Is Sen. Mike Lee’s fight against Obamacare helping or hurting him among Utah voters? Our insiders and readers weigh in.
Selected anonymous comments:
“IÂ agree with Sen. Lee about Obamacare, but I’m concerned about this hurting the GOP in future elections. Obama will veto anything that attacks his precious. I think there are better ways of going about delaying Obamacare. However, the fact is, the American people reelected Obama. For that, they deserve the devastating effects of Obamacare. Elections have consequences. Maybe after the people really start to feel the effects of Obamacare, we can get a GOP president and a GOP congress that will rid us of it.”“It helps him with the Tea Party wing, for sure, but they’re maybe 20% of Republicans. I think it hurts him with the rank-and-file, but the Tea Partiers are more likely to be convention delegates, and we know the delegates are the real constituents in this state.”
“Someone once said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing under the same set of conditions twice and expecting different results. What this says about the House and Senate Republicans is obvious. I might expect the attempts to repeal the ACA after an election changes the makeup of Congress, but these guys are just plain certifiable.”
“While this make him look extremist it also is a tremendous fundraising tool. He’s not worse off.”“Unfortunately, this kind of stunt helps with most of the GOP caucus crowd, and general election voters aren’t paying that much attention to his sideshow antics.”
“Most Utahns will notice that when everything is over Lee will have spent all his political capital and got nothing good in exchange. Lee is going to look like the worst kind of amateur.”
“Reaction to Lee’s behavior will be mixed, though mostly negative. Conservatives from the Gayle Ruzicka wing of the party will be pleased, while moderate Republicans and Democrats will be outraged.”
“How can looking like an extremist hurt him in a state full of extremists?”
“Although I hate Obamacare as much as anyone else, Mike Lee’s methods are not acceptable. He lacks the skills to work with other people in coming up with solutions to problems. His attitude is that he is right and everyone else is wrong. He is an embarrassment to the State of Utah and a disgrace to the Republican Party!”
“Many of the people are at odds with the federal government and like to see someone who fights back.”
“To the Tea Party group it helps him. To those that know the reality of shutting down the government or not paying our debts because he doesn’t like a law, he looks extremist.”
“This is the political equivalent of Sen. Lee stuffing socks down his gym shorts. He may feel more manly, but, really, it’s just silly and sad. This whole defunding gambit was always doomed, and it has squandered GOP negotiating leverage on impending fiscal issues where they might actually make Obama and the Dems play ball (e.g. debt ceiling, continuing the sequester cuts, etc.). Is it 2016 yet?”
“It shows backbone on an issue that most Utahns agree with. Obamacare can still be stopped, but it will take courageous leaders like Mike Lee. Hats off to you Senator Lee, thank you for taking your job seriously and doing your best to protect Utah”
“Whether it helps or hurts him politically, he is willing to take a stand against one of the worst pieces of legislation in our nation’s history. Too bad his fellow Republicans – and Democrats don’t have that kind of courage.”
“I don’t think his quest to defend hurts him. It’s the way he’s going about that makes him look extreme to those of us who take the time to educate ourselves beyond the press. Should be interesting. Seems we did this not too long ago and it was a joke then too.”
“Mike Lee’s grandstanding and unproductive behavior is getting old fast. He is the main reason so many people are so willing to jump on the Count My Vote bandwagon. You have to be a pretty horrible to inspire so many people to unite against you to make sure you are never able to run again. He thinks this is all a game or comedy show. It’s not. It’s our country. He should follow Sen. Hatch’s example and start acting more like a statesman and less like a clown.”
“That he actually stands by what his constituency has asked is amazing and rare in the GOP right now.”
“Mike Lee was elected on a wave of recession-time anger, but has always represented the views of a small minority in Utah.”
“It probably has a zero effect. There are those who love him and there are those who hate him. Most people in the middle don’t even pay attention.”
“Despite the Tribune’s best efforts, this only helps him with his strong base here in the state.”
