It Is Liberalism, Stupid.

In the past week, Republican Senator Bob Bennett of Utah and Democratic Representative Alan Mollohan of West Virginia, both of whom have served in Congress for decades, lost in their respective primaries. The prevailing media interpretation thus far has been that 2010 will be an "anti-incumbent" year. This is dead wrong.

Let us look at these two races.

In Utah:

What riled Utah Republicans against Bob Bennett? One complaint was that he sponsored a health-care bill with Oregon Democrat Ron Wyden to eliminate the tax preference for employer-provided health insurance and subsidize premiums... ...More important, apparently, was Mr. Bennett's vote for the Troubled Asset Relief Program in September 2008. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703339304575240953424385446.html

In West Virginia:

It's unusual for Rep. Alan B. Mollohan (D-W.Va.) to face opposition from a fellow Democrat. And the rare primary Mollohan is facing this year in the northern 1st district is atypical in that state Sen. Mike Oliverio is challenging him from the right and not the left.

Oliverio is running on a platform that focuses heavily on the need to reduce the large federal debt -- not exactly a burning issue in Democratic primaries. He opposed increasing the federal debt limit, criticized the 2009 stimulus law that Mollohan and nearly every other Democrat supported, and also has some problems with the new health care law. Oliverio also opposes abortion, gun control and a "cap and trade" system to limit greenhouse gas emissions. http://news.yahoo.com/s/cq/20100330/pl_cq_politics/politics3634654

Both of these men lost to their right: Bennett largely because of his support for specific left leaning legislation and Mollohan because of an overall challenge from the right.

When moderate or liberal challengers start beating conservative incumbents, then we can call this an anti-incumbent year. Until then, this is a conservative year.