Sen. Mike Lee might not want to continue these photo ops with Ted Cruz.
The crazy tea party Senate class of 2010 is already looking over their shoulders as the Republican "establishment" readies for potential primary challenges. At the top of the list is Sen. Ted Cruz's faithful sidekick,
Utah's Mike Lee. Billionaire Jon Huntsman Sr. has not been amused by Lee, and could finance a credible primary against him. Huntsman is not alone.
Some powerful establishment Republicans in Utah are tired of Lee’s hard-line positions. He stood with Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas last year when the federal government closed and again this month when they tried to take on President Barack Obama on immigration but ended up giving Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada leverage to confirm controversial nominations. […]
Lee has made significant headway in some Utah establishment quarters—but threats are lingering.
Huntsman, who founded the petrochemical giant that bears his name, refuses to meet with Lee because of his “extremely radical” positions and is considering putting his political and financial muscle behind a primary challenger.
Scott Anderson, a prominent bank president in Salt Lake City, has privately commissioned polls to assess Lee’s race while meeting with some of his prospective foes to gauge their interest.
With funding for a primary challenge essentially guaranteed, there are plenty of people considering it, including former state GOP party chairman, Thomas Wright. There's also Lane Beattie, the president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce, and a former state Senate president who says that "he has had 'strong encouragement' from the business world to run against Lee." The anti-Lee crowd has also talked to Josh Romney, one of Mitt's sons, and University of Utah political scientist Kirk Jowers.
For his part, Lee is trying to gain the support of some establishment types, kissing up to Harris Simmons, chairman of the board of Zions Bank. His problem there is that the president of that bank is the aforementioned Scott Anderson, the guy who is commissioning polls to pinpoint Lee's weaknesses. While Lee has a solid 52 percent approval rating now, 66 percent of Utah voters want to see more compromise and a Congress that gets something done. If Lee wants to continue to pal around with Ted Cruz, that's going to pose a problem for him. Because Cruz clearly believes his path the GOP presidential nomination is all obstruction all the time.
