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Dick Cheney vs. the Tea Party Activists

RedState loves Dick Cheney, including his loyalty to those who have helped him. But we hope the folks in Utah do not love him *that* much.

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  March 23rd, 2010 at 05:00 AM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

It did not do Kay Bailey Hutchison any good in Texas, but she made the most of Dick Cheney endorsing her.

In Utah, Bob Bennett has lined up Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, and Dick Cheney — calling in every imaginable favor to show he is the preferred candidate of the Republican Party.

In other years that might help Bob Bennett, but as Utah Republicans go off to their caucuses tonight it will not help him. As we have extensively documented at RedState, Bob Bennett has been out of touch with Utah for a very long time. In fact, with Utah widely considered the most conservative state in the nation, it is appalling that Bob Bennett would be rated by the American Conservative Union as the 8th most liberal Republican in the Senate.

But Bennett’s record shows just how liberal he is, except when his job is in jeopardy. This is one of those rare times where I must disagree with Vice President Cheney. Utah Tea Party activists are lined up to replace Bennett and I hope they do.

RedState has chronicled just how bad Bob Bennett is. I have put it all together in a handy 2 page background paper that you can download, print, and take to the caucuses in Utah today.

Today is the day we begin taking back the GOP. If you are in Utah, show up at the caucuses tonight and help dump Bob Bennett.

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COMMENTS

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  • ColoradoRed

    n/t

  • Mary Beth

    Because I can’t see how anyone could even in just skimming this or any other article Erick has written over the last weeks and months about how Bennett is a disgrace to the party and an embarrassment in the Senate and needs to get the boot post-haste could have interpreted Erik’s post as an endorsement.

  • peg_c

    And this is extremely disheartening about Cheney! What, has he suddenly fallen into the RINO cesspool??? With Newt, I’d expect nothing less. He is beltway GOP all the way and many of us have no further use for him. But the Cheney thing REALLY stings.

    Energy wasted fighting amongst ourselves is energy NOT devoted to DESTROYING THE DEMOCRATS!!! But we’ll continue to fight 2 battles until the anti-tea party Republicans come to US or GO AWAY.

  • Doc Holliday

    friendships can blind people, I am not going to beat up on Cheney over Bob Bennet. Bennet should be defeated in a primary I am up for that.

  • bigredone

    Cheney is not the candidate. Bennett is. Bennett needs to be defeated. I am sick of seeing Bennett skulk around McConnell like Grima Wormtongue and whisper to “get along” with the Dems.

    Bennett must go!

  • JadedByPolitics

    the NEW brand of Conservative, you know the kind that holds Conservative values REGARDLESS of the political consequences!

    I love Cheney but he like many of his day are stuck in the muck of DC and those are EXACTLY the types WE The People are going to be ridding ourselves of this election cycle!

  • texasgalt

    Monday, Levin almost begged people to get to the caucuses to send Bennett packing and choose a real conservative.

    Cheney is just hanging with the people he knows and has done business with in the past.

  • mikerazar

    Whatever Dick Cheney’s reasons are for endorsing Bennet, I can respectfully disagree without changing my admiration and gratitude to Mr. Cheney for his years of devotion to our nation and its principles.

    Beyond that I don’t have to demonize Mr. Bennet for his differing views. It is enough that someone I agree with more is running against him. If I lived in Utah I would vote against Bennet in the primary. But I don’t hate him. Just what were his worst votes for?

  • indyjohn

    I know that Dick Cheney, at this stage of his life, is far from being a Movement Conservative. He has been at the top of the party hierarchy for a long time. He has a great many established loyalties and friendships within the party. But come on, Dick! Don’t you want to be on the right side of history?
    It is time to cut your ties to the appeasement hacks who got the party into this mess. You owe them no favors. Conservatives are taking the party back. Common sense should tell you to back away from the primary fights.
    You have spent your career defending America from its enemies – now they control our government.
    Save your ammo for the extremely critical battles ahead.

  • fpete13527

    Perfectly said.

  • jaybo

    This has to be the battlecry of conservatives. Sen.Spector was endorsed during the 2006 election cycle by the same group.

    It is also important to note that they also supported Sen. Chafee in 2006. A (so-called) republican that could make Spector look like a conservative. After the 2006 election he repayed the support of The President and Karl Rove by refusing to allow John Bolton’s release from committee. Again, political power over principle.

    My opinion is that any endorsement from these political figures should be a kiss of death for the candidate.

  • conservativemusician

    He and Bush did the same with Specter when he ran back in 2004. I tend to think that if favors had not been owed, Cheney would not have endorsed Bennett.

    I believe that Cheney is a true conservative and was the conservative conscience of the Bush Administration on numerous matters, so I’m not going to get worked up over this. Besides, I don’t think Cheney’s nod to Bennett will make much difference in this highly charged political environment. People are mad as Hades right now and are taking names. Bennett is in trouble wth the GOP base in Utah and I don’t think he will survive the primary fight this time around…to which I say good riddance to another worthless RINO.

  • conservos

    We need to get used to his DC-endorsements.

    I discounted him political opinion when I found out he endorsed KBH in Texas.

    I love Liz, and he may be doing this out of loyalty for her —

    But acceptance of gays and mutual respect for them is very different from acceptance of gay marriage and gay indoctrination for our young people.

    Cheney is pro-American Exceptionalism, pro-Am Superpower, pro-WOT-get-them-before-they-kill-us.

    And he’s an old guy. Let some things slide.

    Just not the Bennett or any other RINO endorsements.

    Romney’s on my list already. Dick, eh.

    Out with the mods.

  • ihateliberals

    A moderate Republican actually means Liberal. Bob Bennett, John McCain. George Bush (both of them) and yes Dick Cheney are the reason the republican party is in the state that it is. If we are to have success and overturn what the liberals have done to us we have to make sure that all of the republican candidates are conservative to the core. Brown in Mass. was an exception to that because we needed to take Kennedy’s seat away. If we go back to this “we have to play nicely with the Democrats” we will not win elections or meet the goal of having a smaller conservative government.

  • ColoradoRed

    …the term ‘sarcasm.’ Jeez…

  • utahtim

    I just got back from a Mike Lee rally. The candidate spoke very well, including this gem: “I will never vote for a bill that I can’t justify in the plain language of the Constitution.” Unlike Sen. Bennett, Mr. Lee (a lawyer and former law clerk to Justice Alito) knows the Constitution and quoted from several different sections if it from memory during the Q&A.

  • constitutionalconservative

    They are big government Republicans and creatures of the D.C. establishment. They are big reasons why our party is still sitting in the dumps in national approval ratings, despite the Obama disaster.

    We need to start cleaning house in a big way. Hopefully starting with Bennett tonight.

  • jpniner

    and he knows more about Article II Original Intent than many supposed “Constitution protectors”.

    There is a game of chess being played with our “Establishment” against the Dems, when you view it as a game of checkers it leads to this “lets totally clean house” garbage. Our wise are trying to navigate through the MSM and actually govern and figure out how to get 60 Million plus voters behind them and more than that in the polls, while not letting the country and really the “Empire of Liberty” abroad from collapsing.

    cheney was a very conservative congressman, governing and being a national leader(trying to appeal to Moderates nation wide) all the while against the MSM filter is no easy task.

  • jpniner

    as he is not in public office, though a very important public voice.