How old is this kid?

And do we think he'd provide a credible challenge?

This is Utah and it is a Democratic seat.

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by: wmlawman @ Tue Feb 26, 2008 at 02:44:57 AM UTC

No... no it's not.

It used to be, but it was redrawn in 2002 in an attempt to get rid of Jim Matheson, who barely hung on that year.

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by: Johnny Longtorso @ Tue Feb 26, 2008 at 03:47:16 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

My meaning wasn't clear.

I meant that it was a Democratically held seat in Utah, meaning to me at least, it would be a ripe target for a high name rec, big money GOP candidate.

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by: wmlawman @ Tue Feb 26, 2008 at 04:06:32 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

He's 32

One of our candidates in Utah last cycle, Christian Burridge, was 31 and he ran a credible race getting newspaper endorsements and may run again this year.  Joe Biden was 29 when elected to the Senate (turned 30 before being sworn in) and Patrick McHenry, a rightwing zealot from NC was IIRC 25 or 26 when elected to the House.  Of course McHenry has the maturity of a middle school kid but the age is not a bar to being elected.

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by: David Kowalski @ Tue Feb 26, 2008 at 12:44:56 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Not good

The Romney's are very, very popular in Utah.  The only way to save this very Republican seat in this case would be to make sure Barack Obama wins Texas on March 4th.  Hillary Clinton would kill us in this district.  

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by: Sean @ Tue Feb 26, 2008 at 02:45:10 AM UTC

So tedious

Most of us here rejoice that this blog is free of candidate diaries.
Then you come put your vitally original insights into the discussion and we see what we've been missing elsewhere. Thanks for nothing.

How I wish we had TUs here at SSP so that I could Hide your Off Topic remark.

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by: WoodyNYC @ Tue Feb 26, 2008 at 03:45:42 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

This is important

we need a strong and well liked candidate at the top of the ticket if we are to do well in Congressional races.  

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by: Sean @ Tue Feb 26, 2008 at 03:48:51 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Haven't you been warned to knock this crap off already?

And how can you not realize that however right you may be (and I happen to think you're right), it is extremely tiresome to read the same damn argument in every comment thread, on any subject, ever.  It's boring dude.  And you've been warned off it already by the site proprieter.  

28, gay guy, Democrat, CA-08

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by: texas dem @ Tue Feb 26, 2008 at 04:40:20 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

You know, Sean

You're causing a serious problem for me. Fortunately, it has a simple solution. You see, you've been warned repeatedly to knock off your ceaseless and fact-free bashing of Hillary Clinton. You even signalled your assent that you would stop.

But now, you've gone right back to it. So either I let you make me look like a weak and impotent fool who can't manage his own website, or I come down on you like a ton of bricks.

That choice is easy for me to make, and like I said, the solution is simple. You can apologize to me for breaking your promise that you'd cut out your crap, and you can apologize to the site for your uncalled for and non-reality-based attacks on Clinton. Or you can carry on elsewhere.

The decision is yours.

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by: DavidNYC @ Tue Feb 26, 2008 at 06:24:01 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Nancy Skinner

Nancy Skinner candidate for Michigan's 9 dis. (Knollenberg-R)has withdraw from the race for reasons unknown.  

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by: Edwards2008 @ Tue Feb 26, 2008 at 03:03:14 AM UTC

While I can't claim to know much about Utah...

...Wikipedia says that Jim Matheson won three of his four terms by huge, crushing margins, and the fourth was 2002 (the best Republican year since '94).

A Romney kid might offer a high-profile (I won't say "credible"; that's a joke) challenge with the added benefit of being self-funding, but Matheson would still be favored.

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by: epenthesis @ Tue Feb 26, 2008 at 03:05:34 AM UTC

2002 was

Not only the Dems' worst year of the past decade (hard to believe 1994 was now that long ago!), but the overwhelmingly Republican Utah state legislature tried to redistrict Matheson out of his seat.  That's why his district includes a sliver of Salt Lake City (all three UT districts do) along with the mostly empty and extremely Republican southern tier of the state.  That he was able to win at all in 2002 - albeit by what I think was the closest margin in the country that year, about 1400 votes - says something about what a formidable opponent Matheson would be in any case.  He has since won twice by much wider margins in that same overwhelmingly Republican district.

And we're not talking about the Kennedys here, or even the Bushes.  If young Romney has only his last name to recommend him, I doubt that will win the day even in Utah.

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by: RamblinDave @ Tue Feb 26, 2008 at 13:44:27 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Romney would be bad.

Right around now, Romney is to Utah Mormons as Gore is to environmentalist Democrats.  He's the Wonderful Guy who Should Have Won, and Deserved Better Than He Got.

That's a very dangerous dynamic.  That turns a race from ordinary politics into a more mythical type contest.

Plus he's one of the only challengers imaginable with instant 100% name rec.

I'd say it's bad news.  The only upside is that kid is like 28?  Hopefully he's stupid also and will make some stupid rhetorical mistake, a la Aaron Schock.  Given that he's had front-row seats to a presidential contest for the last three years though, I'm not banking on it.

28, gay guy, Democrat, CA-08

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by: texas dem @ Tue Feb 26, 2008 at 04:45:13 AM UTC

This could be tough...

for reasons already stated, but I think Matheson can make a good argument.  First, Romney (presumably) hasn't thought through most of the major issues we face too deeply.  So even if he doesn't make a major gaffe on the trail (which he's more likely to do than an experienced candidate), Matheson can still use his own knowledge to suggest that Romney doesn't know what he's doing.

