Facing the prospect of a Republican challenge in his Senate re-election campaign, Sen. Bob Bennett flexed some muscle Tuesday, appearing alongside Mitt Romney, a political superstar in Utah, who said the state is "lucky to have a person of such substance."
Romney, who dominated the state in his bid for the White House, helped Bennett raise some $225,000 for his re-election fight.
He also heaped praise on the senator, saying "his leadership in Washington is very important to the success of conservatism," while sidestepping questions about whether he would mount another presidential bid.
"I'm keeping the door open, but I'm just not walking through it," Romney told reporters afterward.
Bennett said he has seen "a coalescing among my fellow senators very early about who they think the leader of the Republican Party should be," and they are getting behind Romney.
"You have been with a true national leader who has been recognized now in that regard and it is an honor and pleasure to have him in the state of Utah," Bennett told a gathering of about 500 who came to hear the two discuss the future of the Republican Party.
Romney said he hasn't considered whether Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., who has garnered some national attention as a potential presidential candidate, would affect his own plans.
"Everyone should make their own decisions," said Romney, who won't make a decision on his future until after the 2010 election. "We've got a deep bench," he said, adding that the party will rally behind a leader. "Hopefully that person will be successful in defeating President Obama."
Romney appeared at a $1,000-per person lunch fundraiser for Bennett, and a private roundtable discussion for those who contributed $2,400.
Romney could prove to be a powerful ally for Bennett in Utah. His presidential bid supercharged Utah Republicans and he trounced the competition, receiving 90 percent of the GOP primary vote, and raised $5.5 million from Utah donors, according to The Center for Responsive Politics.
Brigham Young University political science professor Quin Monson said that Romney's fundraising heft, while considerable, probably isn't what Bennett was looking for.
"I don't think Senator Bennett needed the fundraising help as much as he wants to signal that he's got lots of support and taking him on would be difficult," said Monson. That might ultimately discourage others from running against him.
Bennett will be seeking a fourth Senate term next year, but has engendered discontent among conservative Republicans who dominate the party's nominating process.
The senior Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, Bennett supported the first round of bank bailouts last fall. Bennett and Romney both defended that vote, saying the Troubled Asset Relief Plan (TARP) was crucial to keep the financial system from melting down.
"Without that legislation we would have seen a collapse of the free market system in this country and perhaps around the world," said Romney.
That first round of TARP, proposed during the end of President Bush's second term, was different, Romney said, than the bailouts President Obama has advanced.
Bennett said Americans have a right to be upset with the economic meltdown and Washington's response, but throwing everyone out is not the answer.
"You have every right to be angry. I'm angry with you, but this is not a time for rookies," said Bennett. The Obama administration's spending, he said, is moving the country in a "dangerous" direction.
» Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said he is considering running against Bennett because of "the state of the economy and how we got here."
He said he's not surprised that Romney was campaigning for Bennett, who was a prominent Romney supporter. "He's returning a favor," said Shurtleff. "Clearly it's daunting in the sense that he's very popular here and he can raise money, but I can raise money, too." Shurtleff, who backed Sen. John McCain for president, said he will make a decision in May, after a spring fundraiser at the end of the month.
» David Leavitt, the brother of former governor and Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt who challenged Rep. Chris Cannon last year, is considering a bid.
"I think about it simply because someone has got to stand up and try to make a difference," he said. "There's a lot of people who can do that, but there needs to be a new voice, there needs to be a clear voice and it needs to be speaking on the right point."
» Mike Lee, an attorney who was Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.'s counsel and helped defeat a plan to store high-level nuclear waste in Utah, is also considering running. Lee is the son of former Reagan administration Solicitor General Rex Lee and a clerk to Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito.» Todd Taylor, executive director of the Utah Democratic Party, said there are two prominent Democrats considering a run in 2010, but they have not made a decision yet. The Romney visit, he said, "clearly shows Bennett's desperation and that he's got some problems within his party," he said. "To have to effectively pull out the big guns this early in the process shows he's deeply concerned."
