Former U.S. Sen. Bob Bennett believes the tea party is destroying the Republican Party,
The Salt Lake Tribune reports.
The ex-Utah lawmaker, a victim of tea party politics when he lost his seat in 2010 to Mike Lee, gave his candid assessment to a conference of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists on Friday in Salt Lake City.
"We're a center-right nation. The further politicians move away from the center, the more alienating their party becomes," Bennett said.
He compared the damage of the tea party on the Republican Party to what happened to the Democratic Party in the 1970s as a result of the so-called McGovernites.
Bennett said that despite his loss nearly three years ago, he wouldn't have changed his views on hot-button issues.
"Would I have voted on TARP [Troubled Asset Relief Program] or immigration differently had I known that would cost me my Senate seat? No," he said, according to the Tribune.
"Because there are things far more important than being a senator. And one is to be true to your own conscience."
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