TEA PARTY POLITICS: A battle from the right is brewing for Bennett: Tax protesters target him for backing $350B bailout for banks.

In his third term in the Senate, Bob Bennett finds himself in unfamiliar and unfriendly waters, roiled by public frustration with Washington and with at least two sharks circling, believing the Republican senator might be vulnerable.

Attorney General Mark Shurtleff is expected to announce his Senate bid today and Tim Bridgewater abandoned his bid for state party chairman last week, saying he heard all over the state that delegates wanted a more conservative choice for senator.

Bennett was a prime target of tax protesters at “Tea Party” rallies last month, who booed the junior senator for supporting a bank bailout last year; conservative state legislators are breaking with Bennett and lining up with his challengers; and Shurtleff’s internal polling shows Bennett might have cause for concern.

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