The election in Utah tells many things. First, President Obama, there is a tea party. Second, today there is no redemption in politics. People are finally saying, you had your chance, now we are ready to try plan B. Coaches who fail get fired every day at all levels. Bad performance is usually not rewarded. Unless you are a union worker, a teacher or professor on tenure, or a politician. The first two are protected. The third, we have chosen to protect believing that bringing home chump change in earmarks is more important than doing a good job. That party is over.
Voters in Utah showed that in spades. Bob Bennett, Republican Senator, finished third in the Utah caucuses. He wasn’t conservative enough, even though he might be one of the most conservative Republicans in the Senate. The first incumbent in Utah to be thrown out in 70 years.
Here’s the deal, Mr. Bennett. You had lot’s of years to cut government spending. You didn’t. You had lot’s of years to cut the size and scope of government, you didn’t . Now it’s someone else’s turn to try.
This message will repeat itself many times between now and November. Charlie Crist and Bob Bennett are not the last of the Republicans who supported the Bush spending like Democrats for years. John McCain may join the group. We are sick and tired of all of you. Go home and find a real job. We never intended for the jobs in congress and the senate to be tenured. Basically, you are all screw-ups and hence responsible for the mess we have today. Goodbye Bob, Charlie , John and the rest, we appreciate your service, we just don’t like your performance.
Sen. Bob Bennett, a conservative who fell out of favor among even more conservative Republicans in an anti-incumbent rage, failed to get his party’s nomination in Utah Saturday, making it very difficult for him to seek a fourth term.
The gangly, bespectacled senator finished third in the second round of balloting at the Republican state convention in Salt Lake City, sealing his fate, the Salt Lake Tribune reported. Businessman Tim Bridgewater and lawyer and Tea Party favorite Mike Lee finished first and second respectively and will face off in a June 22 primary.
When results were announced there were shouts of “he’s gone, he’s gone,” as some GOP delegates waved “Do Not Tread On Me” flags — a favored symbol of the aggressively conservative Tea Party movement.
In defeat, Bennett becomes the first incumbent Utah senator to be deprived of his party’s nomination since Democrats ousted Sen. William King in 1940 over his opposition to the New Deal, the Tribune said.
Bennett, 76, was in tears, saying “the political atmosphere obviously has been toxic and it’s very clear that some of the votes I have cast have added to the toxic environment.” He was faulted, in particular, for supporting the Troubled Asset Relief Program — the so-called bailout bill. He could yet try a write-in candidacy, but it would be a huge challenge.
