If common sense prevails within the American electorate, Democrats are in for a thrashing in the mid-term elections this November. Joe Biden’s presidency has been a toxic mix of bad judgment, incompetence and rank failures in public policy, both domestic and foreign. The Democrat majority in Congress has massively overreached. Driven by a radical progressive core, they’re determined to “transform” America into a utopian socialist paradise with government autocrats controlling every aspect of our lives. Polls make it clear most Americans disapprove. Congress will likely flip from Democrat to Republican majorities. Luckily for Biden he’s not on the 2022 ballot.
If a national Republican tide includes Colorado, our state legislature could flip to Republican control. Governor Polis could likely survive. He’s perceived as more moderate than blatantly left-wing legislators and he’s able to tap his considerable wealth to win elections. But Republicans could gain ground in Colorado’s 2022 Congressional elections.
I’ve lived in Colorado for more than 50 years and watched it turn from solidly Republican red, to centrist purple, to Democrat blue. I don’t believe we’re an irreversible one-party Democrat state like California. Except for Colorado Springs, our state’s large population centers like Denver and Boulder are solidly Democrat. Most young people vote Democrat, the product of political indoctrination in K-12 and higher education, liberal domination of the news media, entertainment and social media. As they age, perhaps reality and maturity will reverse that. And minority group support for Republicans is rising.
Colorado’s gain of an additional seat in the U.S. House through congressional redistricting gives the GOP a real chance to gain a-4-4 split or even a 5-3 majority in our delegation. In House seats like Denver, were Republicans are unelectable, progressives can openly proclaim their leftist ideology. Rep. Diana DeGette, who’s held that seat for a quarter century, gets a 99% liberal rating on her voting record from the non-partisan National Journal. While her membership in the radical Congressional Progressive Caucus would be a liability in a swing district, in Denver it’s an asset. If she were a moderate, she’d risk defeat in a Democrat primary election, the only threat to her seat, by challengers who’d proudly run on their beliefs.
Statewide races for the U.S. Senate are a different story. Back when most Coloradans leaned right, liberal Democrat Senators like Gary Hart and Tim Wirth had to talk like moderates back home but voted like liberals back in Washington — and got away with it.
Which brings us to Democrat Senator Michael Bennet, who was appointed to a vacant seat by Gov. Bill Ritter in 2009. In 2016, Bennet was elected with barely 50% of the vote, outspending his Republican challenger $24 million to $5 million. Bennet may not be a radical, himself, but he votes with them. The National Journal rates his composite voting record at 82% on the liberal scale. He likes to tout his bipartisan votes, but they’re typically on uncontroversial legislation and non-political Colorado-centric matters. Maybe he just enjoys being a senator who doesn’t make waves.
On the really important stuff — economic policy, taxation, illegal immigration, border security, runaway social spending, education, inflation, culture, the filibuster, government regulation, climate change, etc. — he’s routinely sided with Obama, Biden, the progressive Democrat majority and their big-government, socialist ideology. He gets high ratings from labor unions, as high as 100% from the AFL-CIO. And voted against confirmation of the last three conservatives — Gorsuch, Kavenaugh, and Coney Barrett — to the Supreme Court.
The nation is indebted to two principled Senate Democrats, Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema, who’ve blocked this mindless, reckless assault on individual liberty and fiscal sanity by the rest of their party. How sad that only those two of the 50 Senate Democrats have had the wisdom and courage to say “Stop!” If Bennet were truly the moderate he pretends to be he’d have joined them, rather than fall in line with the progressive lunatic fringe in Congress. You’d think he’d want to set himself apart from the agenda of those vacuous House Democrats like AOC and her rabid squad.
With Bennet up for reelection and vulnerable in November, voters can restore a practical Colorado tradition. In the past, we’ve typically balanced our Senate delegation with one Democrat and one Republican. Let’s do it again by sending a prudent Republican to Washington in place of Bennet, who’s just another vote for Biden’s progressive agenda. Aren’t we told diversity is a good thing?
Longtime KOA radio talk host and columnist for the Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News Mike Rosen now writes for CompleteColorado.com.
