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EDITOR OF REDSTATE

If Conservatives Are Serious About Their Resurgence, They Will Defeat Bob Bennett (R-UT)

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  January 4th, 2010 at 10:00 AM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

“Conservatives have a perfect opportunity to shift an existing Republican seat to the right. They should seize the opportunity and defeat Bob Bennett.”

Poor wittle conservatives. Nobody wistens to the poor wittle conservatives.

The Senate Minority Leader talks like a conservative, but behind closed doors he does everything he can to shut down conservative small government agenda items and pro-life measures so he doesn’t have to vote for them.

House guys are little better. Remember Dede Scozzafava and the House GOP support for her?

Everyone likes to flirt with the conservatives and get their money, but they all get the joke — at the end of the day, conservatives will perform any act the Republican establishment asks to be performed, including acts Monica Lewinsky would blush at and run from.

Everybody gets the joke.

It is no wonder the tea party movement polls better than the GOP.

To the Republican establishment, NY-23 was just a temper tantrum. In fact, I know of more than one allegedly conservative elected Republican who loved the results of NY-23 because they think it finally put conservatives in their place.

That’s the reality of it. Conservatives are and have been perfectly willing for far too long to accept Republican establishment leaders who either actively hate conservatives or are wholly indifferent to them.

Trust me, the people who treat pro-lifers with the most distain are not pro-choice leftists, but leadership Republicans who want their money and vote, but otherwise wish they’d shut the heck up.

And that situation is going to continue until conservatives decide to take a Republican scalp in a GOP primary.

Allow me to recommend Bob Bennett (R-UT). In fact, if conservatives really do want to be taken seriously by the GOP and not be seen as just puppets for leadership, defeating Bob Bennett should be the number one agenda item of every conservative in the United States of America, even surpassing the desire to see Marco Rubio beat Charlie Crist.1

  1. Just a note to stop the hate mail flowing in for being a traitor to Marco Rubio: we can fight on two fronts at once, but the reason this should be our number one agenda item is because (for those of you who stopped here instead of going below the fold) the Utah GOP Convention is only a couple months away. It is a higher priority because it is much more pressing. I’m not nor would I ever suggest abandoning Marco. Only one of these have I called a ‘hill to die on.’ Better now?
    ↩

Bennett is the eighth most liberal Republican Senator and he is from the most conservative state in the nation. There is no reason for Bennett to still be in office.

Under Bennett’s health care alternative to Obamacare, the government would fund abortions and individuals would be forced to buy their own health care under pain of serious financial penalty. In fact, the present Senate health care plan is, in some instances, to the right of the Bob Bennett plan.

Bennett is also a champion of larger government. He has rarely met a government plan he did not approve of. Likewise, he is a huge porker, voting repeatedly to fund government expansions and line the pockets of big businesses wishing to shut out competitors and entrepreneurs.

Bob Bennett has made no secret of his disdain for conservatives. Though he is not in the Republican Senate leadership, his best friend forever Mitch McConnell has allowed him a seat at the table. Using that position and the ear of his bff, Bennett has sabotaged pro-life legislation, ethics reform, tax reform, and regulatory reform that would help entrepreneurial small businesses over the big businesses the GOP so often considers their friend because the word “business” appears in the phrase.

Defeating Bob Bennett is a no-brainer. There is little chance a Democrat could win the seat statewide in Utah. Likewise, the Bennett defeat would come in a convention, not a bloody and expensive primary. If 60% of Utah Republicans reject Bennett at their state convention, he’s toast without a primary. And that convention happens in just a few months — which is why I put a higher priority on this than the Rubio v. Crist race. The timeline is rapid and gives us time to get back to Florida.

Conservatives have a perfect opportunity to shift an existing Republican seat to the right. They should seize the opportunity and defeat Bob Bennett.

Oh, and if you have a Facebook account, you can see that Bob Bennett is having a “fireside chat” in Provo, UT this Tuesday night. The event will begin at 7:30 p.m. at the Provo Marriott. To RSVP, email RSVP@bennettforsenate.com or call 801-328-4889.

