Good explanation of why Bennett lost in Utah

[IndianaJoe]

It doesn't mean the Tea Party can do it elsewhere:

"The truth is, Bennett would not have lost anywhere other than Utah. For starters, it's the reddest state in the nation, so what's considered "conservative enough" there is a little further to the right than what's considered conservative enough in hotbeds of liberalism like, say, Texas or Alabama (i.e., everywhere else). Secondly, a major D.C. advocacy group, the Club for Growth, decided to spend a whopping $200,000 to ensure Bennett's defeat--the kind of intraparty hit that the Club can only afford to carry out in one or two races per cycle. And thirdly--and most importantly--Utah doesn't actually let its Republican residents vote on a full slate of Republican candidates. Instead, it convenes an odd, pre-primary convention where a select group of 3,500 delegates, who tend to be even more conservative than Utah's general Republican electorate, participate in several rounds of balloting in order to narrow the field to a measly two contenders. According to a recent Dan Jones & Associates poll, Bennett leads his closest rival, Lee, by 20 points among Utah Republicans at large--meaning in a normal primary system, he probably would've won the nomination. But because the senator received 160 fewer delegates at the convention than Bridgewater--delegates who were undoubtedly swayed by the Club's expensive anti-Bennett campaign--he isn't even getting the chance to compete. Needless to say, most other candidates nationwide don't have to worry about this sort of thing."

Newsweek

<http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/thegaggle/archive/2010/05/09/bennett-lost-in-utah-should-other-conservatives-be-scared.aspx>

[Submariner]

1. decided to spend a whopping $200,000 to ensure Bennett's defeat

They may have much more cash next time around. I would like to know if the campaign donation decision overturned by the partisan activist neocons on the SCOTUS recently makes it easier for teabagger groups to get money for hit ads and other character assassination expenditures.

[customerserviceguy]

2. Utah's convention system may be weird

but Bennett used it to his benefit as he was climbing the political ladder there.

[ThomWV]

3. Yeah, every story is different, but the common thread is Republicans are shooting themselves in the

You pick the appropriate body part.

[beyurslf]

4. 3500 voters with 200,000 to spend is just under 60 bucks per voter.

not bad.