January 04, 2010 11:41 PM UTC

Questions Mr. Romanoff should answer

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• by: Automaticftp

When Ken Salazar was appointed as the Secretary of the Interior, his appointment set off a flurry of debate over who Governor Ritter should appoint to fill out his term.  After an extensive deliberation, Governor Ritter appointed Michael Bennet, then Superintendent of Denver Public Schools, as Senator.  Other people widely reported as having been considered included Andrew Romanoff and John Hickenlooper.  To say the choice of Sen. Bennet was controversial would be an understatement, and since Gov. Ritter did not announce any specific criteria it is impossible to fully understand the process behind the appointment.  However, regardless of the process that resulted in Sen. Bennet being appointed, the critical point is that he was appointed and is the junior sitting U.S. Senator from Colorado.

Mr. Romanoff’s campaigning for the appointment was widely reported, and there have been numerous rumors that he was bitterly disappointed at not having been appointed.  Mr. Romanoff announced, on September 16, 2009, that he was entering the race for the Senate seat held by Sen. Bennet, thus creating a primary battle to determine the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate seat.  Many, including this author, have suggested that his delayed decision to run appears to be the equivalent of a political temper tantrum that he was not appointed.  

Since Mr. Romanoff’s announcement, he has raised approximately $261,118 on ActBlue compared to Sen. Bennet’s $1,325,487 (figures as of time of writing).  The one head to head poll available showed Sen. Bennet with a lead of 41% to 27%.  The writer does not know the reliability and accuracy of that poll.  

With that as background, there are three questions Mr. Romanoff should answer:  

The first is why people should support him when one of his cardinal tenets as Speaker of the House was loyalty to the party.  As relevant here, this meant no Democratic primaries against an incumbent.  To run against an incumbent in a primary runs counter to one of the principles Mr. Romanoff held as bedrock; accordingly, how can anyone be sure he won’t just as abruptly turn his back on other principles he claims to hold dear?

Second, it is widely expected that this Senate race will be very expensive and will draw in large amounts of money from outside Colorado.  Granted that money is not the be-all and end-all, but given his enormous fundraising deficit, how does he expect to be able to compete?  And how does he expect to address his (self-admitted) weaknesses in a statewide election?  Just to name two, he is single and has no children-which, like it or not, matters to a large number of Coloradoans and which makes him vulnerable to GOP attack.  

Third, what makes him preferable to Sen. Bennet?  Sen. Bennet has been endorsed by President Obama and is already a respected member of the Senate.  To choose someone over an incumbent requires that the challenger clearly and decisively demonstrate why the challenger is a better choice.  To date, Mr. Romanoff has not done so.

Until Mr. Romanoff and his supporters can answer those three questions, they should not be surprised or dismayed to read and hear that many people think he should withdraw.  We can only hope he has the intelligence and integrity to do so.