Comments about ‘GOP convention agenda includes two anti-Bennett items’

There are 4 candidates that seem to have a chance of winning the GOP nominee for US Senate. Mike Lee, Cherilyn Eagar, Tim Bridgewater and Bob Bennett.

As the pollsters learned 2 years ago when Jason Chaffetz won, trying to guess what will happen at convention is pretty tough.

We do have two county delegate polls taken at Weber and Utah GOP County Conventions. Both had Cherilyn Eagar taking 2nd place over Bob Bennett and Tim Bridgewater. These two counties represent over 27% of the state delegates.
[A recent 3rd county straw poll, with 1/2 of 1 percent of the state delegates, Bennett did edge out Eagar)

With a 3 round ballot system, any of those that make it through the 1st round could win, even if they don't get 1st place for round 1.

I believe that Cherilyn Eagar is the only one running who has supported and been active in fighting for conservative values for the last 30 years at the local, state, national and international level.

I actually liked the Wyden-Bennett bill. I though it had a lot of good elements to it. In fact, I think it was probably better than the current legislation because it had cost containment strategies.

Reminder to Jim Bennett: Your dad has received almost all of his contributions from "out-of-staters".

And what if I moved to Virginia, would their arguments suddenly become valid?!?

Are we supposed to look at the debate about health care and say "well, the Club for Growth seems to have valid and properly sourced arguments, but I'll take Bob's word for it b/c they're from out of state!

Attacks on Senator Bennett have gotten out of control. I support Bridgewater, but I also recognize Bennett has done a lot for this state.

I believe my candidate (Bridgewater) is the best person for the job. He is a business leader with a strong record of fighting for principles that I believe in. And I can think that without believing that Bennett is some huge liberal that wants to destroy the constitution.

I can't help wondering if the people who are so angry at Bennett for co-sponsoring his healthcare reform bill can honestly say they prefer what we ended up getting instead...

I don't care for Bennett, and there is no way I am voting for another employee of Energy Solutions (Mike Lee) or the Eagle forum. This is going to be another year of voting against someone rather than for someone.

I am a lifelong conservative Republican disgusted with our Utah system that will see us shoot ourselves in the foot and send to DC someone who will be a freshman nobody at this critical time of US history. It appears that a handful of elitist idealogs will trump the will of the masses because "they know more than we do." Please, delegates, look at the bigger picture, not just be a slave to your ideology.

This proves that the Republicans / conservatives are opposed to pretty much any reforms and want to protect the economic interests that have harmed the American people. Bennett tries to find a solution and the right wing punishes him. This reaction will then serve as a disincentive for legislators to solve problems even when the vast majority of people desire changes, except for the whims of a vocal extremist group.

No one is misrepresenting his position on illegal immigration, he voted for the McCain Kennedy amnesty bill, that says it all. Stop trying to spin it into something it isn't, your vote says it all Bob. You think you can throw in a spoonful of enforcement here and there and we will all swallow amnesty. You know what happened to Chris Cannon, now your day of reckoning is Saturday. Utahns have had enough of illegals and your support of them. You chose them over us, see if they can save you.

The more you ultra-conservative people push against your own party (especially the moderates) the more you are alienating the independent vote. Those who bash on Bennett (one of the most conservative senators in D.C. as voted by other senators) you will also start pushing moderates out of the GOP. If you truly think that being more conservative is the answer to the GOP's problems, you're wrong.
I can see that many many republicans are going to switch parties or go independent. That means you will start losing votes in every election.
Personally, I thank you for this because that means in the near future Utah will no longer be a one party state.
Keep up the Bennett bashing and watch how your power in this state slips away!

What has Bennett done for Utah?

fanUVU,

How have we shot ourselves in the foot with "our Utah system"? Most of the delegates I have met are nowhere close to elitists. How about some names.

