Sitting in a coffee shop today I over-heard a Bennet field director pitching the candidate to a minor local politico. Part of his pitch was that Andrew Romanoff is a known quantity and he is solidly and decidedly moderate. Bennet though, according to this staffer, is less known and thus is more maleable to the liberal base.
First, that Bennet's views are less well known does not speak at all to the maleability of his positions. Second, does this guy really believe that Michael Bennet is at all persuaded by the liberal base or that his views are any less "moderate" than Andrew Romanoff? Bennet's views haven't shifted one iota since he took office - he voted against mortgage cramdown and he supported Senate health reform. He supported health reform all along and his opposition to mortgage cramdown was typical of so-called moderates who believe in the sanctity of banksters contracts but not union contracts.
This pitch that Bennet might be some closet liberal if Democrats apply pressure is farcical. He is what he is, you can either support him or not but outside pressure will have likely little impact on Michael Bennet. It certainly won't turn him from a Congress Park liberal into a true progressive, just like Andrew Romanoff will not be suddenly changing his Wash Park liberal stripes into some sort of labor firebrand.
It just seems like such a transparently ridiculous pitch to be making.
2 comments:
As a Bennet supporter, let me just say, that argument is deeply flawed for many reasons--most of which you enunciated nicely, Steve.
I will say that Bennet is more liberal than Salazar was, and that he did hop on the Public Option bandwagon after getting hundreds of calls and e-mails to his offices telling him to support it.
Other than that, whatever that Bennet staffer's reasoning, it's not a salient argument. Better get back to work on the talking points list.
I definitely prefer him to Salazar and having worked personally with Bennet a bit I like him a LOT. He's incredibly sharp, probably the smartes person I've met in Colorado politics. I've had interactions or worked with the brightest lights in the state Democratic party and some in the GOP, he blows them all out of the water.
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