Conservatives Target One of Their Best

My article in the latest issue of Time looks at the troubling case of Utah's Senator Robert Bennett. Bennett is one of the most conservative members of Congress, yet two conservative groups are now committed to defeating his renomination bid.

My article in the latest issue of Time looks at the troubling case of Utah's Senator Robert Bennett. Bennett is one of the most conservative members of Congress, yet two conservative groups, the Club for Growth and FreedomWorks, are now committed to defeating his renomination bid.

American politics is an intensely competitive marketplace. Thousands of interest groups jostle for money and attention. ...

[Sen. Robert] Bennett is caught in a range war between two such conservative allies: the Club for Growth and FreedomWorks. Founded more than a decade ago, the Club for Growth has raised and spent millions of dollars to support tax-cutting Republican opponents of incumbents. In the past few cycles, this strategy has led to a sequence of disasters. Club-backed challenges to moderate Republican incumbents like Michigan Congressman Joe Schwarz in 2006 and Maryland's Wayne Gilchrest in 2008 tipped both seats to Democrats. The threat of a Club-backed primary pushed Arlen Specter to change parties in 2009, (briefly) handing Barack Obama his 60th Senate vote.

This unsatisfying record opened space for a competitor: FreedomWorks, an activist organization run by former House majority leader Dick Armey and generously funded by the billionaire Koch family of Wichita, Kans. FreedomWorks thrust itself to the fore of the Tea Party last year, providing the sometimes stumbling movement with professional skills. In the process, FreedomWorks gained some clout and challenged the Club for Growth to put some numbers on the board.

The Bennett race provided the perfect opportunity...

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