Deseret News | Hatch, Bennett likely to get even more conservative

Reader comments
Bob Bernick Jr.: Hatch, Bennett likely to get even more conservative

Page:
1
2
Next >

l | 12:34 a.m. May 29, 2009

*If Cannon can be defeated, who could be next?*

Hopefully Hatch and Bennett will be next.

Joe Puente | 1:01 a.m. May 29, 2009

It was their moderate views that motivated me to vote for both Hatch and Bennett but I sincerely think that this trend in the GOP to take more and more conservative stances on issues will only serve to marginalize them and make them less relevant in the public dialogue. What good is ideological purity if it means shrinking your base? Even former Speaker New Gingritch said that the tent needs to be big enough for fights to breakout inside it.

Anonymous | 1:09 a.m. May 29, 2009

Orrin and Bob... time to go buddies. You have made personal careers of this job when you promised not to... time to go!

Comments continue below

Anonymous | 1:57 a.m. May 29, 2009

A more conservative Hatch will ensure
the Party of Lincoln = the Party of SHRINKIN'

R BREWSTER | 4:00 a.m. May 29, 2009

IT'S TIME FOR SOME NEW BLOOD. BENNETT AND HATCH HAVE BEEN IN OFFICE TOO LONG

Cougar Blue | 4:33 a.m. May 29, 2009

These two are becoming more irrelevant all the time. Surely we can do better.

A different view point | 5:21 a.m. May 29, 2009

The winds of change are blowing even here in Utah.

If Hatch were to have his Senate election today rather than two years ago with the same opponent, how do you think the election would turn out?

It is my opinion that even here in Utah people were soured by the antics of the Bush/Cheney administration and it flows over to local politics also.

One Issue Only.. | 5:32 a.m. May 29, 2009

We will listen to your ideas and watch your votes one one subject only: ILLEGAL immigration. Your opinion on this issue will give us all the information we need to make a judgement on other issues you have. Stand with the citizens of Utah or be defeated in the next election.

Anonymous | 6:10 a.m. May 29, 2009

I thought it was time for Hatch to go way back in 1980 when he beat out Frank Moss.

we'll see.... | 6:55 a.m. May 29, 2009

Both are globalists, no doubt about it. One indicator I will be watching is to see how hard they fight against Sotomayor.

liberal larry | 6:56 a.m. May 29, 2009

It is time for all the pup tent republicans in Utah, to nominate the most true blue, dyed in the wool, fringe right, candidates possible. Only by returning to your constitutional roots can you restore moral and financial discipline to our great county. ( It will also free up the moderate center, and give the Democrats a chance in the general election.) So, by all means, get rid of Bennet, and Hatch!

Anonymous | 6:56 a.m. May 29, 2009

If they keep getting more conservative they will implode into little black balls of rage from which no humanity can escape. No one would vote for them, except utah and maybe texas.

More consistent | 6:59 a.m. May 29, 2009

Republicans are realizing that they must be more consistent. Bush set the benchmark by proving that wandering from a consistent philosophy did not bring in more independent/democrat voters, it only brought him more contempt. However, it's funny that challengers like Shurtleff/Bridgewater come in arguing that they are more conservative, when they have already proven that they are more inconsistent than the incumbents. Professional politicians should go home, but they should be replaced by new faces, not just by political hacks from a different venue.

signalwar | 7:01 a.m. May 29, 2009

Bennett and Hatch lost touch with Utah a LONG TIME AGO. We are sick of these moderates who only talk conservative when it comes time to run again.

Voters should term limit every politicians "time served" by voting them out every 12 years.

Anonymous | 7:05 a.m. May 29, 2009

It's pathetic when political diversity is not tolerated in Utah. Wacko right wing politics will get Utah nowhere.

GOP is the Gone Out Party! | 7:06 a.m. May 29, 2009

You make a mistake in your analysis. The problem with the GOP is not that the tent isn't wide enough...the problem is that they became too much like the Democrats trying to widen the tent. They demonstrated that they're not fiscally conservative which is what got them into power in the 1990's. People want and need fiscal conservativism even more today than ever before. Because of this, former Republicans have turned away from the party to find those who will be true to the constitution and will return sanity to the mess in Washington.

