At risk of engaging in overkill on the Bob Bennett GOP Convention ouster story, we'll link this three-part video series from this morning's KSL "Sunday Edition" broadcast, which includes a nine-minute interview with old "Beltway Bob" hisself, along with another five minutes from Utah Tea Party organizer David Kirkham:
• ksl.com - May 16: Sen. Bennett and the Tea Party MovementHaving listened to Bennett's cagey comments, and looking into our trusty crystal ball, we're getting strong psychic vibes that our Utah Junior GOP Senator's race ain't quite over yet by a longshot, in which connection we thought it might be useful to put up a new reader poll:
• Senator Bennett Write-in PollFor our readers' convenience, we've also installed the poll in our right sidebar.
We'll leave this poll up for the next few days, and then compare our readers' reactions once Bennett gets around to making his "yea or nay" announcement. In the meantime, don't be shy about logging your votes.
Just what the doctor ordered for yet another tediously slow news day, no?
10 comments:
I have a question:
If Bennett runs and wins a write in campaign, does he get to keep his 18 years seniority?
Comments
1. I meant to say "thanks" to Rudi on the last thread, for all his invaluable work. I didn't, so I'll do it here.
2. Bennett - old guy. Used to be a senator or something. Left office when voted out in his party's primary. Yesterday's news.
3. DJI futures down 110 points right now. Haven't seen a Sunday night drop like that for a long time. Has the time finally come?
More on Bennett - if he runs a write in campaign...
pros...
He'll make a bigger fool out of himself.
cons ....
He may peel off a few percent from the Republican candidate and cost the Republicans the seat.
pros ....
Bennett will then be even more of a pariah.
DJI hit 120 down then PPT stepped in to buy contracts with Fed money . . . big brother is still on the case.
Rudi..the poll question should be "Do you Want Bennett to run as a write-in"
Bennett, got what he deserved. When he ran for the U.S. Senate his slogan was "one term, that's all."
I just love how he was there for the republicans and now they dump him, I believe that he should run a write in campaign to teach them all a lesson about we keep our old friends and not trade them in for new ones.
By running a write in he gets to say I'm just trading in my old friends for some new ones, so how does that feel?
You could tell he was really hurt and I believe that he should hurt them back. How else will they learn?
GDSOAB:
Read former Utah GOP Vice Chair Frank Guliuzza's expose of Utah GOP insider politics in this Guest Commentary, which appeared in Saturday's Standard-Examiner:
Bennett's ouster is no surprise
Guliuzza lets the cat outta the bag about how pro-Bennett party insiders have suppressed anti-Bennett forces within the party for many years:
"Almost from the outset, the party chair and others on the State Central Committee made a concerted effort to undercut the force of those whom they considered to be "the devil": the so-called radical right in the Utah GOP. They often twisted the party's constitution and by-laws; they selectively applied the elements of parliamentary procedure (elements that exist primarily to make sure that a minority will have a voice in debate); they tried to pre-assign delegate positions to state and county leaders thereby taking away slots from those who otherwise might have been elected at neighborhood meetings (in some counties as many as 10-40 percent of these delegate positions).
At the 2002 state convention, the party chair and I were on the floor speaking for opposite sides on the "automatic delegate" issue. The chair indicated that he wanted to put a stake in the heart of the beast within the party. Who was that beast? Those on the "radical right" whom he felt would damage the party's chances for electoral success. Clearly there was and is a division in the party. That's not surprising. Similar divisions exist in the Republican and Democratic parties all across the United States. But, instead of applying the rules of the party fairly, and then living with the results, many of my colleagues in leadership really did want to use their authority to kill the beast -- to break down the barriers in order to get their devil."
Utah GOP opposition to Bennett is really nothing new. The difference this time, as Guliuzza illustrates is that those activists from the GOP right merely worked a little harder this year and finally gained the upper hand.
Sue - I know this is not the official authority but according to the National Journal, IF (big if) Bennett wages a write-in campaign and wins he DOES NOT retain his seniority.
As a Democrat I found Bennett to be an okay senator although Utah could ALWAYS count on him to work hard for pork coming to the state. I personally believe if there is money on the fed level for pork projects than our fed taxes need to be reduced.
OD:
I doubt very much Bennett will attempt a write in campaign, but if he should and if he wins, it will be up to the Republican Party in the Senate to determine if he retains his seniority and committee assignments or not, just as it was up to the Democratic Party in the Senate to decide whether Lieberman would retain his seniority after he lost the Democratic senatorial primary and ran as an independent and won [with half is votes coming from Republicans].
Foolishly, Harry Reid and company choose to continue his seniority so he'd keep caucusing with the Democrats, who he's stabbed in the back frequently since.
So, if Bennett does pull it off, it'll be up to his Senate Republican colleagues to decide his seniority status.
But he isn't going to run. He's already on record, after the vote at the convention, saying he'd support the party's nominee for the Senate.
Curm...he MAY have said that THEN but that ain't what I'm hearing NOW. Lord Bennett will have a hard time giving up his peerage without a fight. Right now he has spin doctors and polsters looking at all the angles and assessing what the odds are for a succesful write-in campaign. Check some of the previous threads links and listen to him talking NOW. You can bet our former high lord will ONLY concede this line of thought (write-in campaign) if data comes back after all the polling stating the odds are exceedingly against it and meetings with back door governmental power brokers and special interest financial backers indicate the support is not there. BUT, I'm betting if even ONE of the aforementioned is there he'll run. At this point he owes the Republican Party nothing and after being granted such a long peerage tenure he won't be able to let it go without a fight. He..like all the rest of them on the Hill, has an ego to feed.
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