Governor Ritter’s appointed U.S. Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO) launched a misleading television advertisement entitled “Wake Up” depicting himself as a Washington outsider who stands up against the establishment in Congress.
National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) Press Secretary Amber Marchand issued the following statement and fact check in response to Bennet’s advertisement.
“Standing in front of a mountain in casual attire doesn’t change the fact that Michael Bennet grew up in Washington, he toes the party line for his Democrat leaders in Congress, and he has lost touch with the constituents who Governor Ritter appointed him to represent.
“Bennet’s empty rhetoric about fighting Washington rings hollow when voters take a look at his rubberstamp record in support of President Obama’s unpopular health care plan, failed stimulus debacle, and bloated budgets during his first year in office.
“Senator Bennet has declared that he’s willing to lose his job in the name of an unpopular and costly health care bill, and we’re confident that he will finally be forced to ‘wake up’ in November when voters reject his rubberstamp support for Obama’s failed economic agenda.”
Background Information
MYTH #1: Bennet Claims He’s “Been In Washington For Only A Year.
FACTS: Michael Bennet “Has Little In The Way Of Connection With Traditional Colorado.” “Bennet, by stark contrast, has little in the way of connection with traditional Colorado. Never elected by Colorado voters to a lesser post, he is the first electoral novice to be a Colorado Senator in more than a generation. It’s difficult to see Bennet’s natural affinity for Gunnison ranchers, or Yuma sugar beet farmers, or even union pipefitters in Adams County.” (Guerin Green, “Bennet’s Colorado Roots, Base A Question – Michael Bennet, Colorado, US Senate,” Cherry Creek News, 1/8/09)
- “Michael Bennet Has The Thinnest Colorado Roots Of Any Senator From The Centennial State Since Gary Hart.” (Guerin Green, “Bennet’s Colorado Roots, Base A Question – Michael Bennet, Colorado, US Senate,” Cherry Creek News, 1/8/09)
- Bennet’s Wife Describes Him As An “East Coaster Through and Through.” “Michael and Susan married just before he took the job with Anschutz, and she thought their stay in Denver might be relatively short. ‘He was an East Coaster through and through,’ she said.” (Kevin Vaughan, “The Path To Public Service,” Rocky Mountain News, 11/29/03)
- “Bennet Has Spent Most Of His Life In Washington, D.C.” “Only a Coloradan for a decade, Bennet has spent most of his life in Washington, D.C. For most of Colorado’s history, it has been represented in the Senate by native Coloradans, or from those with Western origins. Recent Senators – Ken Salazar, Wayne Allard, Ben Nighthorse Campell, Hank Brown – were native Coloradans, or in the case of Campell, from rural Colorado. All had natural bases in Colorado politics, and were aligned with powerful, traditional interests and perspectives.” (Guerin Green, “Bennet’s Colorado Roots, Base A Question – Michael Bennet, Colorado, US Senate,” Cherry Creek News, 1/809)
Bennet’s “Liberal Big-City Leanings” Could Prove A Hindrance In 2010. “Born in New Delhi, where his father, Douglas Bennet, served as an aide to the U.S. ambassador to India, Bennet grew up mostly in D.C. with the Democratic Party elite – and a family history of public service. His father served as an aide to Vice President Hubert Humphrey, among others, and was president of National Public Radio from 1983 to 1992. . . . Some question whether Bennet, with his liberal big-city leanings, can get elected statewide in 2010.” (Nancy Mitchell, “Heading Back To The Beltway,” Rocky Mountain News, 1/3/09)
MYTH #2: Bennet Portrays Himself As A Washington Outsider.
FACTS: Bennet Grew Up In Washington D.C. “[Bennet] grew up in Washington, his childhood a who’s who of Democratic party luminaries as his father served as an aide to Vice President Hubert Humphrey, among others.” (Kevin Vaughan, “The Path To Public Service,” Rocky Mountain News, November 29, 2003)
MYTH #3: Bennet Claims He’s Stood Up Against Congress.
FACTS: Bennet Voted In Favor Of The Democrats’ Massive Stimulus Bill. (H.R. 1, CQ Vote #64: Adopted (thus cleared for the president) 60-38: R 3-38; D 55-0; I 2-0, 2/13/09, Bennet Voted Yea)
Bennet Also Provided The 60th Vote To Pass The Health Care Bill. (H.R. 3590, CQ Vote #396: Passed 60-39: R 0-39; D 58-0; I 2-0, 12/24/09, Bennet Voted Yea)
Bennet Voted To Adopt The Conference Report On The Fiscal 2010 Budget Resolution. “Adoption of the conference report on the concurrent resolution that would allow up to $1.086 trillion in non-emergency discretionary spending for fiscal 2010, plus $130 billion in fiscal 2010 for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. It would assume $764 billion in tax cuts over five years, including an extension of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts for households earning less than $250,000 annually, a three-year adjustment to prevent additional taxpayers from paying the alternative minimum tax and a permanent extension of the 2009 estate tax levels. It includes reconciliation instructions to House and Senate committees to report a total of $2 billion in savings, presumably from health care and student loan programs, by Oct. 15. It would create a deficit-neutral reserve fund for health care and climate change legislation.” (S. Con. Res. 13, CQ Vote #173: Adopted 53-43: R 0-40; D 51-3; I 2-0, 4/29/09, Bennet Voted Yea)
MYTH #4: Bennet Claims He’s “Listening To Colorado.”
FACTS: Bennet Said He Would Sacrifice His Job Over His “Yes” Vote On Health Care. “So when John King from CNN asked me if I would vote for health care reform, even if it meant losing my job, it was easy for me to answer. I said ‘Yes.’” (Sen. Michael Bennet, Op-Ed,“The Politics Of ‘Yes,’” Huffington Post, 11/25/09)
- An Op-Ed In The Denver Post Called Bennet’s Answer “Limousine Liberal Arrogance.” “Our unelected Senator, Michael Bennet, told CNN’s John King the other day that he’d vote for Obama-Reid-Pelosi heath care, even if it cost him his job. Political courage? I don’t think so. Elite limousine liberal arrogance is more like it.” (Richard Stacy, Op-Ed, “Sen. Michael Bennet’s Elitism, Denver Post, 12/16/09)
Op-Ed: “To Me, It Reeks Of ‘I Know Better Than The Unwashed Masses Of Coloradans.’ ‘Let Them Eat Cake’ Elitism, Writ Large!” (Richard Stacy, Op-Ed, “Sen. Michael Bennet’s Elitism, Denver Post, 12/16/09)
At The Time Of Bennet’s Comments, 55 Percent Of Colorado Voters Opposed The Health Care Plan Proposed By President Obama And Congressional Democrats. (“Election 2010: Colorado Senate Race,” Rasmussen Reports, 12/11/09)
