Senator Orrin Hatch Has High Hopes For Imus, Low Hopes For Health Care Reform

Senator Orrin Hatch didn’t mind getting on a few minutes late this morning, and told Imus he’s up pretty early in the morning anyway. Still, the I-Man apologized, citing a complete lack of discipline as the reason for the delay.

“It’s so unlike you to apologize,” said Hatch, a Republican from Utah. “It’s one of the first ones you’ve given me. It’s the new Imus, I think.” (Yeah, okay.)

Though conciliatory toward Imus, Hatch was fired up this morning about the Democrats using the reconciliation process to push their health care bill through the Senate.

“If they pass that bill, we’re going to be paying for it the rest of our lives,” said Hatch, his gentle voice a contrast to the anger he expressed.

The reconciliation rule has never been used for legislation as lacking in bipartisan support as the health care bill is at present, a sentiment Hatch expressed in a Washington Post Op-Ed he wrote this week.

“The Left just lit up, they are so upset,” Hatch said. “I think they just can’t stand the truth…you know what they say: a kicked dog yells. And boy is this health care bill a dog.”

He thinks that Democrats in the House will be bullied into voting for whatever version of a health care bill the Senate pushes through, a move that could have dire consequences for the Party in November.

“There will be a lot fewer Democrats around come next year,” Hatch predicted. “The American people are outraged.”

Imus, however, was at a slight disadvantage this morning because he is reluctant to believe anything that any politician from any party ever says. He’s even skeptical of former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, who ran unsuccessfully for President in 2008, despite Hatch’s insistence that Romney could turn this country around.

“He’s got the economic wherewithal to help the country through these very difficult times,” said Hatch, who’d like to see Romney run again in 2012. “Plus, he’s gutsy.”

The Senator even went so far as to suggest possible running mates for Romney, naming Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour or Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels as potential choices. Though these ideas bothered an already irritated Imus, Hatch appreciated his time with the I-Man nonetheless.

So he’s the one.

-Julie Kanfer