Bob Bennett Loses Re-election Bid: Repercussions for the GOP

When three-term Senator Bob Bennett, R-Utah, lost his bid for a fourth, a warning shot was fired across the bow of the GOP leadership.  Utah’s process for candidate selection made him an easy mark for the Tea Party, who admittedly, had successfully infiltrated the GOP power structure.

While that fete would be far more difficult to replicate in most other states, a message was sent.  I would submit that the message reads as follows:

“We are the base.  You have ignored us for far too long.  Continue to do so at your own peril.”

For me, this event resonated quite a bit.  During most of Bush’s terms, myself, like so many other Conservatives, felt completely alienated from the GOP leadership.  Our disconnect was fueled by their many votes for “socialism-lite.”  For myself, I believed that many “Conservative” candidates would talk “tough” at election time, and vote big government at the earliest possible moment.  By comparison, the rate of change was nothing like what we’ve experienced in the last 16 months, but to be sure, it was dissatisfying.

Then, when the GOP lost the Congress in ’06, we attributed the losses to their failure to act as Conservatives.  They failed to provide a sharp contrast to the Democrats, and instead, gave us soft pastels about which Reagan warned.  We blamed the GOP, and it’s failures to live up to their promises, for those losses.  Again, in ’08, they ran a candidate that was not a Conservative, and did not embody the “spirit” of the party.  The results were predictable.  In essence, the GOP leadership has

People can say that the Tea Parties “took down” Bennett.  They did.  However, it’s the increasing levels of dissatisfaction that have been present in the GOP since…well…forever, that set the stage for it.   Let’s be honest, the party leadership had been blowing smoke up the collective *sses of the base for over a decade now.  We’re tired of it, and we want candidates that actually will govern on that which they run.  To change that around, and move towards our goals, men like Bennett need to go.

This course of action is not without some struggles.  There will be losses.  We saw that in NY 23.  The party, both local and national, dropped the ball, and the defeated GOP candidate endorsed the Democrat, putting them over in the general election.  The lesson is that some RINOs will not go down without a fight, and this will mean that the Democrat wins.  Marco Rubio has risen to take the lead from Charlie Crist in Florida, however, rather than do what is good for the party and state, Crist has taken his ball and gone independent.  How much will that split the vote?  We can’t tell at this time, but unless the Florida electorate sees Crist for what he is, a RINO and a traitor, he might split the vote just enough to give the Democrats the day.

This is nothing new.  Erick Erickson from Redstate compiled a list of RINO’s that have betrayed the party.

In Michigan’s 7th Congressional District, conservative Tim Walberg challenged the very liberal Joe Schwartz in the 2006 Republican Primary and won. Walberg went on to win the general election.

In 2008, Schwartz endorsed Democrat Mark Schauer and Shauer used that endorsement to squeak out a win in this +2 Republican District.

In Maryland 1, conservative physician and state senator Andy Harris ran in the Republican Primary against Wayne Gilchrist. Harris defeated Gilchrist only to see Gilchrist throw his support to Democrat Frank Kratovil, who won with 49.12% of the vote.

In Arizona 5, conservative David Schweikert won the Republican nomination, but then lost to liberal Democrat Harry Mitchell. Why? Schweikert’s primary opponent refused to help him and sat on his hands rather than help Schweikert pick up his opponent’s primary support.

In Alabama 2, Jay Love beat Harri Anne Smith in the Republican Primary and ran against Bobby Bright in an R +16 district. Smith endorsed the Democrat and Bright went on to win 50.23% of the vote.

In New York 23, the liberal Dede Scozzafava drops out and instead of supporting the guy the GOP crawls on bended knee to, she endorses the Democrat.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m not saying to lay off RINOs because they might turn on us.  They already have.  They are RINOs, after all.  It’s just something that should be expected as we try to retake the party.

I think we’ll have to sit back and see how Bennett’s defeat impacts the party, and the movement.  It seems to me that we have a party establishment that has a sense of entitlement similar to the liberals.  They expect to be in charge.  They expect us to be “good little Republicans” and automatically show up for them.  Conversely, this is just they type of victory that the movement needs.  It’s going to get worse before it gets better, and we need these wins to show us that we’re heading in the right direction.  Obama will get some more garbage passed before November.  We have to have some real hope going into the elections, and the frustrating times that will follow.

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