Bennett Ousted at Utah G.O.P. Convention (TEA PARTY DEFEATS RINO SENATOR)

The New York Times ^ | May 8, 2010 | Kirk Johnson

[Clintonfatigued]

Senator Robert F. Bennett, an 18-year veteran Republican who had been seeking a fourth term this fall, was stripped of his party’s nomination on Saturday at the state convention, becoming one of the first Congressional victims of the surging ferment of discontent from the Tea Party-infused Republican right.

Mr. Bennett, 76, was outmatched in delegate votes by two relative newcomers despite an enthusiastic endorsement and convention speech from Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor and local Utah hero, and a political pedigree of deep Mormon roots and public service.

[UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide]

You could circle Gregg & Hagel too.

[nonliberal]

You won’t find Sarah supporting any RINOs, that’s fer sure.

I hope that was sarcasm. Sarah backed the worst CEO in history in California.

[july4thfreedomfoundation]

Saturday evening, CBS Newscast called Bennett a “conservative” senator. I started to shout and curse at the TV....I would have made a Marine blush.....See BS.

Now, if we can get rid of McCain, I will have achieved Nirvana....

[vox_freedom]

ditto’s.

[NoGrayZone]

Lol, just started reading the comments....boy are people pissed!!!

One can only hold back truth for so long. Eventually, it breaks free. I do believe that is what we are seeing now.

It’s up to us to continue doing what we’re doing.....getting the truth out there.

From what I see, we are not “fading away” as they wish upon us, but are getting stronger.

Let’s “up” our volume a little higher.....America depends on us to get her back!!!

[TxAnn56]

“Sarah Palin has brought attention to the race by endorsing one of those masqueraders.”

She also endorses a “pathway to citizenship” ala McCain. She gave a little known interview on univision (spanish tv) during the campaign which really turned me off. You can find it on univision.com.

[Impy]

I like Iced Tea. Heavy on the sugar.

Sometimes though it gives you the Al Gore problem.

[Impy]

I like a move to the right wherever possible.

Of the GOP incumbent Senators running Bennett was at worst the third worst after Murkowski (needs more attention) and McCain.

I may wanna put Shelby and Thune ahead of Bennett as well.

But he was the most likely of any to lose.

[BillyBoy]

If I had to rank the incumbent GOP Senators up for re-election in 2010 from worst to best, I'd actually put Bennett in the middle somewhere. Nowhere near as good as a Coburn but well ahead of a Murkowski. Bennett's ACU rating was a pathetic 64% in 2008, but he was back up to 84% in 2009 which is considered reliable conservative (anything above 80% being "good" according to the ACU) But ACU ratings alone don't tell the whole story -- I'd also have to go by their lifetime ratings from other conservative organizations and how they've stacked on major issues, as well as how often they've delivered for us (and by delivered I mean actually fought to get something done, not just made a good speech on TV about it) I'd venture a guess that the current crop of Senators up for re-election would rank as follows:

WORST TO BEST -

1. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska
2. Chuck Grassley of Iowa
3. Richard Shelby of Alabama
4. John McCain of Arizona
5. John Thune of South Dakota
6. Bob Bennett of Utah
7. Johnny Isakson of Georgia
8. Richard Burr of North Carolina
9. Mike Crapo of Idaho
10. Jim DeMint of South Carolina
11. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma
12. David Vitter of Louisiana

My own internal ranking shows DeMint is overrated by freepers as the greatest Senator ever, and "future presidential candidate" John Thune is WAY overrated. I'd also rank several of the would-be Senators running in 2010 -- Kirk, Castle, Campbell, etc., WAY more liberal than the WORST sitting Republican Senator on this list (Murkowski). One Republican seat becoming 5% more conservative will not overcome a bunch of brand new Linc Chafees in the Senate to outvote him in the GOP caucus. Again I question freeper priorities, though admittedly it's easier to dump RINOs in some states more than others. But the most liberal Republicans should be the first ones to go.

