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EDITOR OF REDSTATE

As CPAC Convenes In Washington, Orrin Hatch Tells Tea Party Activists to Shove It

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  February 20th, 2010 at 05:07 PM  | 

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Image descriptionOne of the stories coming out of CPAC this year is the embrace of the tea party movement not by the Republican Party, but by the conservative movement.

The issues of spending and smaller government are shared across the board.

But while conservatives are embracing the tea party movement, Republican Senators continue castigating tea party activists and hoping they shut up and go away. The latest is Senator Orin Hatch who is petrified that tea party activists might elect Mike Lee and defeat Bob Bennett in Utah.

The Hill reports:

Speaking to constituents at a town hall, Hatch warned Tea Partiers not to split the Republican Party.

“If we fractionalize the Republican Party, we are going to see more liberals elected,” Hatch said, according to the Salt Lake City Tribune.

This is in line with the GOP talking point that we who are here at CPAC should be perfectly fine with moderates. But we know that is not the case. In a state like Utah, we can legitimately move the state right by electing Mike Lee over Bob Bennett.

But Hatch gets even more disingenuous than that. Dan Riehl notes Orrin Hatch gets his history wrong. Hatch blames tea party activists for gordon Smith’s defeat in Oregon. As Dan notes:

Not only did Hatch lecture people he’d better start listening to, instead – he didn’t have the slightest clue what he was talking about. The Tea Party movement didn’t even exist in 2008. It’s out of touch Republicans like Hatch, presumably living in some elitist echo chamber who can still snatch defeat from victory for the GOP in 2010 if no one fills them in. Based upon this nonsense, Hatch doesn’t seem to have a clue what’s going on at street level in America today.

If Conservatives win in Utah this year by beating Bob Bennett with Mike Lee, Orrin Hatch will be on notice to get with the program or shove it — a fitting taste of his own medicine.

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COMMENTS

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  • http://thesandsinstitute.org Vassar Bushmills

    Because what we need now are pistol-packin’ Christians.

    Praise the Lord, and pass the tartar sauce, my butt!, Orin.

    Bernie

  • Return to Revolution

    if the Republican party was “fractionalized” as a result of CONSERVATIVES being elected.

    /just donated to Lee’s campaign.

  • JustLeaveMeAlone

    Shut up. Then go have a nice day elsewhere.

    Love,
    Me

  • RSSS
  • avgamerican

    The GOP has too many moderates and liberals who are willing to compromise on too many important issues. It is frustrating and this is what the Tea Party movement is all about. They are trying to send the message to the GOP that they need to go back to the platform of limited government, responsible fiscal policy. Encouraging federalism, so National and local representatives can not force their agendas on the country. This is one reason why I said real conservatism is shrinking because it lacks political power in any party to win out. Even if we win in Nov., you are going too see the liberals in the GOP stall our momentum. Orrin Hatch should be warning his fellow Republicans not the Tea Party Activists.

  • texasgalt

    He just might follow his old friend Alan Simpson into retirement after the message is delivered in November.

  • Doc Holliday
  • Mary Beth
  • http://seekingliberty.wordpress.com fmaidment

    …who is wasting the taxpayer’s time and money with investigations into why Utah universities don’t get into the BCS Championship? Even though those same schools play in some of the weakest conferences and against some of the weakest teams in college football?

    Yeah, he’s somebody I really want to see continue in his job…

    Orrin is one more of the “Big Government” conservatives who needs to be sent packing in a primary.

  • fstaheli

    Hatch laments: “?If we fractionalize the Republican Party, we are going to see more liberals elected.” I can think of several liberals that I would want to have representing me in the Senate than Orrin Hatch.

    It has nothing to do with party, Senator Hatch. It has everything to do with respecting the Constitution. You haven’t done a very good job of that for several years. Pack your bags. After we dispatch Bennett, you’re next.