Second, Matheson has experience in Congress, and I don't know what Josh Romney has experience doing at all.  He certainly doesn't know how to be an effective member of Congress; he didn't even grow up with a parent as a legislator like most political children.  Matheson could tout his work on some recent bills or (sigh) funding important projects for Utahns, and hopefully Romney won't have much of a counterpunch.

I do feel pretty good.  The Matheson name is strong in Utah too.  Romney would be tough but he wouldn't have a free ride.

Also, if he runs, I think it's on us to come up with a really condescending nickname that'll make everyone stop taking him seriously.  Any ideas?

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by: terry312 @ Tue Feb 26, 2008 at 08:17:04 AM UTC

yes, people

seem to forget that Jim Matheson's father was the last Democratic Governor and Utah, and an insanely popular one at that, from 1976-1984. This is still a somewhat favorable district for Utah. It contains most of Salt Lake City, including most of the more Democratic downtown portions, (if anything in Utah can be Democratic, at least SLK is moderate and tends to significantly prefer the more moderate, Business orientated Utah Democrats or the Religious zealotry of the State Republicans). The local and state governorment here seems fairly dominated my moderate Democrats, and interestingly enough Howard Dean's cousin is the County Executive for the County Salt Lake City is in, though the name of the county escapes, and the Democratic Mayor of SLK endured some controversy, (if my memory serves me right), for leading the gay pride parade in a show of solidarity.  

Call no man happy until he is dead-Aeschylus

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by: ArkDem the Ragin Cajin @ Thu Feb 28, 2008 at 02:41:56 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Oh, I see it another way.

You see, the mormons are pissed off that the GOP base absolutely rejected Mitt Romney. The reason for this should be clear to anyone with a brain: because he is a mormon.

The presence of his son in a campaign in UT will only remind those "Utahns" that there is a massive amount of prejudice and intolerance for them right within the party they like to support so much. There are already groups of Utahns flocking to Obama.

So, what appears to be a curse may end up being a blessing.

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by: bonncaruso @ Tue Feb 26, 2008 at 08:19:34 AM UTC

Bad News

I think you're right about Mormons in Utah feeling Romney got the shaft.  But, I don't see how this plays to our favor.  I suspect they'll turn out in droves to support the son.

Who knows how he'll be as a candidate, but the name and money alone make me fear he's the GOP's best bet.

Isn't Utah expected to gain a seat in redistricting?  If so, young Joshh Romney may want to wait a few more years until an open seat becomes available.

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by: sicembears @ Tue Feb 26, 2008 at 17:34:24 PM UTC

but, but, but

I thought that all five of ex-governor Romney's brawny lads were going to enlist and volunteer for service in Iraq, just as soon as their rich father no longer needed them as AdC's for his Presidential campaign!?!?!?

They... they didn't mislead us, did they???  

Half the population believes our electoral system is broken. The other half believes it is fixed. Wakeuplaughing.com  

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by: Christopher Walker @ Tue Feb 26, 2008 at 18:25:02 PM UTC

I'd forgotten about that

That really was one of the both stupidest and most shameful things anyone said during this campaign, that whole "They are serving their country by helping to elect me" crap.

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by: IndianaProgressive @ Wed Feb 27, 2008 at 00:11:44 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Matheson

Matheson is a good Representative for his district -- and the fact that he continues to win in such overwhelmingly Republican territory is real testament to his political skills and strong presence in the district.

But he has also benefited from real weakness on the Republican side -- he first won the seat when the crazed Republican incumbent (Merrill Cook) was ousted in a primary. Since then, the Republicans have had a number of extremely contentious and divisive nomination contests, and general election candidates who were deeply flawed.

I would worry greatly about a Josh Romney candidacy -- the strength of the family name, the Republican strength in the district, the coattails in a presidential year in heavily Republican Utah, the prospect of a young active challenger who has developed campaign skills, and (presumably) as much money as he would need -- all of these factors would make him a most formidable challenger. It would probably be Matheson toughest race since 2002.

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by: terje @ Tue Feb 26, 2008 at 21:11:50 PM UTC

This makes me mad,

some young thirty year dumbass with no political or real world experience announces he's considering running for a race, and because his father is famous, it just makes me mad that people assume he's going to get votes on the basis of his last name. I would hope that Democracy would work better. And, the Matheson name is about as powerful a Democratic name possible in Utah, it along with Romney, and Huntsman form the regular political dynasty, (though the Romney's have never been Governor of Utah).

Call no man happy until he is dead-Aeschylus

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by: ArkDem the Ragin Cajin @ Thu Feb 28, 2008 at 02:46:06 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

At least not Steve Young

Talk about a Utah name.  Direct descendant of Brigham Young.  All America quarterback and College Hall of Famer at BYU.  Pro Hall of Famer.  Has a house in Utah.  Republican.  Successful venture capitalist (the aim is buying mid-size businesses to keep them in Utah).  Multi-millionaire.  Philanthropist.  Has good mingling and TV skills and uses them.

Fortunately, he's not running.

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by: David Kowalski @ Thu Feb 28, 2008 at 23:30:23 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

UT-02: Li'l Romney to run?

Two quick comments.  First, what makes us think that following Mitt around would teach Mitten not to make stupid foot-in-mouth comments?  Who could ever seriously say "Who Let the Dogs Out?" in a black neighborhood and follow it up by touching a little girl's hair ornament and say "Oh, you have some bling bling"? I mean who is that stupid?  If that's who he was watching for a year, count on it.  He'll screw up.

Also, I was gonna suggest a great diminutive for him, but Li'l Mitt and Mitten are about all I've got so far.

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by: normboyd40 @ Sat Mar 01, 2008 at 00:31:21 AM UTC