The Reg reports on an announcement by Utah Republican Steve Urquhart of his intention to run against Senator Orrin Hatch in 2006. Hatch, referred to both by myself and by The Reg as the Cartel's "favorite sock puppet" is a prime hate target for techies of all stripes. His support for the DMCA and later the abortive "Induce" Act hasn't pleased many people outside of Hollywood. Urquhart by contrast is tech-savvy (he has his own blog, for example) and believes that his conservative credentials will stand up well with local voters. Meanwhile, he wants to reach across state and party boundaries to raise funds for his effort to unseat the incumbent, appealing to those online who have been hurt by Hatch's advocacy for the Cartel.

It's a moderately clever proposal (Urquhart has got to be better than Hatch on almost any metric) and likely a tactic we'll see more of in the upcoming election. But Hatch didn't stay in the Senate for 28 years by being stupid or lazy. My guess is that he'll use the local Republican machine to crush this upstart, possibly even before primary season.