The system works. All Republicans were invited to attend the Caucuses and either vote for or run themselves for delegate. Pro-Bennett people should have organized better and made sure that this "massive supporting majority of Bennett" that we keep hearing about showed up in force and elected pro-Bennett delegates. Don't change the system just because your guy isn't going to win.

You should look at the big picture of the delegate system instead of being "a slave to your ideology. You have yet to offer proof that the past delegate system was not representative.

I have been a Republican for all my life. I want to vote to re-elect Senator Bennett and I support Obamacare as I have been unable to buy insurance for my family due to pre-existing conditions. Now the party that I have supported for so many years, is taking away my vote. Adios my friends.

The aattacks on Bennett are mindless. He has served Utah and his country well. The Club for Growth and others of that ilk are nothing more than groups of charlatans who use half truth and innuendo as character assassination tools. I think Bennett has been in DC too long and we should probably bring him home, but these baseless attacks do nothing but harm our political system.

By the way, good point about alienating independent voters with the far-right wing diatribe.

@fanUVU - there are plenty of other states who are also in an anti-incumbent mood, and an anti-Democrat mood. Slavery is what we're being handed - told what to do from birth to grave, in exchange for being "taken care of". Freedom is adhering to the Constitution, to the principles that created the richest, freest country that has ever existed.

@Esquire - protecting our economic interests is what is going to save our economy and our jobs. Corporate welfare? no, but getting rid of unconstitutional laws, regulations and departments will. As for healthcare - there were plenty of things Congress could have done without taking it over. Allowing insurers to sell across state lines, tort reform, eliminating mandatory coverages, eliminating or reforming pre-existing condition rules, requiring transparency in costs, expanding HSAs, divorcing coverage from employment and allowing everyone to deduct the cost of insurance etc. would all have contributed to reducing costs and expanding coverage, without the takeover. And Obamacare lite, which was the Bennett bill, is just as unconstitutional, and therefore the wrong solution.

Many of the comments here indicate the level of acceptance attained by selfish politicians and their constituents. How about electing Congressman who care more about our nation than they do the next election?

@Open minded - Republicans have been abandoning their principles since the freshmen of 1994 became the entrenched incumbents. When they became nothing but Democrats-lite - the country threw them out. Because if you're going to have Democrats anyway, might as well have the real thing. The only way we're going to get the party, and hopefully the country back on track, is to return to first principles by throwing the bums out on a regular basis so they don't have a chance to become Washington elitists.

As for moderates and independents - they went Democrat in 2008, and polls are showing that right now they're swinging heavily back to the Republican side.

As a senator, Bennett's is not "to do for Utah". it is to represent Utah doing what is best for the United States!!!

We should return to the original appointment of Senators by the state legislators, as established in the Constitution by our Founding Fathers. Most people don't understand that an amendment changed that process. We all need to brush up on our US history.

As a senator, Bennett's is not "to do for Utah". it is to represent Utah doing what is best for the United States!!!

We should return to the original appointment of Senators by the state legislators, as established in the Constitution by our Founding Fathers. Most people don't understand that an amendment changed that process. We all need to brush up on our US history.

Dixie Dan = RINO

It has to be tough to go without insurance...I can't imagine how that must be. I can only hope that if I were in the same position I would not sell my country to socialism and sacrifice not only my liberty, but the liberty of my fellow countrymen in order to get a govt handout. Obama is giving you bread and circuses my friend...and you're eating it up. Obamacare is the beginning of the end of our economy and way of life.

Have you not been paying attention to the "new" information that the govt had access to a full week before they voted for Obamacare? That it will increase deficits and inevitably require health care rationing? Does that sound like an improvement? You'd be better to work with sound conservatives to encourage health care reform. Forcing insurance companies to cover preexisting conditions? That's welfare...not insurance. You can't run a company like that. Shows a lack of understanding about how insurance works. Where do you think they get the money to pay your bills? The money tree? Reduce costs via tort reform and increased competition (among others).