I happened to catch the news that U.S. Senator Bob Bennett (R-UT) was beaten in his attempt to run for a fourth term when he lost at the Utah State GOP Convention.

Yes, that’s right, the 18 year senator lost at the Utah GOP convention. Incredible.

The righties in Utah decided Bob Bennett was not conservative enough, so 18 years of seniority goes down the drain.

I don’t know if it happened or not, but I imagine Bennett was called a RINO (Republican In Name Only) a few times by the far righties who defeated him. That’s their method of operation.

Bennett has a lifetime conservative rating from the American Conservative Union of 83.63. The other senator in Utah, Orrin Hatch, has a lifetime rating of 89.15. In 2009, Bennett’s rating was 84. Hatch’s was 88.

So, somewhere between 83.63 and 89.15 is the dividing line of being a “good conservative” and a “bad conservative” at least according to the righties in Utah.

By the way, American Conservative Union gives a 90.3 lifetime rating to Congressman Denny Rehberg (R-MT).

Watch out for the wackos from within, Congressman.

Peg McEntee, a columnist for the Salt Lake City Tribune, wrote this about Bennett’s loss:

When Bennett lost, the yips and howls from thousands of delegates sounded like coyotes going after one of their own.

Left standing were Mike Lee and Tim Bridgewater, both Utah County Republicans who like the tea partiers and 9/12ers just fine. Both claim to be strict constitutionalists who will free Utah from an oppressive federal government, take back federal lands in Utah and repeal health care reform.

Good luck with that.

Bennett’s loss will make the lefties happy tonight. The GOP may just implode. They are heading too far off the right side of the scale for my liking and, more importantly, for my support. So yip and howl all you want, you won’t win many elections without the independent/moderate voters in your corner.