February 21, 2010 05:28 PM UTC

Amigos Bennetistas

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• by: JeffcoBlue

(We stand by what we said before, but this viewpoint is worth considering – promoted by Colorado Pols)

Lynn Bartels reported last night for “The Spot” blog:

http://blogs.denverpost.com/th…

A who’s who of Latino leaders today endorsed Michael Bennet for U.S. senator.

They praised the Denver Democrat for the job he has done since being appointed to the Senate seat in January 2009, and his performance as Denver Public Schools czar and chief of staff for Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper.

They gathered at the El Centro Su Teatro where Bennet was touted as a “different kind of leader,” according to a news release from Bennet’s campaign…

The support included prominent leaders from the metro area and around the state, from a congressman to a public trustee to activists.

Latinos lauded Bennet’s push for education reform, job creation and comprehensive immigration reform.

And it really is a who’s who of the Latino community in Colorado, from Rep. John Salazar to Dusti Gurule of the Latina Initiative. So, why has the Latino community come out so strongly in favor of Michael Bennet over Andrew Romanoff?

It’s simple, really.

Back in 2006, then-Colorado House Speaker Romanoff faced pressure from Republicans to “do something” about illegal immigration. It’s hard to imagine today that this was such a single minded obsession on the right, coming before Republicans began to realize that they were alienating a critical group of voters, but of course you all remember that it was.

Romanoff and then-Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald chose to engage the Republican push for a “crackdown” on illegal immigration, believing at the time they could head of a ballot initiative that would be used for electioneering purposes by the GOP. Romanoff was himself quoted by the Los Angeles Times touting the fact that Colorado passed the toughest immigration law in the nation during that special session.

Besides the anger this betrayal provoked in the Latino community, it soon became clear that the laws Romanoff shepherded through his chamber were in fact riddled with unintended consequences, and grinding business at driver’s license offices (just as one example) to a halt. And given the sweeping success Democrats enjoyed at the polls in 2006, it can be safely said today that the 2006 immigration special session was totally unnecessary from a political viewpoint – even though it was praised as a brilliant political move at the time, on this blog and elsewhere.

I never agreed: the 2006 special session was a chance for Romanoff to choose the morally right course of action over the politically expeditious course, and Romanoff chose the latter. Surely there are other reasons why the Latino community prefers Bennet: his work with underprivileged children at DPS, for example. But Romanoff’s first dubious attempt at DLC-style triangulation, albeit several years ago, is proving costly for him today.

PS. If you’re not getting the joke behind the title of this blog, see this blog.