Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, a widely popular figure in her home state, got thumped by 22 points in her primary bid against Gov. Rick Perry last month after she became defined as “Kay Bailout” — a big-spending Washington insider who supported the Bush administration’s Troubled Asset Relief Program and used her perch on the Appropriations Committee to obtain suddenly out-of-fashion earmarks.
In Utah, Sen. Bob Bennett, hardly a moderate, is on the verge of losing at his party convention next month and not even making the primary ballot for reasons similar to Hutchison: He’s also an appropriator who supported TARP. Compounding his problem, Bennett pledged to serve just two terms in the Senate and is now seeking a third — making it all the easier for his rivals to cast him as having gone native in the capital.
Also next month, the preferred candidate of the GOP establishment in Kentucky, Secretary of State Trey Grayson, may lose to Rand Paul, the ophthalmologist son of Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas)…
Cole noted that there was no unique danger for party centrists, noting that moderate Republican Reps. Mike Castle of Delaware and Mark Kirk of Illinois are both well-situated to win Senate seats and that Brown, who has already sided with Democrats on some votes, is not exactly a right-winger.
“The moderate wing in the Senate could expand, not contract, in this election,” he said.
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