Taking Scalps

In Utah, the Tea Partiers took a scalp:

SALT LAKE CITY -- From the outset of Saturday's Utah Republican Convention, it was clear that Sen. Robert Bennett faced a major fight to even survive to a primary.

...Bennett's political career ended at just after 3 P.M. local time in downtown Salt Lake City, when the Republicans eliminated him as a candidate, with only 27 percent of the 3,500 delegates supporting him. One ballot later it was decided that there would be a primary between Tim Bridgewater and Mike Lee, with the winner of that race almost assuredly the next senator from reliably Republican Utah.

...After his loss, a tearful Bennett told a roomful of media members that he did not regret any of his political decisions, and had done his best to represent Utah.

"The political atmosphere has been toxic. It's clear that some of the votes I cast added to that toxicity," he said. "Looking back, I wouldn't change them."

...Many of those delegates were first-timers, and their thirst for action beyond typical politics was apparent. For them, this was politics as hockey, and they wanted fights. They wanted blood on the ice.

Even in Sacramento, there seems to be a taste for scalp-taking:

Last week, Supervisor Roger Dickinson held a phony press conference where he blathered on as only he can about holding Wall Street accountable for the woes of Sacramento County.

...Two years have passed since the county got out of the auction rate securities deals that Dickinson is railing against, yet he is showboating now – weeks before voters consider him for the District 9 state Assembly seat. Hmm.

...OK, Roger. Let's talk accountability.

If there is a man who symbolizes the county's $166.5 million deficit, it's Roger Dickinson.

When it was time to make tough budget decisions, Dickinson took a pass. He made a bad situation worse.

As The Bee's Robert Lewis has reported, the projected deficit in the county's general fund for 2010-11 grew from $119 million to $166.5 million in two months. Bloated pensions and retirement costs were nearly $24 million higher than expected. Many blame County Executive Terry Schutten for this mess.

Who was Schutten's chief protector? Roger Dickinson.

Well, we'll see about all this. The primaries may be all about change and hope, but the real surprise will come in November, when the voters will reelect the incumbents with zombielike predictability.

It happens more often than you'd ever dream likely.....