Bennet & Obama: Misery Loves Company

It's either pathetic or funny to see Sen. Michael Bennet desperately embracing President Obama for a Feb. 18 campaign event in Denver. (Read his manager's breathless email below.) The two out-of-touch liberal incumbents, each dropping like a rock, must hope they can defy gravity by holding hands. Bennet just fell further behind GOP front-runner Jane Norton, now trailing her by 14 points in the Rasmussen poll. Worse, his underfunded primary challenger Andrew Romanoff is only 7 points down to Norton in the same poll.

After Obama's impotence in campaigning for Dems in VA, NJ, and MA the past 100 days, what can he do in CO but make things worse for Bennet anyway?

Dear Friend: Hopefully you've heard by now that President Obama is coming to Denver on February 18 for a grassroots reception at the Fillmore Auditorium. This will be a great opportunity to join our grassroots movement and see the President.

Tickets for this grassroots reception are going fast -- click here to get yours before it's too late.

We know that building a strong online community will be a key part of winning this election in November. That's why we've set aside 25 special tickets for our online supporters.

All you have to do for a chance to get a ticket is enter your information on our simple and easy contest form.

Click here to enter your name for a chance to get your ticket to see President Obama in Denver!

Your help has already been critical to this campaign, and your continued support may mean the difference between winning and losing. So we want to make sure as many of our online supporters can make this event as possible. That's why we want you to double your chances of getting a ticket to see President Obama on February 18.

To double your odds of winning simply text OBAMA to 236638 to sign up for our text messaging program, or click here to sign up online.

We will draw the first names next week -- so make sure to forward this message to your friends and family today for a chance to win these special tickets for our online supporters!

And don't forget, besides entering our contest, you can make sure to get a ticket for this exciting event before they're gone by visiting ColoradoVictory2010.com.

Thanks again for your support during this campaign, and I hope you'll be able to join us on February 18 for this great event.

Sincerely, Craig Hughes Campaign Manager Bennet for Colorado

Dems still not listening

Senator Michael Bennet has acknowledged that the Massachusetts voters' choice of Scott Brown signals their justified demand to be heard. (Denver Post, "Deciphering Voter Message," 1/21/2010) While claiming that Colorado legislators do listen to us, however, Bennet demonstrated just the opposite. He's still not listening. Massachusetts voters did indeed vigorously proclaim that governments all governments, at all levels work for us, not the other way around. That's what "representative government" means.

Missed, though, was the rest of the message. Massachusetts voters also signaled their massive rejection of the liberal agenda. Bennet didn't hear that part or chose to ignore it. Obama and all his liberal pack, including both of Colorado's senators and most our state officials, apparently are in denial.

Through op/ed letters, polls and public rallies, American voters have declared again and again that we cherish our freedoms and our open economy. We deplore excessive government spending, anti-business interference and nannyism.

At a grass-roots rally early this week a Coloradan aptly expressed his disgust, "We don't want handouts. We want hands off."

So, start really listening. Or prepare for Colorado voters' judgment in November.

Imagine a better legislature

While others play the personality game of who succeeds Bill Ritter, let’s talk policy. Imagine Colorado making itself so attractive to employers that we lead all 50 states in creating new jobs, instead of lagging in 20th place as we did in the decade past (our second-worst showing since 1890). Imagine Colorado becoming a mecca for affordable health care by letting insurers from across the country compete on price and quality in our state marketplace. Imagine forging out as the nation’s futuristic energy leader, the state that builds safe nuclear plants for clean electricity powering homes, businesses, and vehicles. Imagine our schools putting kids’ best interests ahead of union demands with the most charter-friendly policies in America, slashing red tape to empower learning performance. Imagine our university system paying students a 25% dividend on their time and tuition by innovating the three-year college degree.

Imagine a legislature so tough-minded that it would solicit private investors for Colorado’s transportation infrastructure, Indiana-style; clean up the PERA retirement system’s governance to exclude self-serving insiders; impeach the state’s chief justice for rewriting our constitution; and launch an all-out investigation of radical Islam’s influence here.

And imagine a state government so honest that it no longer grabs a 15-month, zero-interest loan from your paycheck in the form of tax withholding. Rather you keep your own money for your own use until the revenue deadline in April each year.

