Political Tide Could Wash Away Utah Senator (Bennett)

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/26/us/politics/26bennett.html?pagewanted=1

Political Tide Could Wash Away Utah Senator

By JEFF ZELENY

Published: March 25, 2010

SALT LAKE CITY — Senator Robert F. Bennett parked his white Acura, walked through the doors of Bryant Middle School and stood alone as he began the obstacle course that will determine his political fate.

Monica Almeida/The New York Times

Senator Robert F. Bennett of Utah, who faces challenges in his re-election bid this year, at his campaign office in Salt Lake City.

"Do you need my ID?" Mr. Bennett asked, reaching for his wallet as he approached the registration table at his neighborhood Republican caucus, the first step in his effort to secure his party's nomination to a fourth term. No, a volunteer said with a smile. In Utah, of course, he is well known. And he recalls a time he was well liked.

The dissatisfaction with Washington sweeping through politics is not only threatening the Democratic majority in Congress, it is also roiling Republican primaries. The Tea Party movement and advocacy groups on the right are demanding that candidates hew strictly to their ideological standards, and are moving aggressively to cast out those they deem to have strayed, even if only by participating in the compromises of legislating.

There is no bigger quarry in the eyes of many conservative activists than Mr. Bennett, who has drawn seven challengers and will not know for six weeks whether he will even qualify for the ballot. His fate is being watched not only by grass-roots conservatives testing their ability to shape the party, but also by many elected Republicans in Washington who are wondering, If Bob Bennett is not conservative enough, who is?

"If the anti-incumbent tide is as strong as some people think it is, I will be swept out, despite all my efforts," Mr. Bennett said in an interview. "If the anti-incumbent tide is a lot of conversation, but has no center of gravity as a true political movement, then I'll be just fine. There's no way to know."

For all the anger directed at President Obama and his party from the right, especially after the passage of health care legislation, the first opportunities for Tea Party members and the groups seeking to channel their antigovernment energy into electoral politics are in Republican primaries. Mr. Bennett is especially exposed to the grass-roots anger. The quirky nominating system in Utah means that 3,500 delegates must give Mr. Bennett their blessing before he can face the primary electorate in June.

The first test for him came on Tuesday evening, when Republicans gathered in precinct meetings like the one here at Bryant Middle School to select delegates for the state convention in May. Attendance more than doubled from two years ago, underscoring a high degree of interest in the Senate race and the direction of the party.

In this unusual contest — akin to a miniature version of the Iowa presidential caucuses — there is little room for error. So Mr. Bennett found an aisle seat in Row F of the auditorium, slumped his 6-foot-6 frame into a red theater-style seat and waited for the proceedings to begin. He did not set off to meet voters, but they came to meet him.

"This negative garbage isn't going to work against you," said David S. Ostler, a retired state representative and longtime friend. "It'll backfire."

The senator is not convinced. His own polling shows him in third place, he said, trailing "Anybody-but-Bennett and Undecided." He said he knew that a tough fight for re-election awaited him after he voted for the bank bailout in 2008 and a few days later walked into a town meeting and "it was through clinched teeth that they welcomed me."

The rise of the Tea Party movement, along with an investment in the race by the Club for Growth, the antitax Washington-based group that seeks to influence Republican primaries, has turned the race into what the soft-spoken senator calls "the nastiest one I have experienced."

Mike Lee, 38, is among those challenging Mr. Bennett. As Mr. Lee met with voters on a recent day in Cedar Hills, the largest applause came when he said Republicans must look inward to resolve the problems entrenched in Washington.

"Congress has created a monster through its seniority system," said Mr. Lee, a former Supreme Court clerk for Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. "It's a bring-home-the-bacon problem. It's part of the 'I've got seniority so you need to re-elect me' problem. The longer they're in, the more they have an opportunity to say, 'You can't replace me.' "

Conservative advocacy groups have consistently given Mr. Bennett high marks, including an "A" ranking from the National Rifle Association, a 98 percent rating by the United States Chamber of Commerce and an 84 percent rating from the American Conservative Union.