This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Sen. Orrin Hatch has indicated that he will not vote for the defunding of Obamacare. This single issue will be the undoing for the senator.

The fall of Sen. Robert Bennett was credited to his vote for the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP). While he subsequently attempted to redeem himself, this signature vote in blatant opposition to the fiscal responsibility he claimed to espouse motivated a large crop of challengers and eventually the loss of his seat. Hatch was spared the fury because his seat was not up for election that year.

Hatch, like Bennett at one time, appears untouchable and has had relatively few candidates within his party challenge his seat. However, like Bennett's vote for TARP, his refusal to take a stand "when it really counts" on Obamacare will fire a passion to unseat him in tidal waves. The good senator is signing his dismissal.

Andrea Speed

Beale AFB, Calif.