Mia Love and Doug Owens faced off in their first debate last week. Our “political insiders” and readers discuss how they expect the race to play out.
Read on for full results and comments.
Selected anonymous comments:
“She has the ‘R’ after her name. That’s how things roll here.”“Love has no substance–always complaining that government is bad does not solve real problems for real people.”
“Owens may be accurate in his descriptions of Love’s extreme views, but Dave Hansen will find a way to rally the Republicans around her for a victory.”“Love will win, but by a much, much smaller margin than a more qualified and less bonkers GOP candidate would. Then we get another publicity-seeking narcissist in Utah’s delegation. Will that make 4 of the 6?”
“Historically, high profile usually wins over unknowns. Of the two, Love is much more high profile than is Owens, though he is not a complete unknown, given his family name. I can’t think of an instance in modern Utah political history when a low profile from a Democratic candidate beat a high-profile Republican in any race that involved areas outside of Salt Lake City and without a scandal. This race will not break with that history.”“Owens is kidding himself if he thinks he can ride Matheson’s coattails against the district’s partisan makeup.”
“Anyone remember Peter Coroon’s similar campaign strategy and how effective that was.”“Matheson somehow managed to narrowly win an election in this district, but there is a reason he’s not going to try again. Even he could see the writing on the wall. Like every other district in Utah, this one will soon belong to the Republicans — no matter who the candidates are. That’s the political reality in Utah.”
“Owens wisely went on the attack during the debate. But the numbers are stacked against him from the beginning. Just because a Democrat has a famous name (Owens, Rampton, etc.) doesn’t mean Utah voters will look past the (D) next to their name.”“Mia Love will unfortunately be representing the state of Utah. The cookie-cutter similarities between our federal House Representatives show the weakness of the caucus system–these belligerent anti-everything types are over-represented. There is more variety of thought, even in the Utah Republican Party, than one would surmise from observing Love, Chaffetz, Bishop, and Stewart.”
“It won’t be close. Sorry Doug.”“Owens is right in forcing Love to face the extreme positions she took while in a convention race with Carl Wimmer. Love is not being honest about her prior positions. Notwithstanding that, she will win in a landslide.”
“Mia’s lack of her own thinking ability will be her own downfall. One can only be conditioned so much until it shows you are from Manchuria.”“Its Mia’s race to lose. But, I have seen stranger things.”
“Owens clearly doesn’t know where to draw the line between aggressiveness and nastiness. If Love can keep her composure while he attacks, she wins going away.”“I don’t think it will be as much as 10 points but it will never feel like a close race. The Utah Legislature drew the current house districts so that there won’t be a competitive race. It’s over.”
“This time, it will be a blow-out victory for Mia. She learned from the last go-round and it will pay off in spades.”“Owens came out strong, exposing Love’s lack of understanding of the complexity of most issues. Her memorized talking points will wear thin as the campaign moves forward.”
“The deck is stacked against Owens–a far superior candidate. Love is a tea party darling who spouts the talking points she is given and will be a lackey for the obstructionists already pervasive in DC.”“It won’t even be close. Love gets 60% at least.”
