SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) - When conservative Republican delegates tossed out Senator Bob Bennett two years ago, some thought Orrin Hatch would be next.
But now in the wake of Tuesday’s primary election, some say what happened to Bennett in 2010 didn't put Hatch in danger - it actually may have saved him.
You see, when conservative convention delegates celebrated Bob Bennett's defeat two years ago, the celebratory convention scene may have left a bad taste in the mouths of Utahns.
David Owen, a political analyst, said Wednesday morning,
"There was a lot of dancing in the end zone. There was a lot of spiking the football…regular Utah voters did not like it."
Owen made this remark on the hugely popular X-96 morning radio show.
Owen said Bennett's political death may, ironically, have spared Orrin Hatch.
Owen, a Republican, believes Utah's power brokers didn't want another ultra conservative senator, so they mobilized behind Hatch.
It's a theory which is shared by Hatch's Democratic opponent.
In response to a question by ABC 4, Scott Howell said,
"There was a Tea Party factor in there. There was a fear that the far right might take over again."
And Tuesday night, Orrin Hatch himself said, because of what happened two years ago, people around the country were watching his race.
In an interview with ABC 4, Hatch even admitted that Bennett's loss was a "sad thing."
He also told us,
"What happened to Bob Bennett shouldn't have happened."
Now, political analyst, David Owen, will be one of four guests on Sunday's, "On the Record."
He’s part of the Vanocur Political Group, which will have a wrap up of Tuesday's primary election.
The shows airs at 7:30 Sunday morning on ABC 4.
FOLLOW CHRIS VANOCUR ON TWITTER: @cvan4
