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GOP's Civil War Opens Front in Utah

Sen. Robert Bennett considered soft for voting for bailout

By Caroline Miller,  Newser Staff

Posted Nov 14, 2009 9:18 AM CST

(Newser) – Veteran Utah Sen. Robert Bennett is the latest target of the insurrection within the GOP against incumbents seen as insufficiently conservative. The choice is surprising, the Los Angeles Times notes, because there's "nary a whiff of personal or political scandal" about the three-termer. Bennett's crimes: his longevity, his professorial manner, and vote for the financial bailout.

Since that vote last fall, Bennett has opposed virtually every bill included in the Obama agenda, but he has also refused to join in the attack on the president as a socialist menace. Bennett dismissed socialism as a buzzword that distracts from the nation's real problems, such as the burgeoning deficits. He also worked with Democrats on a bipartisan health reform bill, which went nowhere, but attracted the attention of the conservative Club for Growth, which has since targeted him with negative ads.

Senate Banking Committee member Sen. Robert Bennett  questions a witness during a committee hearing on the bailout of American automakers, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2008, on Capitol Hill.
Senate Banking Committee member Sen. Robert Bennett questions a witness during a committee hearing on the bailout of American automakers, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2008, on Capitol Hill.   (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
In this Sept. 2, 2002 file photo, Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah, right, talks to reporters as Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., listens, during a news conference in Lott's Capitol office in Washington. A survey shows that Bennett collected $71,499 in campaign contributions for the current election cycle though...
In this Sept. 2, 2002 file photo, Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah, right, talks to reporters as Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., listens, during a news conference in Lott's Capitol office in Washington....   (AP Photo/Ken Lambert, File)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 46 comments
cochiserocks
Nov 16, 2009 2:48 AM CST
Yup and that's assuming you have something that works to hand at the time.
Derni
Nov 15, 2009 4:26 AM CST
If you get rid of the Republican Democarts you have a memebrship of 20% left--go for it!! Now the party (if you wish to call it that) is rally dead-a new party will arise-the head pf the party-RUSS-the tail-Beck
AdaptAndOvercome
Nov 15, 2009 3:50 AM CST
Conservatives are becoming more white and more racist. Maybe they should be saluting "zeig heil". The GOP is falling apart and they want to reclaim 2012 as their own. They haven't got a clue on how to strenghten their own party and they want to be elected to run America. WHAT A JOKE THEY HAVE BECOME.

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