Olmstein
9th May 2010, 09:57 AM
Maybe this tea party thing has some legs. Another RINO gone. Crybaby, too.
The conservative grassroots Tea Party movement claimed its first major scalp in the US political establishment yesterday as the veteran Republican senator Bob Bennett was deselected by delegates in his home state of Utah for being too moderate.
Bennett, 76, has been in office since 1992 and is an ally of the Republican senate leader, Mitch McConnell. His defeat at the hands of two political newcomers was partly due to anger over his support for the White House's $700bn bailout of the banking system at the height of the global financial crisis.
Tea Party activists argue for a smaller government with less economic intervention and for conservative positions on guns, abortion and immigration in order to "take back" America. Their rise in influence is causing consternation for mainstream Democrats and Republicans alike.
Bennett was turfed out of office by coming a distant third in a ballot of 3,500 delegates in Salt Lake City. He got just under 27% of the vote, while challengers Mike Lee, a local businessman, and Tim Bridgewater, a lawyer, got 36% and 37% respectively.
Fighting back tears, Bennett said afterwards: "The political atmosphere obviously has been toxic, and it's very clear that some of the votes that I have cast have added to the toxic environment."
His defeat came despite a ringing endorsement from Mitt Romney, a former Republican presidential candidate who is a popular figure in Utah for his Mormon roots and his role in turning around the troubled 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. Romney had urged delegates to stick with the veteran senator, praising his "skill and loyalty and power" to battle the "sweep and arrogance of the liberal onslaught" in Washington.
Link (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/may/09/tea-party-ousts-republican-bennett-utah)
The conservative grassroots Tea Party movement claimed its first major scalp in the US political establishment yesterday as the veteran Republican senator Bob Bennett was deselected by delegates in his home state of Utah for being too moderate.
Bennett, 76, has been in office since 1992 and is an ally of the Republican senate leader, Mitch McConnell. His defeat at the hands of two political newcomers was partly due to anger over his support for the White House's $700bn bailout of the banking system at the height of the global financial crisis.
Tea Party activists argue for a smaller government with less economic intervention and for conservative positions on guns, abortion and immigration in order to "take back" America. Their rise in influence is causing consternation for mainstream Democrats and Republicans alike.
Bennett was turfed out of office by coming a distant third in a ballot of 3,500 delegates in Salt Lake City. He got just under 27% of the vote, while challengers Mike Lee, a local businessman, and Tim Bridgewater, a lawyer, got 36% and 37% respectively.
Fighting back tears, Bennett said afterwards: "The political atmosphere obviously has been toxic, and it's very clear that some of the votes that I have cast have added to the toxic environment."
His defeat came despite a ringing endorsement from Mitt Romney, a former Republican presidential candidate who is a popular figure in Utah for his Mormon roots and his role in turning around the troubled 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. Romney had urged delegates to stick with the veteran senator, praising his "skill and loyalty and power" to battle the "sweep and arrogance of the liberal onslaught" in Washington.
Link (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/may/09/tea-party-ousts-republican-bennett-utah)