Hatch's seniority. When Hatch wins this fall he will be focused on one thing: his legacy. A legacy is only good if people remember you for being great. Hatch will have to work tirelessly to make sure that's the case, a guarantee you won't get from a freshman. If you're all about "attacking the president," then who better to do it than someone older and more experienced than the man himself? Freshmen don't have clout, as you'll see any fall semester on a university campus. Hatch makes sense for Utah because seniority benefits Utah, leadership benefits Utah, and letting our freshman senator get his feet under him before he stands alone benefits Utah too. Republicans and Democrats alike should rally to Hatch to protect him from a primary and give him one last hoorah to leave a legacy and benefit Utah with his 3o-plus years of experience. Democrats are going to get a Republican senator either way. Choose the more sensible and experienced one who will benefit Utah the most. A LUIGI GHERSI/The Daily Utah Chronicle without Hatch's influence. But do Utahns really need Hatch to protect the base? President Obama's proposed Air Force budget for 2012 plans to cut almost 10,000 Air Force active duty and reserve jobs. But Hill Air Force Base loses only 59 of its 23,000 employees, showing it holds a position of national importance. Even without those numbers, Utahns should not allow Hatch to hold the threat of losing Hill Air Force Base over their heads in order to secure their vote. Relying on one politician's seniority to preserve an Air Force base reflects the corrupt system that has become the U.S. Senate. The idea that the location of a U.S. military base is determined solely by the influence of one powerful senator — and not by where those bases can best serve the people — speaks volumes on our acceptance of this corruption. Even though freshmen senators might face significant opposition, we should make every effort to elect people of principle. In 2011, newly elected senators Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Rand Paul, R-Ky., were two of only four Republican senators to vote against extending the oxymoronic USA PATRIOT Act. Though their votes did not determine the outcome, their principled stand makes a case for freedom and defense of our civil liberties. At the State Republican Convention on Saturday, Republican delegates will have the chance to support a new nominee — one that has not been tainted by long-term politicking. Dan Liljenquist, the most likely runner-up to Hatch, represents a constitutional conservative's best hope in this race. As a freshman state senator, Liljenquist designed and successfully sponsored two major reforms: public pensions and Medicaid. In so doing, he walked the talk of Hatch's verbal insistence of "We have got to resolve the entitlement programs; they're eating us alive." Two years ago, Utah Republicans led the nation when they traded out a senior senator — a defender of the powerful banking lobby — for a defender of constitutional liberty. Saturday's convention will give them a similar opportunity to prove their commitment to limited government, but only as long as they are willing to vote on principle rather than expedience. letters@ chronicle.utah.edu LETTER TO THE EDITOR Thank you, campus, for being dog-friendly Editor: I'd like to express my gratitude in general to the University of Utah. I am a part-time staff member and student, and though those are strong reasons to be grateful, more importantly it is my volunteer work that I do alongside those roles at the U that I'd like to express my gratitude toward. I am a volunteer puppy raiser for Guide Dogs for the Blind and part of the dogs' training is to accompany me to public places for so- cializing experience. I am now on my fifth dog (ninth total) that I have raised while at the U. I have never had any access issues when taking my dog into university buildings. Staff, faculty and students have always been supportive, and even campus policies do not interfere with such an integral part of dogs' training. Though having a dog sit calmly in a building may seem little, it still makes a big difference for me as a raiser because I have that opportunity. So much of my life right now takes place on campus that I would not be able to volunteer the way I do if there were barriers, which there are not. April 25 is International Guide Dog Day; for many, that may not carry much importance. But for someone like me who raises dogs for the blind and has an impact on the lives of others, it holds importance and I need to say, "Thank-you!" Karen Fuller, Junior in Graphic Design Letters to the editor should be sent to letters@chronicle.utah.edu . Letters should be fewer than 350 words and must include the writer's name. Letters from students should also include the writer's major and year in school. Letters from U faculty and staff should include department and title. Letters from alumni should include the year the writer graduated. All other letters must include the sender's name and city of residence. All letters become property of The Daily Utah Chronicle and may be edited for style, length and content. letters@chronicle.utah.edu |