The conversation on social media has been raging since Hatch barely captured the 60% majority vote during his party's convention to stand for election, forcing a runoff between him and former state senator Dan Liljenquist.  But a surprise endorsement by former Alaska governor Sarah Palin may be enough to turn the tide of chatter in the online community.

Over 1,000 references to Hatch on Twitter were recorded between May 17 and May 23.  As news of the Palin endorsement broke, the tenor of conversation seems to be pivoting away from disappointment with Hatch--and ire at the former Republican vice-presidential candidate, widely seen as the standard bearer of Tea Party Republicans.

"Disappointment: Sarah Palin endorses entrenched incumbent GOP Sen. Orrin Hatch" @TwitchyPolitics wrote May 22.

"I support @DanForUtah," @jmimac351 retweeted the senator. "thank you @SarahPalinUSA for your endorsement on Greta Wire tonight!"

The buyer's remorse of Sarah Palin's endorsement may have dominated the chatter, but there was just as much anger against Hatch, who made a pivot of his own during the Republican primary as he shifted away from being one of the few moderates left in Congress--to near radical, campaigning on a platform of simplifying the tax code, a pay down of the national debt, opposition to President Obama's energy agenda and other issues popular with the Tea Party crowd.

"Hatch did vote for $billions bailout for corps that grew 'too big to fail' on his watch" @gonnaleaveaMark wrote May 23.

"@OrrinHatch goes from rebel to the system," @EthanLindseyMMR tweeted. "will that doom his reelection?"

Whether Orrin is a rebel is up for debate, but the anger at his support of certain Obama-led policies--such as the proposed DREAM Act granting a pathway to citizenship for children of illegal immigrants-- has been enough to raise the hackles of Tea Party Republicans.

"Anyone who supports Obama has lost conservative principles" @twyrch got straight to the point.

But far and away, the biggest ire is reserved not for Hatch's platform, but his refusal to debate his Republican primary opponent.

"@OrrinHatch says he wants to punch people in the mouth, but people asking for a debate are bullies?" @mbowler said. "Weak."

According to the Deseret News, the senator has long refused to debate Liljenquist since the results of the convention in April. The refusal has forced the state senator to go on the offensive launching a PR campaign and internet campaign (a search for "Orrin Hatch" in Google News yields...an ad for Dan Liljenquist in the upper right hand side of the screen).

For his part, Hatch insists that the two previous debates and over a dozen joint appearances by Liljenquist and himself during the run-up to the convention are good enough.  But Liljenquist is relentless in his pressure to force Hatch into the limelight once more.

"Sen. Hatch needs to come out of hiding and give Utahns the respect they deserve by agreeing to televised debates" Liljenquist said in an interview with the News.

Whoever succeeds in capturing the party's nomination will face Democratic state senator Scott Howell, a Blue Dog Democrat and former member of the Democratic Leadership Council.  But even if Liljenquist wins, voters will face a stark contrast in candidates.  The former employee of Bain and Company--the same corporation Mitt Romney briefly headed in the 1990s--sponsored bills eliminating tenure of state employees, designating abortion as 'criminal homicide', and HB 477, which would have exempted the text messages and voice mails of legislators from Utah's Government Records Access and Management Act.

 Story by Jack Winn