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Before he died May 4 from complications stemming from pancreatic cancer and a stroke, former GOP Sen. Bob Bennett of Utah asked his wife, Joyce, and son, Jim, if there were any Muslims in his hospital. If so, he wanted to "go up to every single one of them to thank them for being in this country, and apologize to them on behalf of the Republican Party for Donald Trump." Joyce and Jim Bennett shared this story with The Daily Beast, as well as other tales involving his disgust with "Donald Trump's xenophobia" and proposal to ban Muslims from...

Former U.S. Sen. Bob Bennett, of Utah, who shied away from the spotlight but earned a reputation as someone who knew how to get things done in Washington, has died. He was 82. Bennett assistant Tara Tanner said he died Wednesday from complications of pancreatic cancer and a recent stroke. The Republican was first elected in 1992 and was widely seen at home as politically moderate, which at times put him at odds with Utah’s highly conservative Republican base. His middle-of-the-road reputation led to his ouster in 2010 at the state convention by delegates fueled by tea party anger. …

Establishment Republicans are reportedly trying to convince former Utah Governor and failed 2012 presidential candidate Jon Huntsman to oust Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) in 2016. CNN’s John King said on Inside Politics that national establishment leaders in the business community will join state establishment leaders to try to convince President Barack Obama’s former Ambassador to China to challenge Lee. King noted that Huntsman’s deep-pocketed dad (Huntsman Sr., though, did pony up funds to his son’s campaign down the stretch–perhaps because he saw the writing on the wall.) does not like Lee (Huntsman Sr. is reportedly upset his cancer institute did...

Some prominent moderate establishment Republicans in Utah are plotting to target conservative icon Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) with a primary challenge in 2016. Lee’s offense? He didn’t drink the Washington Kool-aid and see the D.C. cesspool as a jacuzzi after he ousted incumbent Sen. Bob Bennett (R-UT), who had supported the TARP bailouts, in 2010. When Lee prevailed over Bennett, he gave other conservatives across the country hope that they could also defeat entrenched incumbents who cared more about preserving the status quo above all else. Once Lee arrived in Washington, he didn’t turn his back on the base, which...

Former Sen. Bob Bennett says even though Republicans are set to take over Congress come January, don't expect Sens. Ted Cruz and Mike Lee to set the agenda. Bennett, speaking at a conference in Washington, says Sen. Mitch McConnell, who will be majority leader in the next Congress, has done a masterful job of "isolating" Ted Cruz. "There is no cannier politician in Washington than Mitch McConnell," said Bennett. "Yes, Ted Cruz is an unsettling factor within the Republican conference. My sense of things is Mitch has very carefully, very methodically, very much under the radar isolated Ted Cruz. He's...

Recently the New York Times reported on the Senior Senator of Kansas, Pat Roberts, who has been in Washington for 47 years in both the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. The article in question alleged that Senator Roberts does not live in Kansas, the Senator released a statement that did not contend that point but mentioned how he had visited every county in Kansas and during that time lived with friends and donor while paying them for the use of their homes. In other words he doesn’t live in Kansas. Richard Lugar the recently retired Senior Senator of...

Today may be the most important day of Sen. Orrin Hatch’s (R) bid for a seventh term. The Hatch campaign, fending off state GOP convention challenges from conservative opponents, has recruited and trained thousands of people to run as delegates for Hatch in tonight’s local caucuses being held around the state. The 4,000 delegates elected will go on to vote at the April 21 convention, where a nominee can emerge with 60 percent of the vote. If no one cracks that mark, the top two finishers go on to a June 26 primary. “The campaign has been working toward caucus...

The Senate voted 67-28 to pass a cloture motion, seemingly enough to assure final ratification. Eleven Republicans joined with 56 Democrats to pass the cloture motion. It will take 67 votes to ratify the New Start pact, which would give the Obama administration its top foreign policy goal in the lame-duck session. Among Republicans announcing their support were Richard G. Lugar of Indiana, George V. Voinovich of Ohio, Scott Brown of Massachusetts, Olympia J. Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine, Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker of Tennessee, Johnny Isakson of Georgia, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Thad Cochran of Mississippi, and...

Outgoing Sen. Bob Bennett (R-Utah) said Friday he's privately discussed the prospect that Republicans would pursue their own version of the DREAM Act next year. Bennett said he would vote for the immigration legislation, which gives immigrants who were illegally brought to the U.S. as children a conditional pathway to citizenship, if Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) brought it to the floor under the right conditions. If that fails, the outgoing senator said, Republicans have privately discussed the prospects of writing and passing a version of the DREAM Act that could make its way through Congress. "Now, I know...

