The Million Dollar Question

Lincoln Brown, posting at Townhall.com, has a very interesting column up.

I’m not going to opine much on this column, but rather throw something out there for debate. I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts.

Even for those who don’t follow Utah politics, which would pretty much be anyone living outside of Utah, there was a piece of notable news out of the Beehive State that had nothing to with Hunstman.

State Senator Dan Liljenquist announced his intention to run against Orrin Hatch. It’s a gutsy move. Liljenquist is young both chronologically and politically. He was sworn in to the Utah Senate in 2009. By contrast, Hatch is well established, has seniority, knows how to work D.C, and has a sizeable war chest. Two Utah congressmen, Jason Chaffetz (R) and Jim Matheson (D) opted not to take him on.

He goes on to talk about Dan Liljenquist's record - which we have already discussed in the past.  He then goes on to ask...

Which brings me to my question for you guys. Do we place our faith in people like Orrin Hatch who has seniority, experience and connections and will be in a position of power during his next term; and with guys like Romney who many feel relatively sure is the only one who can beat Obama?

Or with regard to caucuses and primaries, do we follow the advice of Jason Chaffetz who once succinctly said: “Sometimes, you just gotta flush the toilet.”?

That is the million dollar question that Utah caucus attendees and state convention delegates will eventually need to ask.  Put simply (by a co-worker) "who do you want in the chair of Finance?  Olympia Snowe or Orrin Hatch"?"

The question of old vs. new is significant in the upcoming Liljenquist/Hatch contest. On one hand, Hatch is a veteran who is poised to wield some significant power in his next term. But what has he done with the power he has in the terms he has served? By contrast, Liljenquist has much less in the way of legislative experience and would be little more than the Freshman Senator from Utah. I asked him how he would overcome his junior status, and his lack of experience and coalitions to do the things he wants to do. He said “Numbers.” Put another way: with enough like-minded folks the ship of state could be turned around.

I know which way I am leaning (bet you can't guess LOL) and I will advocate for that position.  But eventually, that is a decision that is made at caucus and convention.

With that said - do YOU want to have a say on how that million dollar question gets answered?  You can....all you need to do is show up on March 17 at 7pm at your local caucus location.  It's that easy.