Dan Liljenquist of Utah speaks at BlogCon 2011

Delicate Arch, Utah

Utah is known for many things--its fabulous national parks, its great skiing, and of course, its largest municipality, Salt Lake City, which of course is the headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Political surprises are not something Utah is known for, but last year tea party conservative Mike Lee upset incumbent Bob Bennett to win the nomination for the US Senate at the 2010 Republican State Convention.

Conventions is how GOPers pick their Senate nominees in the Beehive State. Orrin Hatch is up for reelection next year. State Senator Dan Liljenquist, who is not a candidate, alluded to that race in his speech to bloggers at FreedomWorks' BlogCon 2011 in Denver last week.

"When I was a two years old, a young man in Utah stood at our convention and said, '18 years is plenty of time somebody to serve in Washington,'" Liljenquist told the conservative activists. "Even accounting for inflation, 36 years is enough" he added.

Hatch is nearing the end of his sixth term.



About his three years in the state Senate, Liljenquist "I worked on two thing that were important to me." Those items were pension reform and Medicaid. Tough ones, I'd like to add.

A fiscal hawk, Liljenquist later declared, "We've tried the 'Audacity of Hope,' we need a little more of the Audacity of Nope."

My advice: Keep an eye on this Utahn.

Related posts:

Nebraska Senate race: Stenberg addresses BlogCon 2011
Indiana Senate race: Richard Mourdock addresses BlogCon 2011
Marathon Pundit's Four Corners Furtherance



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