Sources: Cornyn Jabs at DeMint’s Interference in Primaries By John Stanton Roll Call Staff 52 minutes ago Sen. John Cornyn said during a closed-door meeting Tuesday that he expects colleagues to bring their concerns to him about candidates he recruits as National Republican Senatorial Committee chairman — and not to help mount challenges against them, Republicans familiar with the meeting said Thursday. Although not mentioned by name, the Republicans said the Texas lawmaker’s speech was clearly intended for the ears of Sen. Jim DeMint. The South Carolina Republican backed a number of conservative “outsider” candidates this year who won tough...

Centrist Senate Republicans are likely to get a new ally in Sen.-elect Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), according to Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine).

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) stressed Friday he has no intentions of following down the path of his Utah colleague, Sen. Bob Bennett (R). During an appearance on Bloomberg's "Political Capital With Al Hunt" set to air this weekend, Hatch, who's up for reelection in 2012, talked down the prospect of losing to a conservative primary challenger the way Bennett did earlier this year. “I like Bob Bennett. I felt like he was a great senator. But I'm no Bob Bennett," Hatch said of his colleague, who lost at a state party convention to Mike Lee, the new GOP candidate for...

Jim Bennett, the son of Sen. Bob Bennett who ran his father’s campaign for a fourth term this year, has begun working as a volunteer on the Senate campaign of Democrat Sam Granato, who hopes to replace the senior Bennett in Washington, D.C. Bennett was ousted at the Republican State Convention earlier this year when he came in third in the delegate vote. Mike Lee then defeated Tim Bridgewater in the GOP primary to become the Republican nominee against Granato in the November election. The defeat of Bennett at the convention has triggered concerns among a number of traditional Republicans...

Washington • Sen. Bob Bennett said Thursday he was unaware that anyone on his staff got special home loans through CountryWide Finance Corp. as alleged in a congressional letter delivered to the Senate Ethics Committee. But the Utah Republican said he would cooperate fully with any ethics investigation that takes place. “I do not have a loan with CountryWide and I do not inquire as to where my staffers go to get their mortgages,” Bennett said in an interview with The Tribune. “I have full faith in the integrity of the staff and the matter is going to be in...

Warning that tea party "mischief" may be aiding Democrats this election season, defeated Utah Republican U.S. Sen. Bob Bennett says that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid likely will keep his seat and that the GOP may not win hotly contested Senate seats in Colorado or Kentucky either. Bennett, a three-term incumbent who lost his re-election chances when he failed to win his party nomination this year, made the comments in an interview with The Associated Press. The Utah senator said he fears tea party extremism could end up costing the GOP seats that they otherwise would have been able to...

Enraged voters, too dumb to appreciate the purveyors of pork . . . That was Mike Allen's complaint on Morning Joe today. Politico's chief political correspondent labelled "absurd" the decision of Utah and Nevada voters not to re-elect Bob Bennett [done deal] and Harry Reid [likely goner]. And why is it such a bad mistake? Because Bennett and Reid are proven pork providers for their states. Allen offered his analysis in response to Mike Barnicle's suggestion that in the current political climate, bringing home the bacon might actually backfire on politicians. View video here.

Sen. Robert Bennett, an honorable and sincere politician, was brought down by the rank and file of the Utah Republican party over the weekend. Bennett, visibly shaken by his loss, seemed as stunned as anybody that he didn’t pass muster with his own party. He had good reason to be shocked. Bennett is reliably conservative with considerable seniority. He’s also one of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s right-hand men. In every way, he represented the establishment within the GOP. And, ultimately, that’s why he lost. His gravest sins, according to critics, were his longtime support for a health-insurance mandate and...

Democrats and assorted commentators are professing to be alarmed about the defeat on the weekend of three-term Utah Republican Senator Bob Bennett at a GOP nominating convention. They say it signals the triumph of the tea party and other allegedly uncouth sorts, which is said to be bad for bipartisanship and other Beltway bromides.

[This article was written about Bob Bennett loosing his Senate seat in Utah. But it contains, IMHO, the best definition of the Tea Party I've ever read. That is excerpted below.] The Tea Parties represent an asymmetric threat to political organizations optimized for party-line warfare. The threat is no longer across the aisle but outside the building. As such, two possibilities suggest themselves. The first is that the Washington elite will circle the wagons, bury their minor differences and concentrate on keeping the money and power flowing to the capital. A threat from outside the building is after all, a...

TEA PARTY DOES FREE POLITICAL CREDIT CHECKS "THAT'S A TEA PARTY"--Yes, just a bible-thumpin', gun-totin', radical, fringe element of no consequence whatsoever. That's what you were told time and time again by the dispensers of truth in the left media. The real truth: The Tea Party Movement isn't just a rally or a bus tour anymore; it's a fact of political life. Deal with it. Incumbent politicians across the nation are going through a painful and sometimes humiliating political credit check before they are "loaned" the power and privilege to do our nation's business. After an extensive review of...