Respondents include –Â
Fred Adams, Stuart Adams, Jess Agraz, Scott Anderson, Laura Arellano, Patrice Arent, Bette Arial, Neil Ashdown, Bruce Baird, Heather Barney, Steve Barth, Jeff Bell, Tom Berggren, Mike Bertelsen, Ron Bigelow, Emily Bingham-Hollingshead, Rob Bishop, Laura Black, Nanci Bockelie, Charles Bradley, Jim Bradley, Ralph Brown, Chris Bleak, Curt Bramble, Joel Briscoe, Ralph Brown, Aaron Browning, Ken Bullock, Ric Cantrell, Maura Carabello, Marty Carpenter, Rebecca Chavez-Houck, Kay Christensen, David Clark, Kim Coleman, Peter Corroon, Tim Cosgrove, Fred Cox, Lew Cramer, Gene Davis, Richard Davis, Brad Daw, Alan Dayton, Margaret Dayton, Mike Deaver, Brad, Dee, Joseph Demma, Jake Dennis, Dan Deuel, Jeff Dixon, Brian Doughty, Carl Downing, Randy Dryer, Susan Duckworth, Donald Dunn, Alan Eastman, Becky Edwards, Scott Ericson, Chase Everton, Jessica Fawson, Janice Fisher, Wendy Fisher, Lorie Fowlke, Ronald Fox, Claire Francis, Ryan Frandsen, Adam Gardiner, Jordan Garn, Ernie Gamonal, Luke Garrott, Dave Gessel, Sheryl Ginsberg, Natalie Gochnour, Robert Grow, Karen Hale, David Hansen, Neil Hansen, Joe Hatch, Jeff Hartley, Dan Hauser, Lynn Hemmingway, Deidre Henderson, Neal Hendrickson, Casey Hill, Lyle Hillyard, Kory Holdaway, Randy Horiuchi, Ben Horsley, Bruce Hough, Scott Howell, Greg Hughes, Miriam Hyde, Allison Isom, Casey Jackson, Eric Jergensen, Mike Jerman, Jonathan Johnson, Michael Jolley, Gordon Jones, Leslie Jones, Pat Jones, Kirk Jowers, Jeremy Keele, Brian King, Scott Konopasek, Steve Kroes, Chris Kyler, Carter Livingston, Fred Lampropoulos, Clark Larsen, Douglas Larson, David Litvack, Larry Lunt, Matt Lyon, Ben McAdams, Daniel McCay, Gayle McKeachnie, JT Martin, Maryann Martindale, Jason Mathis, Bob Mayhew, Karen Mayne, Bret Milburn, Derek Miller, Rob Miller, Ethan Millard, Brett Millburn, Karen Morgan, Jeffery Morton, Mike Mower, Holly Mullen, Wayne Niederhauser, Mike Noel, Randy O’Hara, Ralph Okerlund, James Olsen, Val Oveson, Kelly Patterson, John Pearce, Helen Peters, Karen Peterson, Frank Pignanelli, Becky Pirente, Marie Poulson, Jason Powers, Tami Pyfer, Joe Pyrah, Mike Reberg, Jill Remington Love, Lauren Richards, Holly Richardson, Robin Riggs, James Roberts, Luz Robles, Ross Romero, Carol Sapp, Don Savage, Bryan Schott, Shauna Scott-Bellaccomo, Jay Seegmiller, Jennifer Seelig, Patrick Shea, Randy Shumway, Soren Simonsen, Jeremy Slaughter, Brendan Smith, Brian Somers, Carol Spackman-Moss, Robert Spendlove, Barbara Stallone, Howard Stephenson, David Stringfellow, Mike Styler, Shinika Sykes, Juliette Tennert, Gary Thorup, Kevin Van Tassell, Royce Van Tassel, Doug Thompson, Michael Waddoups, Laura Warburton, Chuck Warren, Christine Watkins, LaVarr Webb, Todd Weiler, Alan West, Mark Wheatley, Larry Wiley, Ted Wilson, Carl Wimmer, Mike Winder, Travis Wood, Thomas Wright, Crystal Young-Otterstrom
Results from the UtahPolicy.com/KSL Insider poll can be heard on KSL Radio every Friday and are published on Utah Policy.com every Monday.