I also think it's hypocritical of freepers to rejoice over Bennett being eliminated by a party convention, but scream bloody murder when the same type of process resulted in Dede Scozzafava being the GOP nominee. I believe Bennett should have been defeated, but that decision should have been up to Utah GOP primary voters. It seems in Utah the party decides who the voters are "allowed" to pick from.

Again, if we had term limit laws we wouldn't have to waste all this time getting rid of entrenched incumbents like McCain and Bennett, they'd simply be barred from running again. Then we could spend more money going after the truly awful socialist "Republicans" running for the U.S. Senate, and eliminate Democrat sleeper cells before they take root.

[BillyBoy]

Also, regarding the freeper arguement that we should only go after RINOs in GOP-controlled states (which I disagree with anyway)... according to that list, the ONLY GOP seat up for re-election in an “Obama state” is Grassley of Iowa. That means it should be just as big a priority to take out Murkowski, Shelby, and Thune, all of whom have conservative ratings on par with Bennett (or worse than him).

[CPT Clay]

Scosaffava down, Scott Brown elected, Crist Out, Bennent down... McCain next. Rino season will have been a stunning success.

[yongin]

After 2010, Thune plans on raising his national profile. David Brooks wants a Mitch Daniels/ Thune ticket. Thune’s okay.

The Utah Convention process is a glorified straw poll. In a regular primary with a broader electorate, Bennett might have survived or a least kept it close. He would have not finished a pathetic third.

[ding_dong_daddy_from_dumas]

One last post of the Bennett amnesty vote

A slight update of my Bennett limerick from the other thread (it used to say "A bailout supporter named Bennett"

A an amnesty backer named Bennett,
tried to remain in the senate,
but Tea Parties said NO,
he just had to go,
and Cornyn had no way to spin it.

[BigSkyFreeper]

great ...especially since he originally promised to serve only 2 terms

Yeah, and he was seeking a forth.

[BigSkyFreeper]

Doubt it. Bennett is 76 years old, he needs to hang it up and go home.

[BigSkyFreeper]

Exactly. We're supposed to hold our noses and support them, but when they lose it's our fault and they go 3rd party and play the spoiler.

Utah isn't going Democrat any time soon.  Bennett can go play independent spoiler, it won't work.

The fact that these bozo's that are being shown the door by their own constituents, who are switching to some goofy independent third party, just shows you they weren't Republican to begin with.

[BigSkyFreeper]

Thune shouldn’t be up that high in your list. He’s more Conservative than Coburn who isn’t more Conservative than DeMint. Coburn attacked FOX News and praised Nazi Pelosi and you have him near the “best”?

[BigSkyFreeper]

Thune is unopposed and the Democrats aren’t fielding a candidate against him because of his popularity in South Dakota and so the Dem-rats are spending their money elsewhere.

[BigSkyFreeper]

Thune is better than “ok”, he’s more conservative than some of these pseudo-conservatives running the party.

[BillyBoy]

Thune has a track record of being one of the biggest oinkers in Washington who spends zillions of dollars on pet projects in his own state. He's a big spending conservative and after GWB we don't need any more of them getting a promoting to a Presidential ticket. Thune was one of John McCain's earliest and most euthenisastic backers for President and was instrumental in helping him win those early primaries when the race was still wide open. Thune was one of the infamous "gang of 10" that sought to compromise with the Dems on drilling rights (you might notice when John McCain or Lindsey Graham does this kind of stuff, freepers scream bloody murder, but apparently when Thune does the same thing it doesn't blemish his "true conservative" credentials). Thune was one of the few Senators who argued we continue to be seek to be "bipartisan" with the Dems after they shoved socialized medicine down our throats, placing Thune to the left of many "RINOs" who flat out stated the Dems had poisoned the atmosphere and they wouldn't work with them on pet projects anymore. And if all that weren't enough, Thune joined with the left in their SUCCESSFUL effort in opposing Bolton's confirmation to the UN, forcing Bush to have to recess appoint Bolton by the time he got Thune back on the reservation. And unlike the Dems opposing Bolton because they geninuely disagreed with his world view, Thune lynched a fellow Republican for a completely unrelated pork item he demanded for his state. Gee, what a nice guy.

Need I go on?