Tea Party Gave Utah Sen. Bob Bennett What Was Coming to Him

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These people in office think that it should be a career when in actuality it is a servants job. These self serving mini-kings in there own little empire should be forced to go out and make a living in the private sector instead of being the leeches they are. Instead of giving them lifetime benefits for damage they have done let's reward them the way some bad CEO's have been rewarded..... Jail!

Jeff of WI 12:02PM May 14, 2010

"Bennett will no doubt run as an independent..."
Utah law doesn't permit him to run as an independent for a race he filed for as a member of a party.
A write-in candidacy would be his only option, and I suspect that's an extreme long shot.

DrJubal of UT 5:59PM May 12, 2010

Quote: "The two candidates left in Nevada cannot bring home as much pork as Bennett did."
GREAT News! That is precisely what Republicans fear the most. Higher taxrs and bringing home more PORK. Maybe this November election will stop that circle of shame.
Secondly, Bennett is old now. Let a younger man or woman win the job. It is not a lifetime position.
Thirdly, Bennett was suppose to do only two terms - according to his party's wishes. Didn't he listen when they voted him in?

Susan Demidovich of FL 4:43PM May 12, 2010

Senator Bennett was shoved out the door because he "isn't conservative enough" in the minds of those in Utah who favor strict constitutionalism, small government, low taxes, minimal government spending, and states' rights. Mainly, they're the same people who fear world government and push for an exit from the U.N., who fear that the feds will take away their guns and liberty, and who want no more land in Utah locked up by the BLM or Park Service. They have, in fact, a proprietary feeling about Utah and their right to roam its mountains and desert at will--on four wheelers and ski mobiles principally as can be heard and seen almost anywhere.
How do I know? I've lived in Utah for 45 years.
Bob Bennett made the mistake of working across the aisle in Washington, and of late that is the kiss of death for ultra-conservatives who, schooled by those preachers of anti-liberalism everywhere to be heard in talk radio, have taken things into their own hands. Their rallying cry is anti-Obama, it goes without saying, because spending is out of control and big government looms.
With Bennett eliminated from the Republican "tent" in Utah, the two candidates who remain are horribly inadequate for returning to Utah what Bennett was able to. They are so obviously not up to it that Bennett will no doubt run as an independent unless party loyalty intrudes. And the door has inadvertently been opened to the Democrats' candidate--no big threat in this reddest of red states unless Bennett does decide to go independent. If he doesn't, Sam Granato has a chance.
Orrin Hatch, the other Senator from Utah hears footsteps but is not up for reelection. He'll be watching in the wings this year, trying to figure out whether he can remain Orrin Hatch beyond November or should become a hybrid version with newfound extremist voter-friendly values. At his age and with almost half his life already spent in the Senate, we can hope he'll decide enough is enough before the executioners show up for him, too.
I, for one, can't wait for events to unfold in the Beehive State!

Ron W. Smith of UT 3:36PM May 12, 2010

As is well known, the Tea Party had virtually nothing to do with Bennett's nomination failure. Anti-incumbency and the Tea Party are two quite separate matters. You may want to read a fairly definitive analysis of the political context of the Tea Party, its likely development and evolution at:
http://funks2.wordpress.com/2010/04/16/the-trip-to-nowhere-on-the-tea-party-express/

FunkUniversity of IL 1:02PM May 12, 2010