I think the Republicans just can’t accept that they need a Matheson of their own if they want any chance of beating him.

If John Swallow had just stood right up and said that he would have fought to keep nuclear testing and nuclear waste away from Utah even when it meant taking George Bush head on, he’d be Utah’s congressman right now. But instead he made that three second film of him walking down a hall with Bush the centerpiece of his campaign.

Any Republican with a chance against Matheson now would have to be one who upset them as much as Matheson upsets Democrats by making his own way instead of toeing the party line. Which means Matheson is safe because they’d never tolerate it the way we do.