Jon Caldara in the Denver Gazette lays it out pretty plainly: Colorado’s governor race is really the Democratic primary, and the big drama is U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet flirting with the governor’s mansion while refusing to say who would replace him in the Senate.
This all centers on Colorado’s June 30 primary and the power game around a Senate appointment if Bennet wins, plus the not-so-small reality that Attorney General Phil Weiser is sitting there as the “keep the machine running” option. Nothing says democracy like a mystery box.
The Bullet Point Brief
- Caldara argues the real election for governor is the June 30 Democratic primary.
- He says Bennet’s biggest problem is refusing to name who he’d appoint to replace himself in the U.S. Senate if he becomes governor.
- Bennet has pledged not to resign his Senate seat until after he’s sworn in as governor, which would leave the appointment to the sitting governor at that time.
- Caldara suggests this “mystery senator” approach will get Bennet hammered in town halls, debates, and interviews and could push Democrats toward Weiser.
- Caldara’s conclusion: Bennet risks losing the primary unless he resigns before it, or at least promises to resign right after the general so Gov. Polis chooses the replacement.
My Bottom Line
As always, Caldara cracks me up, but he’s also right to poke the balloon. Weiser is 100% a continuation of Polis, which means 8 more years of the same crap that got us to the point we are today, just with more environmental lunacy stapled on for the Denver/Boulder Bubble donors.
And Bennet? It is Bennett’s to lose, and he will if he keeps playing cute with basic transparency. Voters are not obligated to buy a “trust me bro” Senate replacement plan, especially from the same crowd that hyperventilates about threats to democracy every Tuesday.
Hey Bennett, what are your actual ideas for Colorado? All I keep hearing is performative rage against Trump, and sure, I get it, that schtick fundraises. But governing is not group therapy, and Colorado is not your antibully podium.
If your whole pitch is Orange Man is bad, you are campaigning for cable news, not for Colorado.
Tell people what you’d actually do for Colorado, stop treating Senate succession like classified material, and let voters choose leaders, not mystery packages. And if Weiser wants the job too, great, make the case without the Boulder rule arrogance. Regular folks deserve straight answers, not a damn shell game.
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