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SALT LAKE CITY -- Utah Sen. Bob Bennett brought in a heavy hitter to help him kick off what could be a tough campaign for re-election.
That heavy hitter, former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, is a Republican stalwart. Wednesday morning at the Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City, Gingrich introduced Sen. Bennett before a large crowd of supporters as Bennett formally launched his re-election campaign.
Gingrich blasted President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats, likening today to 1994 when Republicans swept out Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress to take over.
"All of you can play a key role in the next few weeks in making this happen by reaching out to convention delegates and making sure they understand is that the best thing they can do to defeat Obama and get conservatives on the march is to re-elect Bob Bennett," Gingrich said.
Gingrich also applauded Bennett for being a tenacious fighter who also aims to come up with real solutions to real problems and who can help lead the GOP back to power.
"In the fights that have mattered in 2009 and 2010, Bob Bennett has consistently been on the conservative side, and has been one of the people, even though we were outnumbered, has helped us win some very key fights," Gingrich said.
For his part, Bennett made it clear that his top issue will be restoring jobs.
"I have been a businessman before I got into politics, and I believe we have to focus on where the primary problem lies, and it lies with our economy," he said.
Bennett, a three-term incumbent, is facing a field of other Republican challengers who hope to force a primary this spring.
Bennett's support of a bailout of the nation's financial system has put him among several Republicans across the country who are under attack from within the party as not conservative enough.
E-mail: jdaley@ksl.com
