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March 21, 2019 03:38 PM UTC

Michael Bennet Gets Ready to Jump

  • 30 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols
Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Denver)

As the Denver Post reports, there is about to be a second Coloradan in the pool of candidates seeking the Democratic Presidential nomination in 2020:

U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet is taking the final steps toward becoming the second Colorado Democrat in the 2020 race for president, with a possible announcement coming soon, sources familiar with his plan have told The Denver Post.

Craig Hughes, a longtime adviser, said a final decision has not been made.

“We’re making progress towards a decision and encouraged by what we are seeing and hearing,” Hughes said.

While an announcement is not imminent, Bennet could announce within a month, the Democratic sources said.

This is about as close as you can get to announcing that you are running for President without actually announcing that you are running for President.

 

Comments

30 thoughts on “Michael Bennet Gets Ready to Jump

      1. C’mon, just say it, Zappy. Say, “President Michael Bennet” . . .

        . . . it’ll get that nasty, senator-for-life taste outta’ your mouth.

  1. Be still my beating heart…..Bennet's candidacy is a fundamental misread on what Democrats, and the country as a whole, want in a candidate.

    People are not looking for corporatists. (Hello, Anschutz)

    They are not looking for financial whiz kids. (No, I'm not bitter about his screwing up my retirement funds. Much)

    They are not looking for the finger-to-the-wind opportunist who will say whatever he thinks his audience wants to hear. We've already got a Cory Senate robot.

    Bennet was not elected in 2009, he was appointed – basically because Obama wanted a sure vote on the ACA. Then in 2010, Obama owed Bennet favors,  so Obama intervened in Colorado's primary, and drafted all of his OFA folks for Bennet, and lo and behold, Bennet kept the Senate seat in 2012 and 2016.

    Bennet has grown into the Senate role he was originally appointed to, and I have even enjoyed some of his recent impassioned speeches on immigration, on Ted Cruz, on health insurance.

    But he is vastly outclassed as a candidate by most of the rest of the field. I don't even see him adding value to a ticket as a VP.

    1. Bennett makes the perfect candidate for all those folks who feel that a President John Hickenlooper would be just way too exciting and dynamic, and much too strong a leader and progressive visionary. . .

       

      (Hey, Alva, I can reply again! Woot!
      I guess I take back all those nasty and vile things Voyager’s been saying about you . . . )

  2. Ah, I see Bennet has finally figured out what he's gonna say during his inevitable concession speech five minutes after polls close in Iowa.

  3. Why is he doing this?

    I'm serious. Why? Ego? Money? Favor to Anschutz? He is made primarily of vanilla pudding, but not given to delusions that I can recall.

     

  4. Jerry Brown – out
    Sherrod Brown – out
    Mark Dayton – out
    Jim Doyle – out
    Jay Nixon – out

    A whole crop of new D governors – too new.

    No defining, big name, obvious winner D candidate. It will be all about Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin- or possibly Arizona.

    https://www.270towin.com/

    If the nominee is a "socialist" or perceived to be, it will be harder.

    1. If the nominee is a "socialist" or perceived to be, it will be harder.

      Obama was perceived to be a socialist (despite distinctly not being one), yet he won the presidency twice.

  5. I do not understand what on earth gives Bennet the idea he could win the primary.  It's not just that he's bland as hominy grits; he's spineless .  Maybe he's aiming for veep or a cabinet post?

  6. Bennet appears to be positioning himself — if 70-something Biden is too old, and 30-something Buttigieg is too young, maybe a 50-something Bennet is just right.

    When the highlight reel of Senate action is one speech criticizing Ted Cruz, there could be a bit of difficulty. When one of the biggest legislative actions is joining a bipartisan group to push immigration reform (unsuccessfully), there could be a bit of difficulty. Supporting Keystone XL could be a bit of a difficulty. 

    On this one, surprisingly enough, I'm with Zappatero … "Please don’t do this to me… "

  7. D's suck.
    I'm assuming most of the Bennet hate/dislike here is from Colorado D's so maybe what I mean is Colorado D's suck.

    Don't bother telling me about how you've been a Colorado D for 30+ years, cause what that tells me is that outside Denver/Boulder you were ok with good candidates who lost as long as they were real Ds.
    I'm not a "real D" – not by any Colorado D measure.

    But I am more progressive than most Colorado Ds I've met in the past 15 years of supporting Ds. And yet I remain more practical about how to win.

    And winning matters. A lot.  You all know what we call D losers.

    In this election cycle the nomination voting will be over by mid-March '20. If there is no clear front runner, and multiple viable 2nd, 3rd ballot candidates show up in Milwaukee, the narrative will be chaos and communism.

    In the general – it's PA, MI, WI or maybe AZ. Bennet will not offend in any of those places.

