Below is the text of an email I just submitted to Sen. Bennett's office. I don't pretend to speak for anyone else in the world, and certainly not anyone else along the progressive threads of our national fabric. I hope you'll read it and share your reactions in the comments.
Senator Bennett,
I write briefly to ask you for something. Please do not let the vicissitudes of the current political moment keep you from presenting yourself to the voters this November. Don't let a tiny group of your constituents deny you the chance to campaign for your seat. Please Senator, run a write-in campaign.
You should know that I feel even weirder about this request than you may if you should ever read this. I say that because I am a center-left activist and writer who desires a strong, sensible Cap & Trade bill, rational immigration reform that both secures the border and provides a path to citizenship, I think government should recognize that freedom is more important than protection (and that that means no torture, no indefinite detention w/o Habeas, even for those who wish to blow us up) and I even think that the health care reform bill y'all just passed is spiffy (though I liked your bill with Sen. Wyden a bit better, and what I really wanted was a public option).
Add to that that I've never lived or paid taxes in UT and you'll understand why I'm uneasy asking you for anything.
Nonetheless, I believe that you have worked in behalf of conservative principles in a much more respectful, civil and honest way than many of your colleagues in the modern GOP. And I fear what will happen if people like you-- statesmen who treat honest disagreements with the gravity they deserve, who do not succumb to the temptations of pettiness-- Senator, I fear that if people like you are forced out of your movement, that the outcome will be horrifying for all of us.
Please fight for your seat in the Senate this fall.
Sincerely, etc.