Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Don't look for Sen. Bob Bennett to endorse Nevada U.S. Senate candidate Sharron Angle any time soon.
Three days after the Utah Republican suggested Angle's effort to oust Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid would flop, she called Bennett an elitist who was out of step with voters who want a leaner, tightfisted government.
The tea party favorite Angle told Fox News Monday that she counts herself among "mainstream Americans" who believe the 76-year-old Bennett has "outlived his usefulness."
Bennett, she said, is one of the Washington "elitists that is no longer in touch with what the country is really thinking about in these economic times."
The two Republicans have become unlikely rivals in a range war over the tea party movement and what it means to GOP politics.
Bennett was ousted in a May primary. He lost his chance at a fourth term when he finished third in his party's nominating convention in a contest marked by tea party unrest.
In an interview with The Associated Press Friday, Bennett warned that tea party "mischief" may be helping Democrats this election season, including in Colorado and Nevada.
"My sources in Nevada say with Sharron Angle there's no way Harry Reid loses in Nevada," he told AP.
Asked about his remarks, Angle said Bennett "is not mainstream any longer."
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