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COMMENTS

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  • arc_ut

    It is my belief Cherilyn Eagar will get enough state delegates on March 23rd that on May 8th of this year, Senator Bob Bennett will not even make it to a primary.

    Bennett campaign spent over $1 million in the 1st 3 quarters of this year and most Utahns do not want to see him return.

    He voted to state that the Senate Healthcare bill that passed was unconstitutional, yet his own bill, The Healthy Americans Act (HAA), also known as the Wyden-Bennett Bill was just as bad, in fact, many of the really bad things we hate about the current Senate version were in his bill.

    Take a look at Cherilyn Eagar, who according to the last poll had the best chance of taking out Bennett at convention.

    http://www.redstate.com/arc_ut/2009/12/03/tired-of-senator-bob-bennett/

    It you want to find out why I hope Eagar wins:

    http://www.eagar4senate.com/
    http://twitter.com/CherilynEagar
    http://www.facebook.com/cherilyn.eagar
    http://www.youtube.com/user/Eagar4Senate

    Principles for a Change.

    Fiscal Restraint
    Limited Government
    Free Market Solutions
    Energy Independence
    Strong National Defense
    ? not only abroad and along our borders, but within our communities and our families.

    Principled. Passionate. Persuasive. Prepared.

    For more information and to donate, go to
    http://www.eagar4senate.com/

  • arc_ut

    Typo from above, Bennett spent $1 Million on his campaign Jan 2009 to Sep 2009. We don’t know (FEC filings) how much he spent the last quarter of 2009 yet.

    The really bad part of Bennett’s healthcare bill was the mandatory coverage, but it also required insurance companies to have an abortion coverage.

    Bennett’s bill, S.391 Healthy Americans Act:

    (3) COVERAGE FOR FAMILY PLANNING-

    (A) IN GENERAL- Except as provided in subparagraph (B), a health insurance issuer shall make available supplemental coverage for abortion services that may be purchased in conjunction with enrollment in a HAPI plan or an actuarially equivalent healthy American plan.

    (B) RELIGIOUS AND MORAL EXCEPTION- Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to require a health insurance issuer affiliated with a religious institution to provide the coverage described in subparagraph (A).

  • yoyo

    “… Defeating Bob Bennett is a no-brainer. There is little chance a Democrat could win the seat statewide in Nevada. Likewise, the Bennett defeat would come in a convention, not a bloody and expensive primary. ”
    ——————————————————————-

    Uhhhh, I think you meant Utah, not Nevada….

    We get it. It is a Monday and a New Year.

    ‘:o)~

  • http://www.healthinsurance4utah.com utahhealthinsurance

    The only one with the ability to beat Bennett will be Mike Lee. And he will do so at convention.

  • http://www.bearcreekledger.com toni100

    get involved in their local precincts so they can be delegates to the state convention. They need to get elected as delegates to move up the ladder. I’m not sure how Utah works but in MN, you get elected to be a local delegate through your precinct. Then you move to the next level which is called BPOU (basic political organizational unit) and you need to get elected there too and then it’s to the district level where you need to get elected to get to the state convention. It obviously gets more difficult as you move up the ladder if you are an unknown. Most people who attend all these events are long time politicos in the party and they usually vote for the same old same old. You can’t just show up and expect to be elected. It’s a process that starts in February. I never got beyond the BPOU. Be ready with a passionate, compelling and cogent speech to give to the people attending each level. Come with flyers introducing yourself and providing your bonafides.

  • crosley

    In a state like Utah, it absolutely makes sense to make sure a true conservative gets the Republican nomination, and there’s zero risk of losing this seat because of a bloody primary.

    It looks like the problem in this case is deciding on one candidate. My guess is the conservative vote will be split up, giving the nomination once aagin to Bennett.

  • arc_ut

    Cherilyn is the only one is the race that 30 years of experience fighting for conservative causes at a local, state, national and international levels.

    Cherilyn doesn’t have the ties to Energy Solutions and their fight to bring Italy’s waste to Utah.

    Gov. Gary Herbert (UT) is trying to put some limits on Energy Solutions and the last thing we need is Bob Bennett (or some attorney backing them like Mike Lee) as US Senator in Energy Solutions court.

