Rupert Murdoch gets a scalp:

This is pretty big news:

Republican U.S. Sen. Bob Bennett of Utah has lost his bid to serve a fourth term after failing to advance past the GOP state convention.

Attorney Mike Lee and businessman Tim Bridgewater are the remaining Republican candidates after Saturday's vote.

Bennett was a distant third in the voting among roughly 3,500 delegates. He garnered just under 27 percent of the vote. Bridgewater had 37 percent and Lee 35 percent.

Bennett is the first incumbent to lose his seat in Washington this year, the victim of a conservative movement angered by rising taxes and the growth of government.

Bennett was targeted by tea party activists and other groups for supporting a massive bailout of the financial industry, securing earmarks for his state and for co-sponsoring a bipartisan bill to mandate health insurance coverage.

Bennett is a very conservative guy, but not right-wing enough for the Fox-News-promoted Tea Party crowd.


posted by Quiddity at 5/08/2010 02:52:00 PM