Utah showed Senator Bob Bennett the door today. Bennett failed to win his party’s nomination after losing in the second round of voting at the GOP state convention. Bennett had voted for TARP and even co sponsored a healthcare bill with a Democrat.
Politico: SALT LAKE CITY— Sen. Robert Bennett lost his party's nomination during the second round of voting at the GOP state convention Saturday, making the three-term Senator the first incumbent to fall in this volatile midterm election cycle.
Bennett finished in third place in the crucial second-round vote, garnering just 26 percent of the delegates' support, well behind Tea Party-backed attorney Mike Lee and businessman Tim Bridgewater, who will advance to the June 22nd primary. […]
Bennett was dogged by his support for the Troubled Asset Relief Program and for co-sponsoring a healthcare bill with Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oreg.). To help make his case to the 3,452 delegates, he even tapped the star power of former Massachusetts governor – and fellow Mormon – Mitt Romney to make a final pitch.
But in the end, the furor stirring at the grassroots level of the party over spending and the growth of government was too much for him to overcome.
Bennett clearly did not get it. The nation is in no mood for spendthrifts and he voted for more spending. Bringing in Mitt Romney was even more of a mistake because it only reminded people of his involvement with healthcare. Plus Romney is not someone you call upon to buck up your conservative bona fides.
Bennett’s loss will serve as a nice reminder to Republicans up for election that now it not the time to go soft and that past votes can come back to bite you in the butt.
Via: Memeorandum
Via: Politico
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5 comments:
One RINO down.
Plenty more to hunt.
The Ewe Nork Times will howl in indignation and grief, of course. How dare those blankety-blanks (insert sexually charged insulting name here) dare call the good Senator Bennett to account for his votes?
Let's see how this plays out elsewhere around the country, since Utah is, by definition, its own unique sort of place.
Thanks for sharing this.
Great start to the election season. Everyone who has held his or her seat for more than two terms, should be looking for a new job and not as a lobbyist either.....
seriously ... no love-loss there. we're going to have a serious November mid-term, aren't we?1
I'm pleased to see a moderate, let's-legislate-and-meddle kind of Republican get shown the door. But that's not the rub for Bob Bennett - at least not for me. The fact that Robert Bennett ever ended up as a United States Senator without anyone ever questioning his role in the Watergate scandal is beyond amazing. This guy has the answers to a lot of questions, and just like he did in the early 70's, he's somehow stayed under the radar.
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