    Bennett got $50,000 in contributions from E.S.

    I would think that
    http://media.bonnint.net/slc/1652/165262/16526211.pdf
    would sink both of them.

    Cherilyn Eagar is still the best one to take out Bennett.

  • Tony82

    Besides participating in one of Bennett’s “fireside chats”, what can we do to help promote a challenger? Are we even unified behind a particular challenger?

  • eldstenorge

    The problem with this is Mike Lee is not a conservative and has not earned his stripes. He went to bat for former Governor Jon Huntsman, Jr,, against conservatives in this state. He has never done anything to deserve conservative support. Why change Bennett just to give us Mike Lee. Might as well just vote for Bennett again. Cherilyn is a proven conservative and has fought in the trenches for many years. She is the one to elect.

    I do disagree though on Marco Rubio and Charlie Crist. I think that is the most important race in the nation next year. Rubio is the face of the future of the GOP. We all need him.

  • http://impudent.blognation.us/blog kyle8

    I have been saying things similar to this for about three years now on Redstate and have been raked over the coals for being too hard on Republicans, or for empowering Republican critics, or empowering the Democrats.

    But Glad to have you on board. I never vote party line anymore. I only support candidates who are worthy of my support.

  • baronphoenix

    First, Mike Lee isn’t running. He’s been positioning himself all year, but hasn’t announced. He probably will, but told me some time ago, “I’m only 38, I have time.” That’s not a serious candidate.

    Cherilyn Eagar has been working fulltime on this campaign since early last year. She has a crack team, several national endorsements (with more to come) and a killer grassroots plan to beat Bennett at convention. (That’s on top of her 30 years experience in solving problems and all her other qualifications.)

    Erik is right, this is the race to watch: A 3-term, powerful incumbent with an $8M war chest, taken out by a dark horse with a staff of neophyte volunteers — many of whom have never run a statewide race — winning on priniciples and hard work.

    Conservaties, watch this race like it was your own — this is how it’s done!

  • arc_ut

    Bob Bennett started ads on TV a year ago. There is only one current candidate that had filed with the FEC and had a booth at the June 2009 Utah GOP State Convention, Cherilyn Eagar.

    We have seen two candidates get in this race and leave for family or business reasons. We will have one or two still get in.

    Phyllis Schlafly, President of the National Eagle Forum PAC, is also known as “The First Lady of the Conservative Movement.” is backing Cherilyn Eagar.

    The Good Egg Club The Good Egg Club is a list of 24 constitutionally conservative candidates for Congress, including Chuck DeVore (CA), Pat Toomey (PA), Sharron Angle (NV) and Vicky Hartzler (MO).
    https://www.thegoodeggclub.com/
    is backing Cherilyn Eagar

    Independent Conservatives INDYCONS.net is a privately-run website which “seeks out and promotes Conservative politicians who adhere to strict “Beliefs”, “Principles” and “Values”.”

    912 Candidates 912Candidates.org was founded by Jacob Roecker, who writes, “We require each candidate, like the signers of the Declaration, to pledge their Sacred Honor. Sacred Honor is the only part of an individual that is entirely within their control. Governments can confiscate property, and the law can take someone?s life in response to a serious crime, but no one, and no organization, can take away or tarnish someone?s Sacred Honor. Only the individual can do that.”

    Art Wayland is a big-rig driver traveling America with his “912 Truck Project” and interviewing candidates. After a stop in Salt Lake City in November, he blogged, “I ask you please, if you are in Utah, take a look at this highly conservative, very well-versed, amazing, American Patriot to replace the 8th most liberal Republican in the U.S. Senate, his name being Bob Bennett. Bennett is serving his third term as an entrenched politician, controlled and elected by the money of special interests due to his liberal leanings. Just please take a look at Cherilyn Eagar for Senate, Utah.”

    http://www.eagarforsenate.com/donate-now

  • arc_ut

    If Bob Bennett can’t get 40% of the vote at convention, even after 3 votes, he is gone.

    However, I do believe it is important that we back one candidate now.

  • arc_ut

    typo:
    “There is only one current candidate [besides Bob Bennett] that had filed with the FEC and had a booth at the June 2009 Utah GOP State Convention, Cherilyn Eagar.”