Republicans in D.C. seem not to be able to figure this out and so will continue to be voted out office because of their disconnect with the people who voted them in there in the first place.

Cherilyn Bacon Eagar | 7:18 a.m. May 29, 2009

told KSL that she had formed a committee to see about running against Bob Bennett. She is actually a conservative, and pretty sharp.

If she runs, she has a better chance than Shurtleff or Bridgewater of willing the seat in the US Senate.

Watcher | 7:21 a.m. May 29, 2009

I will vote for whom ever, that does not vote for "tax and spend" laws.

There should be only two terms in office. You should go to serve your country and then live with the laws you have passed, like everyone else.

CJ | 7:24 a.m. May 29, 2009

Bennett and Hatch haven't learned the lesson of Chris Cannon yet. They both favor illegal aliens over U.S. citizens every chance they get. Utahns are sick of illegals overrunning the state and watching these two vote with La Raza and greedy corporations instead of us. Bennett would turn the country over to Mexico if he could and so would Shurtleff so he isn't much better. Shurtleff got an award from the government of Mexico for his stellar record as attorney general in not enforcing immigration laws.
Any candidate who wants to "hispander" is going to learn a tough lesson in the next election.The people of Utah are ready for immigration enforcement and don't want amnesty in any form in spite of what the Deseret News tries to pedal on a daily basis. Jason Chaffetz was perceptive enough to tap into this frustration and turn it against Cannon. If Hatch and Bennett keep pushing amnesty they will be finding a new line of work. It may be time anyway.

The answer is NO | 7:34 a.m. May 29, 2009

Can U.S. Sens. Bob Bennett and Orrin Hatch get more conservative?

James Wilson | 7:35 a.m. May 29, 2009

Republicans turn more conservative when they are out of power and govern more liberally when they are in power. Why is that? They get elected running on conservative principles and then abandon them when they get in office. It seems to me that
Republicans are more successful when they embrace their conservative core, not when they abandon it. In recent times the most obvious examples are Ronald Reagan and the Contract with America. Republicans must not allow liberals to dictate to them how to be successful. Set up the tent on a foundation of liberty and limited government and believe me the tent will fill enough to win any election.

DB | 7:41 a.m. May 29, 2009

Time for both Hatch & Bennett to go. Both have gone from winners to losers. They have preached one thing to get elected then acted otherwise when they got to Washington. I'm really tired of that game. I wouldn't vote for either again, on a bet.

utahenergyideas | 7:45 a.m. May 29, 2009

re: James Wilson,
you are correct, mostly.

Many republicans stay voting as the ran. The Contract with America is something we need again. It was two years after Clinton took office and the republican's took the house and senate. If the democrats keep doing what they are doing in DC, they could loose both houses, in 2010.

CJ did you mean Shurtleff? | 7:45 a.m. May 29, 2009

I am quoting a previous comment from another article

According to a KSL TV report, which is still available on the web, Attorney General Shurtleff told the crowd of illegal aliens and their supporters that: Many of my fellow Republicans will criticize me for being here. They'll tell me instead of speaking to you, that as the chief law enforcement [officer] of Utah I should be arresting you. [That's] not going to happen."

According to the KSL reporter, Attorney General Mark Shurtleff had the crowd roaring, telling them that unless they're breaking the law, they can stay. That's what everyone here wanted to hear.

Shurtleff is the King of illegal immigration, amnesty, and not enforcing the law.

Here's the plain old truth | 7:46 a.m. May 29, 2009

Both Bennett and Hatch are old men. When I attended a fund raiser for Orrin in Washington, he was telling his liberal friends way back then (four years ago) that his biggest worry was that his constitutents in Utah didn't consider him to be conservative enough and that they would be tempted to "release him with a vote of thanks," and that would be the end of his political career. He then went on to teach them exactly what that phrase meant in Mormon-speak.

