basquebromance
Diamond Member
- Nov 26, 2015
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- 27,004
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my favorite Democrat Senator other than Cory Booker...of course i'll do excerpts...i have a little time to do it thankfully...i disagree that he's a "low-key" Senator...have you seen the video of him screamin' and yellin' at Ted Cruz? presidential material! though Bennet says that's not his style and was just a 1-time occurence. oh well, and he did run for president while being treated for cancer, actually
excerpts are worth checking out, as Bennet criticizes his own party
www.politico.com
excerpts:
How precarious is Senate Democrats’ majority? Just ask Colorado’s Michael Bennet.
The low-key Democratic senator hails from a state that President Joe Biden won by 13 points. His in-state colleague, Sen. John Hickenlooper, won by 9 points in 2020 against a Republican incumbent. Yet Bennet has an ominous warning for any Democrat feeling optimistic about holding the majority and even expanding it in November.
“When you’re in the same party as the president, that’s gonna be a tough cycle,” said Bennet, describing voters as “mad at everybody” about inflation, Covid and the expiration of the senator’s signature child tax credits.
Colorado’s status as a blue state “is an incorrect perception among people” in Washington, he added. “Colorado remains a swing state.”
And Bennet’s warnings are not just local: The former presidential candidate and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee chair is telling his whole party to buckle in for a rough ride.
“I had a very tough race in 2010. That was a very tough cycle. I chaired the DSCC in 2014. That was a really tough cycle. In 2016, it turned out to be another tough cycle,” Bennet said. “This is going to be another one of those.”
Bennet knows plenty about survival, winning his seat by such a narrow margin in 2010 that he was dubbed the “accidental senator,” a nickname he’s since co-opted. His DSCC reign ended in a nine-seat swing to Republicans, a red wave that toppled Colorado Democratic Sen. Mark Udall. But Bennet won by nearly 6 points in 2016 against underfunded candidate Darryl Glenn, whom national Republicans didn’t really give a shot.
As he faces voters for a third time, Bennet’s become a sharper critic of his party than most. And he’s grown more willing to talk about it — an extension of a presidential campaign that often focused on how Mitch McConnell outmaneuvered Democrats. He is livid that Democrats aren’t talking more about their work with Biden to make big investments in infrastructure and the economy or the last-gasp effort at passing more big legislation.
“The national Democratic Party has done a terrible job talking about what we’ve accomplished and what we’re fighting to accomplish,” Bennet said. “Nobody is more aggravated than I am with the national Democratic Party, that we didn’t fight harder to extend those child tax credits for working people in this state.”
Bennet’s subtler approach would seem to impede his ability to raise the alarm about his own possible November challenges. But he maintains that his decision to not throw bombs is intentional, and Tester called it an asset to Bennet’s reelection.
“I am never going to be the guy that blows up Twitter, except for when I had my moment with Ted Cruz,” Bennet says of when he angrily castigated Cruz for shedding “crocodile tears” over a government shutdown.
“That is a toxic aspect of our politics. So I’m not somebody who’s contributed to that. And that’s a conscious decision that I’ve made,” he added. “On the other hand, I have shown up over and over and over and over again, in every single community in my state.”
excerpts are worth checking out, as Bennet criticizes his own party
In Colorado, Bennet braces for another red wave
In a state President Joe Biden won by 13 points, Michael Bennet is warning of a tough road ahead — not a good sign for Senate Democrats.
www.politico.com
excerpts:
How precarious is Senate Democrats’ majority? Just ask Colorado’s Michael Bennet.
The low-key Democratic senator hails from a state that President Joe Biden won by 13 points. His in-state colleague, Sen. John Hickenlooper, won by 9 points in 2020 against a Republican incumbent. Yet Bennet has an ominous warning for any Democrat feeling optimistic about holding the majority and even expanding it in November.
“When you’re in the same party as the president, that’s gonna be a tough cycle,” said Bennet, describing voters as “mad at everybody” about inflation, Covid and the expiration of the senator’s signature child tax credits.
Colorado’s status as a blue state “is an incorrect perception among people” in Washington, he added. “Colorado remains a swing state.”
And Bennet’s warnings are not just local: The former presidential candidate and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee chair is telling his whole party to buckle in for a rough ride.
“I had a very tough race in 2010. That was a very tough cycle. I chaired the DSCC in 2014. That was a really tough cycle. In 2016, it turned out to be another tough cycle,” Bennet said. “This is going to be another one of those.”
Bennet knows plenty about survival, winning his seat by such a narrow margin in 2010 that he was dubbed the “accidental senator,” a nickname he’s since co-opted. His DSCC reign ended in a nine-seat swing to Republicans, a red wave that toppled Colorado Democratic Sen. Mark Udall. But Bennet won by nearly 6 points in 2016 against underfunded candidate Darryl Glenn, whom national Republicans didn’t really give a shot.
As he faces voters for a third time, Bennet’s become a sharper critic of his party than most. And he’s grown more willing to talk about it — an extension of a presidential campaign that often focused on how Mitch McConnell outmaneuvered Democrats. He is livid that Democrats aren’t talking more about their work with Biden to make big investments in infrastructure and the economy or the last-gasp effort at passing more big legislation.
“The national Democratic Party has done a terrible job talking about what we’ve accomplished and what we’re fighting to accomplish,” Bennet said. “Nobody is more aggravated than I am with the national Democratic Party, that we didn’t fight harder to extend those child tax credits for working people in this state.”
Bennet’s subtler approach would seem to impede his ability to raise the alarm about his own possible November challenges. But he maintains that his decision to not throw bombs is intentional, and Tester called it an asset to Bennet’s reelection.
“I am never going to be the guy that blows up Twitter, except for when I had my moment with Ted Cruz,” Bennet says of when he angrily castigated Cruz for shedding “crocodile tears” over a government shutdown.
“That is a toxic aspect of our politics. So I’m not somebody who’s contributed to that. And that’s a conscious decision that I’ve made,” he added. “On the other hand, I have shown up over and over and over and over again, in every single community in my state.”