  • baronphoenix

    When it comes to Utah, don’t guess, ask! In a recent poll by one of the state’s two major papers, almost 60% said they didn’t want Bennett to get his 4th term, less that 30% said they did. That’s across the board; it’s higher among Republicans. “Anybody but Bennett” is the rallying cry of grassroots conservatives, but, really, they want a true conservative to vote for.

    Our convention is a simple, two-round vote, by state delegates chosen in precinct caucuses. At the state convention, every candidate is in the first round, the top three go to a second round and the top two from round two go to primary, unless someone gets 60% of the delegates in either vote, then the race is over and the candidate is chosen.

    I’m guessing Bennett is counting on a primary, when he can make the best use of his warchest and name recognition. The Eagar campaign isn’t even thinking about a primary, her plan is win in convention. She’s going to do that by going to the grassroots conservatives and winning their support with her experience and her principles. She’s been all over the state, and will keep campaigning in every town and city she can get to between now and convention. That will be her win.

  • http://www.healthinsurance4utah.com utahhealthinsurance

    Arc,
    You have been trying for months now to try to link Bob and Mike together on Energy Solutions and you still have no traction. There is no link. Mike’s defense of them was to allow Energy Solutions and Utah to work it out and not have Washington DC to interfere. Sounds VERY much like a defense of state’s rights to me. Now I know you to be a big defender of the Constitution and the 10th Amendment, so you should think that to be a principled position, would you not?

    Again, when Mike rolls out his campaign, it will prove to people that HE is the only candidate capable of defeating Bennett at convention. And he will.

  • http://www.healthinsurance4utah.com utahhealthinsurance

    Phoenix,
    I am just curious. Can you define “several” endorsements? Usually several means more than 2.

    But like I said. Mike Lee is the real conservative to beat Bennett and will do so at convention.

  • nickm

    who was National Press Secretary for the Reform Party USA?

  • http://conservativestateproject.blogspot.com/ SE-779

    Is the real deal in this race and should be given a look. He believes in Fiscal Discipline, Accountability, National Security, Limited Government, and Immigration Reform. And here’s his principles that he adheres to:

    Principle 1 – Is Natural Law.
    Natural law is God’s law.
    Principle 2 – To remain virtuous and morally strong.
    Principle 3 ? To elect virtuous and moral leaders.
    Principle 4 ?To maintain religious believes.
    Principle 5 – All things were created by God.
    Principle 6 – All mankind were created equal.
    Principle 7 ? To have equal rights, not equal things.
    Principle 8 – Mankind is endowed by God with certain unalienable rights.
    Principle 9 – To protect human rights, God has revealed a code of divine law.
    Principle 10 – Sovereign of the people.
    Principle 11 – The majority of the people may alter or abolish a government which has become tyrannical.
    Principle 12 – The United States of America shall be a republic.
    Principle 13 – Protection against human frailties.
    Principle 14 – Life and liberty are secure only so long as the rights of property are secure.
    Principle 15 – Free-market economics.
    Principle 16 – The government should be separated into three branches .
    Principle 17 – A system of checks and balances should be adopted to prevent the abuse of power by the different branches of government.
    Principle 18 – The unalienable rights of the people are most likely to be preserved if the principles of government are set forth in a written Constitution.
    Principle 19 – Only limited and carefully defined powers should be delegated to government, all others being retained by the people.
    Principle 20 ? Majority rule, minority rights.
    Principle 21 – Strong local self-government is the keystone to preserving human freedom.
    Principle 22 – A free people should be governed by law and not by the whims of men.
    Principle 23 ? To have an educated Electorate.
    Principle 24 – A free people will not survive unless they stay strong.
    Principle 25 – To avoid entangling alliances.
    Principle 26 ? Protecting the role of family.
    Principle 27 ? To avoid the burden of debt.
    Principle 28 – The founders sense of manifest Destiny.

