This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Sen. Mike Lee appears to be pushing his own version of selling short — the investment tactic of trying to profit from the price of a falling stock.
The Utah Republican, based on an email he sent to GOP supporters Friday, is banking that his party's presidential nominee, Donald Trump, will lose to Democrat Hillary Clinton.
And Lee hopes to cash in on his party's pending debacle.
"The recent developments surrounding the [Democratic National Committee's] leaked email controversy and the systemic rigging, corruption, favoritism and double standard that define Hillary and the machine that propelled her to claim the party nomination for president is one of the reasons I ran for office in the first place," Lee wrote.
"I'm running for re-election this year and am counting on your support to help my path to victory," he said. "If Hillary is elected, I will continue to be the voice for transparency, accountability and will take every action I can to defend our Constitution from those who think they can play by their own rules. My work to shine a light on Washington isn't limited to partisanship; it is about good governance and respecting the rule of law."
Then came the kicker: "We are only five days away from the end of the month and an immediate contribution of $100, $50, $25 or even $10 will help our grass-roots campaign."
He must be talking about a grass-roots push besides supporters such as Citizens United, FreedomWorks and Americans for Prosperity.
Notice that there is nothing in the email suggesting that the way to prevent the government from falling into the hands of Clinton is to support Trump. So he appears to be betting his side will lose. And that it will help him win.
Speaking of selling short • The Utah Republican Party must be worrying mightily that Democrat Doug Owens will defeat first-term Rep. Mia Love, R-Utah, in the 4th Congressional District race.
The party has demonized Owens, noting how his father, Wayne, overcharged his congressional credit card when he was in the House a few decades ago.
So if his dad's misuse of credit card privileges should disqualify his son from public office, should the fact that Lee short-sold his million-dollar Alpine home, leaving his creditors with a $400,000 debt, disqualify the freshman senator as well?
The GOP also keeps reminding everyone, Doug Owens was one of the lawyers who sued the Utah Department of Transportation over environmental concerns with the Legacy Highway, causing delays and hiking the cost by hundreds of millions of dollars.
So would the GOP think you should vote against Gov. Gary Herbert after UDOT shelled out $13 million to pacify a bidder who lost a major highway construction project to abig Herbert campaign contributor?
Know your market • Several street vendors were noticed around the Republican National Convention hall in Cleveland peddling T-shirts that compared Hillary Clinton to Monica Lewinsky and referring to a lewd act.
By the end of the convention, delegates noted the peddlers' boxes were still full of shirts, indicating few if any had bought them.