Club for Growth Targets Bennett in Utah
As if it hadn’t already made the point clear enough in recent months, the Club for Growth on Friday released a statement announcing it will work to keep Sen. Bob Bennett (R-Utah) from winning a fourth term in November.“Bob Bennett is out of touch with the times and with his state, and Utah Republicans have better choices for their candidate in November,— Club for Growth President Chris Chocola said.Spokesman Mike Connolly said that Friday’s announcement means the club is now fully committed to bringing its vast financial resources and powerful communication machine to bear on Bennett in the coming months.“We’re going to look at advertising opportunities on the air, we’re going to look at direct mailings and contact education pieces with convention delegates and likely caucus goers,— Connolly said. “If it goes to a primary, we’re going to be communicating with potential primary voters.—The club has long been a critic of Bennett, slamming the Senator for his vote to pass the controversial Wall Street bailout bill in 2008 and going after him again last fall in a television ad and letter-writing campaign to potential GOP convention delegates for his efforts to promote the Healthy Americans Act, a piece of legislation he created with Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).Meanwhile, the group has made no secret about its efforts to meet with potential GOP challengers to Bennett including Mike Lee, a former gubernatorial general counsel and the son of former U.S. Solicitor General Rex Lee, who officially entered the GOP primary earlier this week.The club has also met with former Congressional candidate Tim Bridgewater and conservative activist Cherilyn Eagar, who are also running in the primary.Rather than backing any single Bennett challenger, Chocola said there are “several viable and superior candidates— for the Utah Senate seat.Connolly said the club views all three of the candidates it has met with as superior alternatives to Bennett.“We feel those three candidates are already on the way to mobilizing the economic and pro-growth conservative base,— he said.