    This man is the real deal. For more on him go to:

    http://www.voteforjameswilliams.com/
    http://apps.facebook.com/causes/212537?m=4a83263b
    http://www.myspace.com/jamesutahsenate2010
    https://twitter.com/1jrwilliams
    http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=107534456725&v=info
    http://www.blogger.com/profile/05836342144732936593
    http://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesrussellwilliams

  • 69Vette

    As a resident of Utah I agree completely with your post Erick. Everything I’ve read so far of Cherilyn Eagar makes her seem to be a very attractive candidate. I would LOVE to see Bennett get the retirement he so richly deserves. If he doesn’t even make it to the primary, even better!

  • itsjoanne

    She sounds like a very solid conservative, and we need some conservative women in the Senate. I’m tired of liberals saying the GOP is a party of old white men.

    Cherilyn would make a great Senator I’m sure.

  • charliebravoNH

    “To the Republican establishment, NY-23 was just a temper tantrum. In fact, I know of more than one allegedly conservative elected Republican who loved the results of NY-23 because they think it finally put conservatives in their place.”

    Erick

    Why not “out” these allegedly conservative elected Republicans and get them “primaried” if they are up for reelection. Why stop at Bennett.

  • lynchsteele

    It’s the supposed outlet for true conservatives….that’s a lie. This site is just a reactionary feedbag for blowhards, mostly its’ creator….if it were a truthful site extremism wouldn’t be present, very few logical answers are ever spoken here, more finger-pointing, where are the solutions.

  • lynchsteele

    ESFOD

  • Achance
  • http://www.ssce.net/Web-Articles/Web-articles-indexed-authors.html#authors-l JLenardDetroit

    you are dismissed

  • gekster
  • gekster

    I don’t see you around here to much longer.

  • http://impudent.blognation.us/blog kyle8

    If you don’t like it, make your own site genius.

    I have been all over the blogosphere and there is NO other place that has serious discussions of policy where anyone can freely contribute.

    We talk about not only politics but philosophy and culture.

    Sometimes we get a little animated and we do not suffer fools or trolls lightly. But if you shut up for a while and listen then you might learn something.

  • http://www.ssce.net/Web-Articles/Web-articles-indexed-authors.html#authors-l JLenardDetroit

    as “lynchSteele” is a threat to a minority and therefore a Federal HATE CRIME – since Liberals love un-equal justice and special case, this clown should have their info passed along to the FBI by RedState so they can find out first hand how those laws work.

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens
  • arc_ut

    http://www.redstate.com/cherilyneagar/2010/01/05/cherilyn-eagar-calls-for-end-of-political-back-room-deals/

  • ladylibertas

    Thanks Erick for posting this – I am attending – can’t wait!

    I just moved to Utah so I have been looking at the situation here – considering how Conservative Utah is, I am shocked that Bennett has been allowed to go on this long unchecked.
    Forget reaching across the aisle, we want Conservative Representation. Eagar looks good to me!

  • whimsley

    We have the Democratic Party, the Republican Party, the Independents, the Libertarians, etc. Maybe what we need is one which all true conservatives can rally around. Call it the Tea Party. It would promote as candidates only men and women who are truly conservative, who support the Constitution, who do not pander to special interest groups, who really act on the people’s behalf, who work to limit and reduce the size of government, who support a free trade, market economy, etc., you get the idea.

  • whimsley

    We have the Democratic Party, the Republican Party, the Independents, the Libertarians, etc. Maybe what we need is one which all true conservatives can rally around. Call it the Tea Party. It would promote as candidates only men and women who are truly conservative, who support the Constitution, who do not pander to special interest groups, who really act on the people’s behalf, who work to limit and reduce the size of government, who support a free trade, market economy, etc., you get the idea.

  • itrytobenice

    You can do it. Don’t let yourselves be shown up by the Okies again. I *know* somewhere in that state you have a good one. Find him and we’ll love you forever.

    If you get two of them, we will even try to get a wall between you and Californication.

  • romeg

    First off: I caught your appearance on Colbert. Superb performance, if I may call it that. I’m DVRing Hannity as I write this. Sorry I missed Mornin’ Joe. But on to the topic at hand.

    There are a number of potential challengers to Bennett, none of whom are known outside of the State. What can you tell us about these challengers. Given the events in GA over the past 72 hours, how long should one give these candidates on the other side of the country before something similar happens in that race.

