President Barack Obama and Democrats must be feeling happy today, savoring one of their sweetest victories of the midterm election season, as Senator Michael Bennet won the Colorado Democratic primary yesterday, ending the notion that the voters are discontent with all incumbents.
Had Bennet failed to defeat Andrew Romanoff, former Colorado House speaker who refused to follow White House diktat to stay out of the race, Obama would surely have faced criticism for supporting a struggling candidate.
“We’re in fighting shape now and any opponent who stands against us will have a heck of a time staring down our unified front of Coloradans,” said Bennet in a message to supporters, “
The primary results in Colorado and Connecticut were good for Democrats and Republican insurgents alike and Republican must be thinking over the result now. On his part, Obama congratulated Bennet, pledging to do whatever he could to help in the fall. In a morning television interview, Bennet failed to make it clear whether he would seek Obama’s help while campaigning in the fall.
“We’ll have to see. We’ll obviously do what’s right for the campaign. He’s been a huge help, and I appreciate his endorsement. We’ll see what happens between now and November,” Bennet told “Good Morning America” on ABC.
The win may have injected a boost of energy into the White House, which was on defensive after losing governors’ races in New Jersey and Virginia last year. The defeat of Senator Arlen Specter in primary in Pennsylvania in May was also a heavy blow for Obama and his aides.
