Ladies and gentleman of the jury, you can decide this case by asking yourself one simple question. Would Colorado elect Bernie Sanders to be its United States senator? Of course not.
Michael Bennet is Bernie Sanders without the mittens. Bennet votes with Bernie 97% of the time, and supports the self-described socialist’s $3.5 trillion dollar inflation spewing “infrastructure” package, the largest government expansion in decades.
Bennet is adamant that all illegal immigrants should be covered under a government-run health plan. That Sanders-pleasing insanity puts Bennet to the left of even Beto O’Rourke.
Bennet even opposes simply allowing the federal government to require employers to use E-Verify to check the legal status of all hires. Even Elizabeth Warren didn’t go that far. Bennet also agrees with Bernie that taxpayers should be forced to fund abortions.
When it mattered most, Michael Bennet, a member of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee, fully supported Biden’s disastrous surrender in Afghanistan. That incompetent catastrophe resulted in the slaughter of U.S. troops, gifted the enemy over a half million high-powered firearms and hundreds of attack aircraft, and left many Americans and Afghan allies behind enemy lines, at the mercy of the Taliban.
When everything was going to hell in Afghanistan, and there was a chance for Bennet to use his unique position to speak truth to power, he fled. Other Democrats such as Colorado Congressman Jason Crowe boldly spoke out against Biden’s incompetence. But Bennet even hid from his bestie Kyle Clark at 9NEWS, who was reduced to tweeting: “Bennet’s staff told us Wednesday, Thursday and today that he didn’t have time to answer our questions about Afghanistan.”
Coloradans across party lines want a senator who is courageous and effective. Not someone who hides under his desk in moments of crisis. A U.S. Senate seat is one of the most rare and powerful platforms in the world. Colorado should have a Senator with the bravery, leadership skills and persuasive abilities it takes to use that precious seat as a force for good.
Coloradans on both the left and right know that Michael Bennet has been “Senator irrelevant.” Bennet has been in the U.S. Senate for 12 full years. No one has ever done less with more. The small handful of “accomplishments” his team claims show a stunning lack of effectiveness, given the fact he’s been in office for 12 years, with an enormous taxpayer-funded staff, and the power and prestige of a U.S. Senate seat.
Michael Bennet’s lack of influence, impact and effectiveness was emphatically confirmed by Democrats themselves in the 2020 presidential primaries. Bennet campaigned among Democrats for nine months, raised millions of dollars, and did more than 80 town halls outside of Colorado. Bennet received zero percent of the vote in Iowa. Even in New Hampshire he received only three tenths of one percent of the vote. After all of those months and millions, Democrats awarded Bennet as many delegates as Britney Spears: zero.
The point of these brutal facts isn’t to mock Bennet. It’s to prove that he has zero influence among Democrats, and less than zero influence among Republicans. That makes him a bad senator for Colorado.
A good senator for Colorado is someone who does not vote with Bernie 97% of the time. And who has the guts and skills to be an effective force for Colorado values in the U.S. Senate and on the national stage. That can be someone from either party. But 12 wasted years have proven that it is not Michael Bennet.
Dan Caplis is a Denver trial lawyer and syndicated talk show host. The Dan Caplis Show airs 4:00-6:00 PM Mountain on iheart stations including 590 KCSJ and 630 KHOW. a version of this article originally appeared in Colorado Politics.