    With limited resources we all want to have the greatest possible impact. There is a very long shot (R) challenger in MA for Ted Kennedy’s seat. It would be fitting indeed if he could be elected so that this piece of crap aka Obamacare can receive both a symbolic as well as a literal defeat this year.

    Your efforts and the results thereof in NY23 were stunning and very encouraging. So help us focus our efforts in the MA and UT races.

  • Flint

    it’s one or the other – but not both.

  • Flint

    I used to live in Utah – and deicded to start getting involved in State/Local politics in 2000 – and was involved for 3 years until we moved.

    Republicans have a neighborhood caucus meeting (I’m assuming Democrats do as well – but since I’m not a Democrat – I don’t know for certain). Anybody who is registered and interested can attend.

    Basically people go around the room, introduce themselves, and talk about if they’d like to be a delegate to the county and state convention. Most of the campaigns send literature to the caucus site (usually somebodies home). Sometimes they talk about the different candidates.

    Then a vote is held. Alternates are also selected. I believe in Utah, you can be selected to goto the County convention, or the State convention, or both.

    Some people are open minded, some people have already committed to a particular candidate.

    A lot of it also depends upon your neighborhood as well. A lot of times the “old timers” (people who have been involved in this for many many many years) get elected to go to the conventions.

    In my opinion, the old timers tend to look down on those people who just came out the first time because they like candidate X or Y. Kind of like they’re the “flavor of the month” – whereas the old timers are actually interested in the whole process – year in and year out.

    The campaigns encourage people who support them to goto the caucuses and “bring your family and friends” (who have to be registered Republicans as well) – to basically stack the vote so you can goto the county and then state convention.

    The biggest challenge for anybody to unseat Bennett is going to be getting enough of their people to get selected to goto the State convention. Because you have a lot of old timers who’ve been doing this for a while, and they usually get elected.

  • Flint

    that if it got down to 2 candidates, and it was less then 60% – then they goto the primary.

    The only way to avoid the primary is to get over 60%.

    And you don’t want to face Bennett in a primary – because he’ll do the same thing Levitt did the last time he ran for re-election – he’ll just start running his t.v. ads for the primary – and blanket the state – and whoever has to face him in the primary will get swamped.

  • Highmaintfmale

    Check out this clip, it says it all better then I’ve seen it said for a long while, give me chills and brought tears to my eyes, turn you sound up and watch it to the end. >>

    http://hillbuzz.org/2010/01/03/america-rising-video-an-open-letter-to-democrats/

  • arc_ut

    utahhealthinsurance,

    But there is a connection, and delegate and voters may or may not care. It is important that this be vetted now. If Lee were to become the nominee, and this is covered by the democrats, (it is in the papers and they do know) on an issue that reportedly 85% of Utahns are on one site and Lee is on the other, we could loose to the democrats.

    If delegates and voters don’t care of his connection, it will go away and the democrats can’t use it later.

    Chris Cannon made a big deal of Jason Chaffetz living 11,000 feet outside his district. Chaffetz was within the US constitutional rules, it was discussed and the delegates and voters said it didn’t matter and when the democrats tried the same thing, the response was the same.
    —
    “Lee has represented EnergySolutions in the radioactive waste company’s effort to import foreign waste to the state and said Tuesday that Utah and the Northwest Interstate Compact On Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management improperly sought to stop the company from disposing of 1,600 tons of low-level radioactive waste from Italy at its Utah site. ”

    http://www.sltrib.com/Utah%20Politics/ci_14127141

    Lee on Dec. 5, 2009, at a Independence Caucus seminar, stated that he was against the bill Rep. Matheson and Rep. Chaffetz co-sponsored to block the Italian waste. That bill passed the House and is in the senate, where Bob Bennett seems to be stalling passage.

    http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705348634/Ban-on-foreign-waste-from-Italy-to-Utah-gets-OK.html

    http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705349332/Bennett-seeks-to-stall-bill-to-ban-nuclear-waste.html

    Alliance for Unity Opposes Storage of Imported Radioactive Waste in Utah

    http://media.bonnint.net/slc/1652/165262/16526211.pdf