Utah's three-term Senator Robert Bennett -- who promised to stay for no more than two -- was not renominated by his state's Republican Party Saturday. This WSJ article details the manner of his loss, and offers some editorial opinions by the probably young intern writer Stu Woo -- I kid you not, you just can't make this stuff up -- who likely won't write a piece this important ever again.
I see it more simply than Stu. Here's my take: Senators and Congressmen, represent the people of your state or district; or else bend over, put your head between your legs, and kiss your seat good-bye.
Karl Rove was here on his book tour a week ago, and when I was handed the microphone and stood up in the ballroom before the assembly of NM's GOP high rollers, he said as it changed hands, "Oh, no! You shouldn't have done that. That guy's trouble."
He said that because an hour before when we were getting our picture taken together, I reminded him that "The party leadership has made serious mistakes meddling in State elections recently: NY 23 and the Florida Senate race come to mind. And your President saved..." "Arlen Specter," he interrupted "We had to do that. If we didn't back our committee chairman, party discipline would suffer." Then he rushed on to explain that NY 23 was the State party's mistake. Which is when I told him that if there was a question-and-answer session after his then still-to-come talk, I'd have another question for him. For the moment, I had a lot of head scratching to do over how party discipline was helped by working for the re-election of the biggest flaunter of party discipline ever. But I digress.
When I took the microphone in the ballroom, I asked "After the 2006 election there was a lot of debate about the cause of our party's defeats. I think that the people in the streets protesting spending have put an end to that debate, Do you think that the Spendicans in our party -- Senators and Members of Congress with seniority who will run the Appropriations Committees if we retake the Senate or House -- have learned their lesson?" I had to talk right through him to get the last sentence out because he had already started telling everyone that the losses were not because of too much spending but because "there were 15 Republicans who misbehaved, like Mark Foley, Duke Cunningham, and Jack Abramoff's friends."
He kept right on talking after I finished my question, haranguing us for so long on the misbehavior, I was pretty sure he was going to do as he had promised when he opened the floor to questions: dodge mine. But he didn't. He had heard it, remembered it, and prepared his answer. "And as for your second question, 'Have they learned their lesson?' I hope so! The bridge to nowhere was a blow from which we never recovered." Note that his answer to my question -- only question actually -- completely contradicted his diatribe against my statement of opinion... by agreeing with me.
Well, if there are any who haven't learned the lesson yet, Bob Bennett's defeat today will teach a few more.
