May 09, 2009 06:29 PM UTC

Bennet Suddenly Everywhere

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• by: Colorado Pols

Don’t know if you’ve noticed in the last 72 hours or so–but junior Sen. Michael Bennet, fresh off pointed criticism from liberals over a recent vote on foreclosure prevention, has sprung into action on a broad array of issues. Earned media all over the place, we’ll start in Grand Junction where KJCT-TV reports on Bennet’s new health care initiative:

Something being done in Mesa County is on the verge of going national.

Mesa County’s health care system is one of the nation’s best. Only 3% of all patients are re-admitted to the hospital. From this statistic, Senator Michael Bennet said that care after someone is released from the hospital is exceptional.

Because of this, Senator Bennet introduced a new national health care bill today in Grand Junction.

The Medicare Transitions Act of 2009 is designed to cut costs by giving medicare patients more help after being released from the hospital.

“It would allow communities to change their delivery of health care if they believe they can do it in a more efficient way. In the end, what it will mean is that people will get better care, and we’ll save money,” said Bennet.

Senator Bennet acknowledged that the bill will cost money up front, but he said that it is designed to end up saving billions of dollars in medical costs per year…

Going to be kind of tough for Janet Rowland to complain about this, isn’t it?

Meanwhile on the eastern plains, Bennet is getting lots of favorable press for his work with Rep. Betsy Markey to get the annual credit farmers need to operate. Turning a key swing constituency into support during a crisis, the AP reports:

Sen. Mark Udall says Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has promised to look further into the problems of farmers and ranches hurt by the failure of New Frontier Bank in Greeley, but there’s no promise of help yet.

Udall, Sen. Michael Bennet and Rep. Betsy Markey, all Colorado Democrats, say the bank’s failure left many northeast Colorado dairy farmers struggling to find new sources of credit at a time when markets are tight…

The FDIC worked to move depositors’ money to other banks, and it has extended about $2 million in credit to agriculture enterprises so they can meet expenses as growing season looms.

Nevertheless, the failure of New Frontier Bank left behind a need for about $700 million in credit for agricultural borrowers that other lenders in Weld County haven’t been able to provide, Udall, Markey and Bennet said in their letter.

In addition, here’s Bennet pushing from his seat on the Agriculture Committee for farm disaster relief payments authorized a year ago to be expedited. If you were scratching your head about why wingtip-shod Bennet actively sought out his seat on Ag, you can stop wondering. He’s putting it to good use.

And for everyone worried about the upcoming fire season, millions of federal dollars to clear beetle-killed trees and other fuels, as the Denver Post reports:

Five hazardous-fuels reduction projects in Colorado forests and grasslands will receive $12.3 million in economic-stimulus money, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The department, which oversees the U.S. Forest Service, on Tuesday announced it will spend $224 million on 110 fuels-reduction and ecosystem-improvement projects in 26 states and territories.

Hazardous-fuels reduction includes the removal of trees killed by pine beetles.

“These funds will allow us to move forward with several worthwhile and long-neglected hazardous-fuels projects that will put Coloradans to work and restore Colorado’s forest health,” said U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet in a joint news release with U.S. Sen. Mark Udall this morning.

Bottom line: these aren’t the sorts of issues that are going to mollify criticism from the left about Bennet’s cagey stands on key liberal initiatives like ‘cap and trade’ or Employee Free Choice, and they probably shouldn’t. Those remain high-profile issues that Bennet will at some point have to take a stand on, and because of their higher profile will have a disproportionate effect on his perceived popularity.

But the issues we’re talking about here will have a more subtle, long-term effect, and arguably with a much larger segment of voters. Fact is, fewer people want to talk about carbon emissions when their house is threatened by wildfire or they can’t get credit to run their seasonal business. Taking an approach to health care that worked in Mesa County (of all places) and pushing for it nationally is both a political winner and likely to directly impact the lives of many voters.

You see where we’re going with this, don’t you? Bennet isn’t excused from disagreement with parts of his base over certain issues–but he’s starting to develop a portfolio of other things to point to that the base really can’t grumble about, and lots of other people Bennet needs to get elected will like. Getting his name out all over the place also helps Bennet firewall himself from ‘leadership perception’ criticism building toward the man who appointed him, which we also recommend.

We have also heard that Bennet will soon get publicly involved in a fight that will very much please the same liberal base that has been castigating him recently. Watch for this in the near term, and be honest enough to admit it when it happens.