{"id":1663785,"date":"2022-09-29T08:02:51","date_gmt":"2022-09-29T12:02:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1663785"},"modified":"2022-09-29T08:04:25","modified_gmt":"2022-09-29T12:04:25","slug":"gop-senators-baffled-by-mitt-romneys-ploy-to-oust-mike-lee-and-maybe-thwart-a-majority","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gop-senators-baffled-by-mitt-romneys-ploy-to-oust-mike-lee-and-maybe-thwart-a-majority\/","title":{"rendered":"GOP Senators Baffled By Mitt Romney\u2019s Ploy To Oust Mike Lee \u2014 And Maybe Thwart A Majority"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">34<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fgop-senators-baffled-by-mitt-romneys-ploy-to-oust-mike-lee-and-maybe-thwart-a-majority%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1663785&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><\/div>\n<p>Republican senators are growing concerned by colleague Mitt Romney\u2019s refusal to help fellow Utah Republican Mike Lee decisively win his re-election campaign \u2014 a posture that could potentially keep their party from gaining a majority in the November elections. Unlike every other Republican senator, the 2012 failed Republican presidential candidate is declining to express a preference in Republican Lee\u2019s re-election effort against Democrat-endorsed Evan McMullin.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI respect [Romney], and I understand that each state has its own dynamics, but I do not understand why he is remaining neutral,\u201d said one Republican senator who asked not to be identified. \u201cWhatever our differences, we all try to support each other around election time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Both moderate and conservative senators confirmed the grumbling in the conference. \u201cWe should not have to be worried about Utah in any way. I don\u2019t know what he thinks he\u2019s doing, but it\u2019s not going over well, particularly with the [senators] who are up for chairmanships,\u201d said another Republican senator. Neither Lee nor Romney responded to inquiries by press time.<\/p>\n<p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.deseret.com\/utah\/2022\/9\/22\/23351744\/mike-lee-evan-mcmullin-poll-results-senate-election-utah\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">new poll<\/a> from Deseret News and the Hinckley Institute of Politics claims McMullin is only 2 percentage points behind Lee, with a full 16 percent of respondents unsure who they will vote for. The poll is admittedly somewhat difficult to believe, and not just because it was conducted by a pollster with a history of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.realclearpolitics.com\/epolls\/2016\/president\/ut\/utah_trump_vs_clinton_vs_johnson_vs_stein_vs_mcmullin-6154.html#polls\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">dramatically overstating<\/a> the electoral appeal of McMullin. The group\u2019s final 2016 poll, for example, showed McMullin losing Utah\u2019s presidential contest by only 2 points to Donald Trump. The final result was that Trump bested McMullin, who actually came in third behind Hillary Clinton, by 25 points.<\/p>\n<p>Even so, the poll suggests the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/opinions\/2022\/02\/18\/evan-mcmullin-tries-thread-needle-utah\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">strategy McMullin shared<\/a> with left-wing allies at The Washington Post and other corporate media \u2014 building a coalition of Democrats, independents, and Romney and his supporters \u2014 is working at least somewhat according to plan.<\/p>\n<p>In February, The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/opinions\/2022\/02\/18\/evan-mcmullin-tries-thread-needle-utah\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Washington Post<\/a> stated the obvious: Romney refusing to endorse fellow Republican Lee would be a \u201cboon\u201d for McMullin and would make it much \u201charder for Lee to consolidate the votes of moderate Republicans.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Democrats also joined in the coordinated effort to help their party maintain control of the Senate, declining to nominate their own candidate Kael Weston and instead endorsing independent McMullin.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is disappointing to see Senator Romney take a back seat in his in-state colleague\u2019s race as Senator Mike Lee enjoys broad support from voters across Utah and the country,\u201d said Jessica Anderson, president of the Sentinel Action Fund, a political action committee associated with conservative issue group Heritage Action for America. \u201cConservatives should utilize every tool possible to take back the Senate, starting with supporting incumbent Senators in important races.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Romney claimed he couldn\u2019t possibly endorse in the race because he is friends with both candidates, though it\u2019s unclear why he thought his previously unannounced friendship with McMullin would be harmed by him supporting Republican incumbents and nominees, as all other Republican politicians do.<\/p>\n<p>The Washington Post\u2019s Henry Olsen scoffed at Romney\u2019s line about friends. \u201cThat\u2019s sweet, but party loyalty matters, too. It\u2019s one thing to disagree within one\u2019s own party; that\u2019s what primaries are for. It\u2019s another to say that one is going to stay out of a general election and essentially tell your own state\u2019s voters that there\u2019s no difference between your party\u2019s nominee and someone backed by your party\u2019s adversaries. If that\u2019s friendship, Lee should start finding better friends,\u201d he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/opinions\/2022\/03\/22\/mitt-romneys-refusal-endorse-mike-lee-is-betrayal-his-party\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">wrote<\/a> in March.<\/p>\n<p>Romney\u2019s refusal to support Lee, and support his party\u2019s message that they have better solutions to what ails the country than their Democrat counterparts, is making other Republican senators doubt his loyalty to them, observers say.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you\u2019re not going to have\u00a0the back of your colleague in your state who is a fellow Republican, how will I know you\u2019ll have my back?