Such imagineering, as the Disney people call it, is great for mind expansion. But don’t expect any of these visions to be realized in legislation when the Colorado General Assembly convenes this week. Majority Democrats, led by House Speaker Terrance Carroll and Senate President Brandon Shaffer, envision our future differently – and for now, citizens have put them in charge.

For now. The ruling party’s legislative work from January to May is their final exam. In November the voters will file a report card on every House member and half the Senate. Some of us hope all the Democrats flunk. To hasten that, Republicans should use the 2010 session to prove that “out of power” does not mean out of ideas.

Snow may be scarce in the mountains, but at the Capitol a blizzard of bills is flying. During these 120 days nearly a thousand proposals will surface. Some will tackle the budget deficit. Others will push hot buttons, from legal pot to illegal aliens. We’ll hear about such bedroom questions as the gun in the nightstand or who shares a pillow. So will they also find time to debate the big-picture policy issues?

Ten are imagined on my list above. GOP legislators, outnumbered in both chambers, can’t pass these good ideas into law. They can't even get many of them to a floor vote where Dems are put on record. But they can certainly propose them as bills, publicize and advocate for them, laying down a marker for the upcoming campaign.

Rep. Spencer Swalm (R-Centennial) is doing just that with his proposal to end mandatory withholding of state income tax, a transparency move to highlight the ever-growing cost of government. “When a taxpayer has to sit down and write a check,” says Swalm, “it wonderfully focuses the mind.”

Businesses, for that matter, shouldn’t pay income tax at all – since they merely pass it along to consumers or squeeze it out of employee payrolls. Spurring an employment boom by axing that tax was one of my recommendations to gubernatorial candidate Scott McInnis in a column last month. His legislative allies should call the Dems’ bluff on job creation with a bill.

By helping Coloradans imagine a better legislature in 2010, Republicans can help themselves back to the majority in 2011. “Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it,” sang that old political balladeer, Goethe.

Listen Tonight * Gov. Candidates 2010

Tune in tonight, Thursday, Dec. 17 at 7pm on 710 KNUS in Denver and streaming at 710knus.com, when Centennial Institute presents the Republican finalists for Governor of Colorado, Scott McInnis vs Dan Maes. Recorded at Centennial's candidate forum on Nov. 3 and edited to reflect Josh Penry's exit from the race. McInnis leads incumbent Bill Ritter by 48-40 in the latest poll. What does the potential next governor have to say for himself? What makes Maes, the dark horse, run?

See video highlights of both the Governor and Senator forums on the Centennial Institute blog at Centennialccu.org.

Senate underdogs spin polling their way

The emails from two US Senate candidates arrived the same day. First it was Republican Tom Wiens boasting of a new poll that shows he would top both Democrats, Sen. Michael Bennet and former Speaker Andrew Romanoff, if the 2010 election were held today. Then it was Romanoff crowing that he tops all comers from both parties in a Denver Business Journal poll. I was intrigued enough to click the links, but upon doing so, I learned there's more to the story in both cases.

Romanoff didn't mention that his DBJ triumph came in an unscientific reader-initiated straw poll, where some 1600 self-selected (or candidate-prompted) respondents took part.

Wiens didn't mention that his encouraging news came in context with overall results in a Rasmussen survey (randomly sampled and scientific, at least) where both of the other GOP contenders, Jane Norton and Ken Buck, ran stronger against both Democrats than he did.

Here is the DBJ straw poll tally on Colorado Senate 2010:

Andrew Romanoff - 29% Tom Wiens - 20% Jane Norton - 18% Michael Bennet - 13% Ken Buck - 8% Undecided and other - 11%

Below is the Rasmussen poll on Colorado Senate 2010, with interpretive text from Real Clear Politics.

After President Obama won Colorado last year, many believed the state was trending blue. However, Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet (D), appointed this year to fill the vacant seat, trails three potential Republican opponents in a new Rasmussen poll (Dec. 8, 500 LV, MoE +/- 4.5%).

Bennet's favorable rating remains low, with 39% viewing him favorably and 46% unfavorably. All three Republicans -- Jane Norton, Tom Wiens and Ken Buck -- also lead Bennet's primary opponent, Andrew Romanoff.

Norton 45 - Romanoff 34 Norton 46 - Bennet 37 Wiens 41 - Romanoff 40 Wiens 42 - Bennet 41 Buck 41 - Romanoff 39 Buck 42 - Bennet 38