  • Bill

    go along and get along GOP guys who have been there through all this build up of the Dems who held the House for 40 years before 1994 and could not keep the Senate on the occasions the electorate gave them chances in 1980 and in the 2000s. When Hatch led the Sen. Judiciary Committee, we still have the liberal/progressive appointees of Clinton, GW Bush, Geo HW Bush and now Obama’s crowd. No guts, no glory! You allow these progressives at any and all levels of the courts to get “on the bench without a fight” you can’t get rid of them on lifetime appointments. Time for Hatch and Bennett to retire and give some young gun true conservatives a chance to fight the good fight, win or lose! Move over Bob and Orin…..

  • mbecker908

    than Bennett on health care. Personally I think Senate hearings on the BCS, NFL head injuries, the NBA and hopefully NASCAR and the luge is time much better spent than that group of fools working on national security, health care or the economy.

  • charliebravoNH

    Lets not forget that Orin Hatch fathered the Digital Millennial Copyright Act. This law unleashed Lawyers for often foreign owned record companies on American citizens for the “heinous” crime of file sharing.

  • Finrod

    Record company lawyers were suing people for copyright violations in excess of what it cost to buy the cds at the overpriced record store at the mall. The big 5 record companies should have been investigated and prosecuted under the Sherman anti-trust act and RICO, not given gifts like the horrible DMCA.

    Copyright in this country is badly broken, and the DMCA made it worse. The concept of copyright being for a limited time has gone the way of the 10th Amendment, heck, _Happy Birthday_ was written in the 19th century and is still under copyright by one of the big labels. IMHO no term of copyright should ever exceed 100 years ever no matter how much the Disney corporation wants to keep the copyright on everything Mickey Mouse ever appeared in.

  • http://pocketchangeproductions.net/ anotherindyfilmguy

    That’s always a smart strategy…

    blech…

  • eastbaylarry

    Does he think those nasty ‘conservatives’ will sneak into the republican party with their dispicable pocket constitutions?

    (Let’s all hope so!)

  • eastbaylarry

    Does he think those nasty ‘conservatives’ will sneak into the republican party with their dispicable pocket constitutions?

    (Let’s all hope so!)

  • wtpct

    Orrin Hatch disparages Tea Party People but supports Cass Sunstein…what else needs to be said ?

  • mikerazar

    to oppose Senator Hatch on a variety of issues. RedState has done a good job of pointing these out. As long as the opposition ends on primary day, I’m all for it. There is a long tradition in American party politics to unite behind the party’s nominee. Hatch is right to point out that a disunited GOP could lead to more Pelosicrats. Hatch ain’t perfect but he’s no Chuck Schumer. Capiche?

  • GenEarly

    Voluntary or Involuntary. Hatch lost his conservative coat years ago, Bennett probably never had one. Mc Cain has opposition too, but JD has “issues” and McCain DOESN’T?
    Vote for NEW Constitutional Conservatives, and if they don’t deliver vote them out. Better than continuing the abusive relationship with the Rino incumbents.Tired of being a beaten spouse? Or better to just forget and go along to get along? If any incumbent cannot prove their Conservative record, Vote NO !

  • Banjo

    Like John McCain, Hatch was tight with the bloated debauchee Teddy Kennedy. Anything else need to be said?

  • mac1327

    in line for defeat. He is a RINO and not representative of his Utah constituency. He is a Wimp in all respects and often gives Wimps a bad name. He is simply Mr. Nice guy co-dependent and desperately need a 12 step program.

  • lightfootletters

    “One of the stories coming out of CPAC this year is the embrace of the tea party movement not by the Republican Party, but by the conservative movement.” That is because the hard core base of the Republican Party, liberals and libertarians, no longer the support the RHINOS and CINOS running the Party. Just as liberals no longer support LINOS in the Democrat Party.

  • conritwng

    their head into the BCS,NFL, Nascar nor any other private non governmental business …PERIOD especially the Health care industry. If they want to be hero’s on the economy ,how about Un-doing years of regulations , rules , taxes ? Just get the heck OUT of the way of private enterprise would be a good start.
    Too many people are sucked into believing the government is the answer to our problems. THEY ARE THE PROBLEM.

  • conritwng

    definite nut job