Bennett will be 77 on election day next year. Hatch will be 78 on election day in 2012. They are audacious and bold in daring to ask to be returned to the Senate. Hatch is only interested in some longevity in service record at this point. Bennett can't see the handwriting on the wall -- that there is a growing ground swell of opposition to his continued and perpetual candidacy.

If re-elected, Bennett will be 83 at the end of what would be his fourth six-year term. Hatch would be 84 at the end of what would be his seventh six-year term.

It's time for Utah to dig deeper.

Evidence please | 7:46 a.m. May 29, 2009

Mr. Bernick repeats the often cited "fact" that convention delegates are far more conservative than the Utah Republican party as a whole but I wonder where the evidence is for that assertion. I think there is evidence that the convention delegates are very representative of the party in general. When Chaffetz won the nomination last year he first secured just under 60% of the delegate vote in the convention. This was followed by a primary election win with about 60% of the party vote. He won the general election in November with an even wider margin of victory. Delegates themselves must win election in neighborhood caucuses in order to represent their neighbors in the convention. Cannon was voted out because people no longer felt he represented their views in Congress. Cannon cared very little about his constituents. Hopefully Chaffetz has learned from Cannon's mistakes and will turn out to be a great representative.

Bailout Bob has to go | 7:49 a.m. May 29, 2009

That says it all for me. Bennett was, and showed he was, a supporter of big banking and not the people. He pushed for the bank bailouts, and opposed the will of the people who were against them.

He lied when he said he would not run again, just as Mr Hatch did. Hatch is an insider friend of the Kennedys and makes no secret of his attatchment to, and collusion with, "Ted".

To be "more conservative" first you have to be conservative.

Unfortunately we do not seem to have anything good come out of either of our two main parties.

Stop pandering | 7:50 a.m. May 29, 2009

The democrats win elections by pandering to special interest groups. When Republicans try it they lose every time. Stop it. Secure the party to a foundation of sound principles of individual liberty and limited government if you want to govern again.

Craig | 7:55 a.m. May 29, 2009

Hatch is not is conservative as he was when he became a senator. This article is typical liberal spin. Republicans have not become conservative. Democrats have moved so far to the left that there old position seems conservative. John Kennedy would be considered conservative in todays standards. Name one position that Hatch or Bennett have become more conservative over time.

Hatch and Bennett | 7:55 a.m. May 29, 2009

They both represent what's wrong with Washington instead of what's right. They are beholden to the special interests and lobbyists who continue to uphold and sustain them in office. The voters who actually cast their ballots for them on election day are an afterthought. They have grown rich on the public dole. They like Washington. Their only contributions in public service have come in making peace with powerful forces beyond their control. In the case of Hatch with Teddy Kennedy, and in the case of Bennett siding with Chris Dodd and Barney Frank on TARP. Their actions speak louder than their words -- they are only "conservative" when they have to return to Utah to get re-elected. When they are in Washington they are part of the crowd playing the trade votes for power, prestige and campaign contributions to aid in their next campaign fundraising cycle. I am convinced after watching Bennett that his bet is that the voters will forget how up to his ears he's been in his advocacy for the tax and spend policies of the Democrats. His actions have proven to be disastrous. Hatch's friendship with Kennedy is his badge of dishonor.

ron | 8:02 a.m. May 29, 2009

iam with you DB

Cherilyn Bacon Eagar | 8:04 a.m. May 29, 2009

typo:

If she runs, she has a better chance than Shurtleff or Bridgewater of winnng the seat in the US Senate.

Roland Kayser | 8:06 a.m. May 29, 2009

If a limited government candidate wants any crediblity, I wan to see a list of all programs that they intend to cut, not just a rant on "socialism", "tax and spend", or "big government". No candidate ever does this for fear of offending constituencies who support those programs.

Just say NO. . . | 8:18 a.m. May 29, 2009

. . . to Hatch and Bennett perpetual re-elections.

