GOP Senate opponents Tim Bridgewater and Mike Lee struggle to differentiate

SALT LAKE CITY — After ending U.S. Sen. Bob Bennett's bid for a fourth term, Utah's two remaining GOP Senate candidates are struggling to differentiate themselves now that there's no one in the race to absorb the anti-Washington anger of voters.

Businessman Tim Bridgewater and attorney Mike Lee vaulted from political obscurity by running to Bennett's right at the GOP state convention May 8. Their strategy — hammering Bennett for excessive spending in Washington — worked among the 3,500 die-hard conservative delegates.

But Bennett's upset loss created an unusual problem for the political upstarts in Tuesday's primary: how to stand apart from one another.

Both are newcomers with nearly identical platforms. Each wants to reduce federal spending, overhaul the process of awarding home-district pet projects, repeal the new health care law, replace income taxes with a national sales tax, wean the country off Social Security and eliminate perceived incentives for immigrants to enter the United States illegally. Both say they support term limits.

Since they largely agree on the issues, Bridgewater and Lee have spent most of the past six weeks attacking each other's professional backgrounds.

"The question is about leadership and experience," said Bridgewater, 49, the founder of a consulting firm specializing in emerging markets. "Today there are 58 lawyers in the Senate. There are not enough small businessmen."

Bridgewater's business experience helped him get Bennett's endorsement. Both finalists sought it after polling showed that the 76-year-old Bennett probably would have won the primary because it will have more moderates participating than at the convention.

Lee, 38, is quick to point out that as a partner in a law firm, he also is a businessman. The difference, he says, is that his business specializes in keeping government off the back of his clients while Bridgewater's clients have depended on government for financial aid.

"I'm a lifelong conservative and I've long stood for the idea we need to limit the power of government in order to make life better for Americans," said Lee, a former clerk for Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito.

Lee's commercials criticize Bridgewater for working with companies that accepted federal stimulus money. Bridgewater's ads say it is time to take back the country from lawyers and political insiders.

Their biggest difference is over nuclear waste, which could be a sleeper issue with voters.