Sen. Bob Bennett Loses Re-Nomination At Utah GOP Convention

Next on the list: Arlen Specter. I hope Pennsylvania Democrats show up in force and vote him out in the primary. If Specter manages to win re-election as a Dem, given his party switching ways, what is to stop him from switching back to the GOP? Can Dems and Obama gamble on Specter, like they did for Lieberman?

Vote Sestak.

Utah leading nation in brush-cutting dead stalk Republicans. Time to weed 'em out. Too bad Marie Osmond isn't interested in running for public office. The great American West & Northwest will provide our best leaders in future. East Coast/San Francisco axis of anisette-sippers on the run.

Notice: no talk of Bennett simply ignoring the verdict of his party and running on a "Utah for Bennett" ticket. That's because Bennett knows that he will get NO support from the party establishment if he defies the verdict of the convention. Compare this to the amateur hour which ensued after Lieberman spit in the eye of Connecticut's Democratic primary electorate, with confused and weak-willed Democratic heavyweights milling around every which way, begging not to be pushed to endorse, refusing to campaign for Lamont, etc.

It's no wonder the Democrats can't keep their caucus in line, when that's the way they react to an out-and-out betrayal of the party. The party just isn't playing for keeps.

This is like kicking David Duke out of the Klan, because he got his teeth fixed!

Maybe I'm insanely naive, but I don't think the Dem contender for Bennett's seat, Sam Granato, can be written off that easily. He's the archetypal successful small business owner, he's got far better name recognition in the state than either of the GOPers who beat out Bennett, and he's a political "outsider" with a very impressive resume. There was a ton of energy and support for him at the dem convention today--which boasted the largest and most energetic crowd for a midterm that they've ever had.

Also, the LDS (Mormon) Church has issued some statements recently that seem geared towards distancing it from the far-right (and more specifically, from Glenn Beck), including a denouncement of "the politics of fear and rhetorical extremism that render civil discussion impossible." At the same time, the dems in Utah have made a concerted effort to brand themselves as the party of moderation and rational thought. Republicans in Utah are often extreme but they don't like to think of themselves as extreme, and there have been a handful of races in recent decades where the dems successfully branded the GOP candidate as distastefully extreme.

Some of us are very hopeful that the teaparty uprising that booted Bennett will increasingly be seen as extremist and out-of-touch with mainstream Utahns in the coming months. (In fact, Bennett has high approval ratings among Utahns--but the rightwing fringe is always overrepresented in the state GOP organization, and in this case they're clearly out of touch.)

So keep an eye on Sam Granato. There's a possibility there.

Some here are no doubt better at understanding Mormon inside baseball. A most welcome outcome, though, is Bennett's departure from the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development.

State law prohibits Bennett from running as an independent.
A Lieberman effort wouldn't have worked anyway.

Could it be a case of equal opportunity losses with both parties suffering and the split remaining close to what it is today?

No way: Dems in big, big trouble which is why Toomey is going to be very formidable --if not the favorite-- no matter who he gets, Joe or Arlen. You also have health problems of three in the Senate not up: big changes ahead and questionable chances for success.

REPUBLICAN PARTY PLATFORM 1956 – COMPARE TO TODAY’S CORPORATE REPUBLICANS
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=25838
“The legitimate object of Government is to do for a community of people whatever they need to have done but cannot do at all, or cannot so well do, for themselves in their separate and individual capacities.” — Abraham Lincoln

“In all those things which deal with people, be liberal, be human. In all those things which deal with people’s money, or their economy, or their form of government, be conservative.”

“[T]he purpose of the Republican Party is to establish and maintain a peaceful world and build at home a dynamic prosperity in which every citizen fairly shares.”

“We shall ever build anew, that our children and their children, without distinction because of race, creed or color, may know the blessings of our free land.”

“We believe that basic to governmental integrity are unimpeachable ethical standards and irreproachable personal conduct by all people in government. We shall continue our insistence on honesty as an indispensable requirement of public service. We shall continue to root out corruption whenever and wherever it appears.”

“We are proud of and shall continue our far-reaching and sound advances in matters of basic human needs—expansion of social security—broadened coverage in unemployment insurance —improved housing—and better health protection for all our people. We are determined that our government remain warmly responsive to the urgent social and economic problems of our people."

It is a sign that 'the people' do understand what has happened to them under the administrations beginning with Reagan.

The government has become 'less':

Privatized regulation of the financial industry,
Privatized regulation of the energy industry,
Privatized consumer protections,
Crushed unions,
All but stamped individual's rights to sue corporations,
etc.

Then, took voters investments, lost their money, took voters taxes to cover the loses.

Whether it's Bush or Obama, Goldman, Geithner, Summers, Paulson, Bernanke, et al are accelerating the shift of wealth from the middle classes to the wealthy.

Here's the problem: The Democrats cannot say they've stood against this shift; they have in many cases enabled it.

For example, several of Obama's major decisions have harmed the middle class and fattened the corporations:
1. Supported a stingy stimulus that was a third tax breaks -
2. Doubled-down, the accelerated the Bush bailouts (effectively closing off any other options to address the recession) -
3. Escalated a meaningless and fruitless war -
4. Gutted real financial reform (no Glass-Steagle, no 'too big too fail) –
5. Not helped people with bankruptcy & mortgages remediation -
6. Fiddled around & not passed a jobs bill (last month highest unemployment rate: 9.9 %)-
7. Rejected the only option that would have simultaneously extended coverage and cut costs (single payer) -

Poor Dems, they abandoned their principles and now will have hell to pay.
Poor voters, the Republicans will be worse.

yes, yes, yes...as the last two elections have shown the GOP/teaparty/Fox-w/e the American people want more conservatism, not less.
So I say to the Teaparty/GOP/Faux-laughbox...assemble your best and brightest, those who represent the intellectual prowess of your political platform...perhaps...a suggestion.
Sarah Palin for President, and Michelle Bachmmann as VP, Gov. Stanford for family values, and the rest of the GOP reprobates who talk the walk, but can't even manage to limp the talk.

Good riddance to the GOP...the most useless, Wall-street friendly, and quite possibly the closest thing this country has ever gotten to a Fascist party ever...oh wait, no...I'm wrong, our only Fascist party ever.