From the Monday edition of the Morning Jolt:

Bye Bye, Bennett
The editors will not miss Utah Senator Robert Bennett, who was effectively knocked off the ballot for that state’s Republican primary. I argue that his defeat this weekend has a lot to do with Utah’s party-nomination process and is, I’m afraid, not necessarily a harbinger of overwhelming Tea Party victories. A reader takes exception:
When all is said and done, what ended up being fatal to Sen. Bennett’s candidacy was not the rather unique system that Utah has for nomination, rather it was his own attitude. Here’s what he was quoted as saying at “an emotional meeting with reporters”:
“The political atmosphere, obviously, has been toxic and it’s very clear some of the votes that I have cast have added to the toxic environment,” he said, choking up. “Looking back on them, with one or two very minor exceptions, I wouldn’t have cast them any differently even if I’d known at the time it would cost me my career.” Notice he does not say, “my Senate seat”, he says, “my career”. Was the man upset because he would not be able to return to Washington to effect change in the country that would benefit his constituents? No, it would appear he was upset because he was losing his job. It was all about him – not any political agenda, or any political philosophy, or any overriding vision for the country. “Hey, I mostly voted conservative, right? And I got along with all those Senators from the other side of the aisle, right? And I have seniority, right? So, that should be enough to keep me in Washington . . . forever!, . . . right?”. (To quote Stuart Smalley, “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough . . . and dog gone it! People *like* me!”.) He came off like a careerist with no over arching values. The activists in Utah got this. More than any specific votes cast by the Senator, I think it was this attitude that made them torpedo him.
I’d note that right after a man is denied his own party’s nomination, he might express his views in a way he later regrets.
Also, I don’t know if the Stuart Smalley comparison works because Smalley will still be in the U.S. Senate for the next four years or so.
Bennett’s departure is the sort of thing that gets David Brooks angry enough to start using the word ‘damn.’