How about some real solutions? | 8:38 a.m. May 29, 2009

The Republican Party of Utah is dominated by extremists. The comment by One Issue Only above is just one example of this. Our state and nation deal with myriad issues, and illegal immigration is not the worst of our problems, let alone our only problem. Illegal immigration, like abortion, is a wedge issue. Republicans don't have realistic solutions for addressing it; they just use it to scare people into voting for them. I want to see the Republican plan for creating jobs, shoring up public and higher education, fixing the healthcare crisis, and improving America's standing in the world and Utah's standing in the nation. Social conservativism is useless unless accompanied by real solutions to the tangible, immediate problems we face.

Ask yourself "Why"? | 8:46 a.m. May 29, 2009

Why does Anonymous feel the need to post so frequently about Utah politics?

He doesn't even live here! Maybe he should start worrying a little about CALIFORNIA politics... so we don't ALL get taxed to bail out their stupid, spend more than you can take in, politicians. And quit worrying that Utah still wants it's politicians to be fiscal-conservative.

Utah has been ranked one of the BEST fiscally managed states in the union. California is at the bottom. But all this "Anonymous" guy can worry about is... "Will my neighbor to the East elect too many conservatives"?

Get a REAL life Anonymous! And take care of things in your OWN back yard, while we take care of ours. Control spending in Califorina before YOUR overspending becomes OUR responsibility to bail your irresponsible politicians out. Worry about California politics first.

I have noticed | 8:49 a.m. May 29, 2009

As a liberal I have noticed that conservatives are paranoid of change. Any change.
This explains why they continue to put into office Hatch and Bennett, again and again and ...

@ I have noticed | 9:03 a.m. May 29, 2009

Conservatives aren't afraid of change. They just don't want the liberal kind.

Greg | 9:10 a.m. May 29, 2009

What support does Mr. Bernick have for his assertion that "the Republican Party in other states looks now to widen its tent"? My guess is that he has only anecdotal, not hard, evidence and that he is in fact wrong. Conservatives all over the country are waking up to the fact that the Republican Party lost power not because it moved (or stayed) too far right but because it moved left, i.e., "widened the tent."

What is happening is that a bunch of RINOs like Collin Powell and John Huntsman, Jr. are trying to make the Republican Party into Democrat-lite, which is a sure-fire losing strategy. The Republican Party will never out-Democrat the Democrats. The only way the Republican Party will have a real resurgence is to stick to basic, conservative principles, in stark contrast to the liberal/socialist/marxist policies of the present administration and Democratic party.

Phil | 9:49 a.m. May 29, 2009

I'm voting for Granato. A man who can make a sandwich like that is a genius.

@Joe Puente | 9:51 a.m. May 29, 2009

The question is what good is it to have a party with a conservative platform that differs from the liberal one if we then try to mimic the liberal one.

Your reasoning is flawed as is Newt's, Orrin's, Bob's and all the other RINOS who abandoned their conservative values and base. The GOP lost power not because they were too conservative, but because of wishy washy moderation.

With California now bankrupt more and more liberals will start to see that you cannot survive as a nation adopting liberalism.

Reagan proved conservatism wins, but you do have to believe it before it will work. You do have to be able to speak with real conviction or people will see you for the phony you are.

The truth of the matter is that it is simply easier to fool a liberal than a conservative. You don't have to get your knuckles bloody. You can still be invited to all the liberal gatherings. You get to come on all the liberal TV network circuits. And you don't have to be called a racist, homophobe, sexist, or hate monger. Conservatism is not for the faint of heart.

Reis Kash | 10:00 a.m. May 29, 2009

Orin Hatch is a ME-1 ("Me First") Republican who goes with the flow if the flow equals votes and keeping his position. Both parties are filled with corrupt politicians who differ only in name. Though a Republican and of the same faith as Hatch, I hope he looses and looses soundly in the next election.

Hatuletoh | 10:17 a.m. May 29, 2009

Why don't we just have a goose-stepping contest and call it a day, huh?

