New Purity Test: Utah's Bennett Faces Conservative Challenge

State GOP convention delegates to weigh Sen. Bob Bennett's fate on Saturday.

ByABC News
May 6, 2010, 5:28 PM

May 7, 2010 -- Utah Republican Sen. Bob Bennett is in danger of losing his job on Saturday when the state GOP holds a convention to determine the party's 2010 Senate nominee.

"The anger is palpable," Bennett told CNN on Thursday. "The anger's very strong and that's why I am in trouble."

The trouble in which Bennett finds himself is not expected to change the balance of power in Washington: Utah is such a thoroughly Republican state that Democrats do not have a serious chance in November.

Bennett's plight, however, is a sign of the increasing ideological purity that conservatives are demanding this year.

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In Florida, Republican Gov. Charlie Crist saw his political standing erode after he embraced President Obama's stimulus package. Crist's standing had deteriorated so significantly among Republican primary voters that he announced last week he was going to abandon the GOP primary and run for the U.S. Senate without a party affiliation in the hopes of attracting more moderate independent voters.

Several factors are contributing to Bennett's plight with Republican convention-goers in Utah on top of general distaste with the growing spending in Washington:

For starters, Bennett is under scrutiny for backing the Wall Street bailout in 2008. Although the bailout, which is formally known as the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), was supported by President Bush and many Republicans in Congress, Bennett has to defend his vote to the 3,500 die-hard Republican activists who participate in the convention.

Second, Bennett has not followed his 1992 pledge to serve only two six-year terms in the Senate. He is seeking his fourth term.

Third, Bennett partnered with Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, on health care legislation. Although the bill differed substantially from the legislation signed into law by President Obama, some Republican activists do not like the idea that Bennett was cooperating with a Democrat on this issue.