Conservative GOP incumbent may be too liberal for ultraconservative Utah to win re-election

[Swede]

How far right are they sliding?


Republican Sen. Bob Bennett — darling of the National Rifle Association and grandson of a Mormon Church president — suddenly may not be conservative enough for ultraconservative Utah.

Bennett could become the first 2010 election casualty among incumbent U.S. senators if he fails to win at least 40 percent of the 3,500 delegates at the state GOP's convention May 8.

His struggle to win a fourth six-year term underscores two forces driving the GOP's fortunes in 2010 as the party out of power seeks more seats in Congress: Incumbency isn't a problem just for Democrats, and ideological purity is an issue of increasing importance for many Republican voters.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=10473874

[Ken Burch]

1. OK...I realize this is a massive longshot...

But do Bennett's troubles give US any chance, at all, to take this seat?

There was a Democratic U.S. Senator from Utah in the Seventies, as I recall.