\u201d said one senior Republican staffer, describing the thinking of the conference. \u201cIt creates a certain amount of awkwardness in the conference as a whole.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When he first publicly announced his decision not to endorse his fellow Republican, Romney might not have imagined that Democrats would join the McMullin effort. Romney is about as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.deseret.com\/utah\/2022\/2\/2\/22913085\/do-republicans-like-mitt-romney-poll-numbers-joe-biden-donald-trump-hinckley-inistitute-utah\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">popular with Democrats<\/a> as he is with Republicans in Utah, holding roughly half of each group\u2019s support. His refusal to endorse in a three-way race would have likely had little substantive effect on who won. But a refusal to endorse a two-way race is much more significant.<\/p>\n<p>Romney also might not have realized how vitriolic a campaign would be waged by his friend McMullin, who has called the constitutional conservative Lee a \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.deseret.com\/utah\/2022\/9\/7\/23339771\/evan-mcmullin-conservative-independent-senate-election-mike-lee\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">conman<\/a>,\u201d pushed <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/evanmcmullin\/status\/1574539461781659648?s=21&amp;t=8sWqDX247uBbqZVBNHvPYQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">conspiracy theories<\/a>, and supported <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/teammcmullin\/status\/1552508779102490624?s=42&amp;t=FaPP-M9GxvcozB9YyAZHdQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">disinformation campaigns against Republicans<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>All of this has Romney\u2019s Republican colleagues concerned, and not just for Lee, but for themselves.<\/p>\n<p>Polls show Republicans on track to do well in November, but with several incredibly tight contests. If Democrats were able to pull off an upset in Utah, it would have profound consequences for the control of the Senate, and the policies facing the country.<\/p>\n<p>If McMullin and other Democrat-endorsed politicians were able to keep control of the Senate, that would mean Bernie Sanders would chair the United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions rather than Rand Paul. Gary Peters would be the chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee instead of James Lankford. The powerful Judiciary Committee would be helmed by Dick Durbin, not Lindsey Graham. And Maria Cantwell, instead of Ted Cruz, would chair the Commerce Committee.<\/p>\n<p>Both moderate and conservative senators expressed disagreement with Romney\u2019s work in support of Democrats. Several noted the potential unexpected consequences of his alleged neutrality in the race. One of Romney\u2019s close friends is fellow moderate Susan Collins of Maine. If Romney\u2019s stunt were successful, two senators highlighted, it would mean that Patty Murray of Washington, rather than Collins, would chair the powerful Appropriations Committee.<\/p>\n<p>A longtime independent, Romney was the Republican governor of Massachusetts and a Republican nominee for president. In that presidential run, beset by doubts from voters about how conservative a Republican he was, he claimed to be \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/mitt-romney-reframes-himself-as-a-severely-conservative-governor\/2012\/02\/14\/gIQAaMiqHR_story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">severely conservative<\/a>\u201d and to have had a change of opinion in favor of protecting unborn lives from abortion.<\/p>\n<p>McMullin was the figurehead of a 2016 coordinated effort to depress Republican votes for the GOP nominee in a bid to elect Hillary Clinton as president. At that time, he claimed to be motivated by concern that Donald Trump was <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/GPollowitz\/status\/1521629590548103170\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">not pro-life enough<\/a> and would <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/GPollowitz\/status\/1521629590548103170\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">not do enough<\/a> to overturn <em>Roe v. Wade<\/em>, the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion on demand. After a report that Trump\u2019s three appointments to the Supreme Court helped overturn <em>Roe<\/em>, McMullin <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/GPollowitz\/status\/1521629590548103170\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">put out a statement critical<\/a> of their work.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">\n  Mollie Ziegler Hemingway is the Editor-in-Chief of The Federalist. She is Senior Journalism Fellow at Hillsdale College and a Fox News contributor. She is the co-author of <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Justice-Trial-Kavanaugh-Confirmation-Supreme\/dp\/1621579832\">Justice on Trial: The Kavanaugh Confirmation and the Future of the Supreme Court<\/a><\/em>. She is the author of &#8220;<em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Rigged-Media-Democrats-Seized-Elections\/dp\/168451259X\/\">Rigged: How the Media, Big Tech, and the Democrats Seized Our Elections.<\/a><\/em>&#8221; Reach her at <b><a href=\"mailto:mzhemingway@thefederalist.com\">mzhemingway@thefederalist.com<\/a><\/b><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Republican senators are growing concerned by colleague Mitt Romney\u2019s refusal to help fellow Utah Republican Mike Lee decisively win his re-election campaign \u2014 a posture that could potentially keep their<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":605,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1663785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1663785","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/605"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1663785"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1663785\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1663785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1663785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1663785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}