You know you're a political junkie when, during hot weather, you'd rather talk opinion polls than swimming pools.

1. I think the “debate issue” is not helping Dan Liljenquist as much as you might think.

A source with knowledge of internal tracking polls for Orrin Hatch’s campaign tells me Liljenquist’s call for more debates really isn’t moving the needle among voters? In fact, they say voters don’t see the need for more debates between Hatch and Liljenquist by a stunning 3-1 margin.

2. I think it’s only a matter of time before the Liljenquist campaign gets desperate and starts throwing everything but the kitchen sink at Hatch.

When you’re running out of time, and you are having trouble making headway, you have to leave it “all on the field” so to speak.

Will that mean negative advertising? Not sure, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

3. I think there’s a good chance we’ll see at least one, if not two, super PACs jump into the race between Orrin Hatch and Dan Liljenquist.  The super PAC formed by Chicago Cubs owner Joe Ricketts is reportedly eyeing the race in Utah and billionaire Foster Freiss, who backed Rick Santorum’s presidential bid, is a supporter of Dan Liljenquist.

It’s not clear what kind of impact those groups could have, but a flood of advertising ahead of the primary could liven up the race for sure.

4. I think I’m amused by John Dougall’s campaign signs. If you haven’t seen them, they are neon green and orange, and really get your attention. Dougall says he came up with the unorthodox signs the night of setup for the Salt Lake County Republican convention.

“I noticed there was a lot of red, white and blue on signs from the other campaigns,” says Dougall. “I decided I needed to go a different direction. I remembered seeing a flyer with lime green and orange on it.”

There’s a little “Easter egg” hidden on the first 100 signs he printed up. At the very bottom it says “Paid for by Greg Hughes because Dougall is so Frugal.”



5. I think I’m super excited for the summer concert season in Salt Lake City. It’s like my Senior year in high school all over again with shows by Def Leppard, Journey, Iron Maiden and the B-52’s among others. It all kicks off next Monday with the Scorpions at USANA amphitheater.



See you there!

Parting thought: "Politicians also have no leisure, because they are always aiming at something beyond political life itself, power and glory or happiness." -- Aristotle