One reason Utah's voter turnout is consistently among the lowest in the country is that urban-living fiscal conservatives like me (and Utah, by population, is the one of the most urban states in the country) don't feel they have anyone representing their interests. I can't in good conscience vote for many Democratic candidates, but the Republican candidates fall over themselves pandering to a vocal, social-issuse obsessed, disproportionately rural minority.

The Kanab "Freedom Riders" and their couple dozen buddies dictate the flavor of the Utah Republican party through the primary process, and protect this status quo by gerrymandering the districts every decade to ensure Salt Lake County is divided in the most crinimal way. No one but a shameless, unapologetic partisan criminal (or a Utah politician, though I believe I am being redudant) could look at our congressional districts and conclude they are fairly drawn to represent the people.

Predictably, the disenfranchised urban moderate responds the only way he knows how: Rocky Anderson.

And the ossification extremist ideas continues unabated.

re: @I have noticed 9:03 | 10:35 a.m. May 29, 2009

Nonsense.
You aren't talking to a Limbaughite.

Neocons are obsessively afraid of everything. All Limbaugh and his neocon ilk have to do is say something frightening to the flock, and they get them to be their dancing clowns every time.

Utah Independent | 11:20 a.m. May 29, 2009

"Hatch, Bennett likely to get even more conservative"

Is that even possible?

Mike | 11:58 a.m. May 29, 2009

Anonymous, you are a knob. Hatch was first elected in 1976 not 1980. Shows how much you know. Since you are so unaware, you are not qualified to post on this site, so stop it. Everytime you do, you show how uninformed you are. Remember, "Stupid is as stupid does."

The reason we largely have fiscal sanity in state government is because of the conservative Republicans. If we had your favorite type of Government, we'd be in a world of hurt just like Kalifornia.

Bill Baumgardner Sr. | 12:14 p.m. May 29, 2009

When he ran for US President, he asked & got $36.00 from both me & my wife to help him. We THOUGHT he was conservative THEN, but found out he was too much of a coward to tell his true feelings to the country when he said, "I will not use abortion as a litmus test to nominate judges". BAMB! So I wrote him & told him we wanted our $72.00 back. We never got it!:( So he is just another RINO. Now I know you will probably not print this, but I do hope you show it to Hatch.

MORE conservative? | 12:35 p.m. May 29, 2009

What..are they becoming Rabbis? How can those two jokers get any more conservative?
Mike

Conservative | 12:58 p.m. May 29, 2009

You liberals haven't noticed we are moving away from the guys who work with the bad guys. Most of us would prefer Rush and Sean in office. We have Jason in place and we're going to get more conservatives ( true conservatives) with each election. If not successful look to Utah to join Texas in leaving the Union. Texas, Utah and the southern states would make a pretty darn good country!

Stewart | 1:23 p.m. May 29, 2009

Bennett and Hatch are only conservatives if all you look at is abortion, and supporting the business and banking robber barons.

If you look at other issues they are as liberal as anyone. For example both of them support open borders and make little effort to vote to control illegal immigration. Bennett for example was a major supporter of the 2007 Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill, commonly referred to as the "Amnesty Bill." At the same time Hatch has sponsored the "Dream Act," providing instate tuition for illegal aliens anywhere in the USA. Recently they have both co-sponsored S-388 which is designed to flood the unskilled labor market with more workers in direct competition to our own citizens.

Bennett has been on the Senate Banking Committee since 1993 and he along with Hatch have led us into this economic pit that we now find ourselves in. Neither of them are looking out for the folks.

Both of these are the RINO's that have caused the Republican Party to lose most of their conservative voters. When they go to the polls to vote all they see is the Lessor of two evils, and so they don't vote.

Page:
1
2
Next >

Add your comment

Comments are monitored. Any comments found to be abusive, offensive, off-topic, misrepresentative, more than 200 words or containing URLs will not be posted.

Words Remaining

E-mail address: For internal use only. We may want to contact you to publish your comment (not your e-mail address) in the newspaper or for a separate story idea.