    But Anschtz, but DPS, but boring, but…but …but… but…

    PA
    MI
    WI
    (and maybe AZ)

    It's about winning.

    And- ftr, I like Senator Bennet a lot.

    1. Well, if we can keep the vote suppression nazis at bay in Floida, we now have a real shot there, Madco.  But, yeah, I second your pragmatism.  How about Amy/Bennet?

      Yeah, after Trump, I’m ok with boring.

      1. Florida? What?
        Even if they don't suppress the vote, they can't count. Or, oddly, they can count just enough R votes.

        Amy is not going to help. She got no game in the key states. Maybe she gets an appointment.  Maybe she just gets to go back to the great white north and get a job.

    2. Honestly Mco, your analyis is impeccable; I agree completely . . . 

      . . . it’s how you then draw your conclusion that Michael Bennet is the one who’s going to make any of that happen (in PA, MI, WI, and maybe AZ) that has me utterly baffled?  Not offend is one thing, but why not a piece of white bread toast then?

      Michael Bennet 2020: He won’t offend!

      That’s where folks are supposed to pin their hopes?  I guess I must have lived in Colorado too long — I just no longer have a good concept of people elsewhere . . . 

      1.  

        What do you have against Jay Inslee?
        What does anyone have against Jay Inslee?

        Uh.. Jay who?

        There are lots of examples- but for a local one, no one was paying attention to Senatr Gardner in the fall of '13 and the winter of '14. Not until the field cleared and here was the "unknown" a new guy hardly anyone hated yet. Bam! Nomination was his.

        One thing I think we agree on – neither Representative Ocasio Cortez, nor Representative DeGette are going to be the nominee. Not all the good Ds who are out. It's going to be someone, however.

        Less likely to be someone who has pissed everyone off. I hope it can be someone who can win.
        Ds' biggest complaint about Bennet is that he's boring – well, that ain't always a bad thing in a candidate.

        He's not exciting, and maybe not as magnetically likeable as some of the others. These are not positives – but he wouldn't be the first candidate to win just because no one hated him.

        I like him.
        But I also like Jay Nixon. And Jay Inslee and Dayton, Doyle and the Browns.
        I loved Elizabeth Warren from before she took over TARP. (or maybe around that time) but she's got big Baggage. So does Kamala Harris. So does Beto.

        I wish PA, MI, WI and AZ primaries were early.
        But I'm not even a D – so I don't matter.
         

          1. I am aware that any Colorado voter may vote in the D primary and I believe there will be a lot of R's voting in the D primary.

            Colorado delegates are chosen from caucuses and conventions.

            " State law restricts participation in Democratic Party caucuses, assemblies and conventions to registered Democrats

            Only those persons who are affiliated as Democrats may participate in the caucus process where persons desiring to be presidential delegates are selected "

            Etc and so on

            I also predict the D caucuses, assemblies and convention will have a load of participants that are to vote for Trump in the general.

  8. Uh – Jay who?

    A post ago, you indicated that winning mattered to you (. . . and, apparently it’s not a unicorn hunt for the bestest), and then “what about Jay whosomebody?” Huh????

    So, forget the bestest, cuz’ next then it’s a unicorn hunt for the leastest offensive to that fishfryers-in-plaid-hats set????

    Oy, vey

    . . . and/or oofdah ?/!

    So, is it the [who?] you don’t know, or the [who?] you do? (i.e., Which whodo voodoo do I do?)

    (Sometimes you not-democrats are even scarier than the yeegads democrats, and I should know, cuz’ I are one , . . .)

    1. The point is ..

      …that there are good candidates who can win and would be a good president but who are ignored because they are less exciting and magnetic.

      … if the D nominating adventure returns to form and follows the celebrity and the hype and the excitement but cannot flip PA, MI, and WI or AZ, then who cares? Because if that happens, January 2021 will start a cold, dark winter that lasts a long, long time.

       

      1. [Appended]

        Good point

         

        wink

        (As a completely unnecessary aside, and also since I can get another fugging reply box to now appear — way, way back in the days (of jr. high to be exact) one of my early political awakenings came when I read a book (i wish i could remember that book/author) in which the author wrote, loosely: “A President is the guy (. . . early early-70’s, sorry ladies . . .) that gets hired to do America’s television commercials.”

        Profound. And still true (. . . except it no longer “has” to be the “guy”).

        The Jay Whosomebodies of America really should take note. You’re never gonna’ get the chance to be that great American President, if you can’t draw attention and do good television . . . And, that’s a fact, Ja[y].

        . . . Yeah, I know — it ain’t fair, and it shouldn’t be that way, and blah-bla-blah-blah-blahh . . . Now, get over it; the world ain’t jr. high; and this is America, not Fair-is-fair-Land.)

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