Michael Bennet is in trouble.
After 13 years of pandering to the establishment, voters are catching on.
Many Coloradoans don’t know much about this US Senator, and that’s not surprising considering he isn’t from Colorado, and has no roots here.
The reality is, Bennet is a member of the Washington DC Democratic Establishment who has no connections to Colorado other than political appointments.
After voting to raise energy prices, increase the size of government, support war, spying, and attempting to disarm the people of Colorado, the voters have had enough.
Facing the wraith of Colorado voters in November, his chances of being reelected aren’t good.
In 2016, Bennet only won 48% of voters who participated that year. (Republican Darryl Glenn won 42.5% of the voters that year)
Currently, RealClearPolitics lists Bennet’s favorability rating as 5.5 points to the negative.
In a Colorado poll from earlier this year, Bennet, polled against a “generic Republican,” lost!
Who is Michael Bennet?
Bennet is mostly unknown among the general Colorado population, and I wonder if that is on purpose.
Born into a life of privilege, and access, Bennet’s rise to the top is built on his family’s connections.
If average Coloradoans knew who Bennet is, they would know he does not represent Colorado voters.
Some background on Bennet explains:
- Born in India in 1964, while his father was working for ambassador Chester Bowles.
- Bennet was raised in a family of Democratic Party insiders in Washington DC and Connecticut.
- He attended St. Albans, a prestigious college-prep High School that has a long list of famous alumi
- His father Douglas J. Bennet Jr., a long-time Democratic insider ran USAID in the Jimmy Carter administration, was an aide for Vice-President Hubert Humphrey, was the President of NPR for 10 years, worked in Bill Clinton‘s State Department in the mid-1990’s, and served as president of Wesleyan University for over 10 years.
- His grandfather was an economic advisor to FDR.
- His brother James Bennet was the editor for The Atlantic and ran the editorial page at the New York Times.
Bennet is an intergenerational member of the DC Democratic Establishment.
His adult-life and career has been almost entirely in service to the State:
- 1987, earns BA from Wesleyan University (where his father and grandfather attended)
- 1988 to 1990, served as personal assistant to Ohio Governor Richard Celeste
- 1993, graduates from Yale (a favored institution of the political establishment)
- 1995 to 1997, Counsel to US Deputy Attorney General and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney
- 1997, Marries Susan Daggett (an Environment Attorney for politically connected Sierra Club), and now a DU Law Professor.
- 1997, at age 34, moves to Colorado when wife Susan accepts a job at Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund.
- 1997 to 2003, Managing Director at Anschutz Investment Co, where he was involved in the merger creating Regal Entertainment Group, the largest movie theater chain in the world.
- 2003 to 2005 Chief of Staff to Mayor of Denver, John Hickenlooper
- 2005 to 2009, Superintendent for Denver Public Schools
- 2008, on President-elect Obama’s short list for Secretary of Education
- 2008, OpenSecrets.org shows Bennet’s net worth at $17 million.
- 2009, appointed by Governor Bill Ritter to US Senate following Ken Salazar’s appointment to Secretary of the Interior
- 2010, his campaign for re-election spent $13 million compared to Ken Buck’s $4.8 million. Bennet won by only 1.7% (less than 29,000 votes)
- 2020, ran for President, raising over $6.8 million for his campaign.
- In 2022, his net worth is estimated at $15 million, ranking him 12th wealthiest member of the US Senate.
Looking at his life, Bennet is NOT representative of the typical Coloradoan.
He isn’t even representative of a typical US Senator when you consider his wealth!
The average person works throughout their life to afford a quality existence for their family.
Bennet is far-removed from the life of an average Coloradoan.
Bennet’s only private sector experience is a six-year stint at Anschutz Investment, which The New Yorker described as follows: “he spent his thirties making a small fortune as a corporate-turnaround artist.”
How Bennet became a multi-millionaire with only six years of actual private sector experience should be a big question for all Colorado voters.
Bennet owns a $1 million home in Washington DC and a $2.1 million home in Denver.
During those six years of “making a small fortune,” he must have been cozying up to Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper.
During his 2002-2003 campaign for Mayor, Hickenlooper had Bennet serve on his campaign as his “budget guru.”
Hickenlooper graduated from Wesleyan in 1974 (compared to Bennet in ’87), so maybe that’s how they knew each other?
Interestingly, Bennet’s name does not appear on Hickenlooper’s campaign contribution records.
However, during Hickenlooper’s 2003 campaign, he does list donations from other Anschutz Executives.
Just two years later, Hickenlooper appointed him to Denver Public Schools (DPS) Superintendent even though Bennet had no education experience.
Bennet never even attended public school!
The Denver Post reported on the controversy of his appointment to Superintendent of Denver Public Schools in 2005:
John Garcia, chairman of the Hispanic Public Affairs Committee, fears DPS will become another arm of the mayor’s administration.
“That’s the hidden agenda. … You can smell it’s political,” he said. “This is a disaster for DPS.”
Marsha Burger, an English teacher at Abraham Lincoln High School, also saw politics in the selection.
“It’s more of a political, number-crunching, business kind of person in charge as opposed to somebody who has an educational background,” she said.
During a news conference Monday, Woodward forcefully denied that politics “in the usual sense of the word” played a role in the decision to pick Hickenlooper’s chief of staff over two women with solid backgrounds in education.
Source: https://www.denverpost.com/2005/06/27/mayors-staff-chief-takes-top-job-at-dps/
It seems to me that Bennet’s DPS appointment was entirely political.
Was Hickenlooper setting Bennet up in return for access to the Washington DC Establishment?
Or just rewarding a fellow Wesleyan alumni?
Did Bennet’s connections help Hickenlooper’s US Senate run?
I don’t know, but I would be interested to see if there are any connections.
Of course, Bennet’s DPS position is what led Obama to add Bennet on his short-list for Secretary of Education.
But, without Bennet’s family connections, I’m doubtful that Bennet would have drawn the attention of the Obama administration.
In 2009, when Bennet was appointed to the US Senate, he offered to reject the appointment so that Hickenlooper could get the seat.
Which goes to show the loyalty between Bennet and Hickenlooper.
They are two East-Coasters who moved to Colorado and ascended the political ladder.
I think it is important to note that Michael Bennet has only been in Colorado for 25 years.
The majority of his life was being raised in Washington DC and Connecticut.
Since being appointed as a US Senator, he has been traveling on taxpayer funds to visit his $1 million house in DC.
According to the most recent FEC filings, Bennet has over $6 million on hand in his US Senate 2022 reelection campaign account.
In support of his 2020 Presidential campaign, Bennet also wrote a book alleging that “Russia Hacked our Democracy.“
And how did Russia sway the Presidency for Trump?
According to Bennet, it was the Facebook ads they ran!
The claim that Bennet can represent the people of Colorado is absurd and insulting to those of us whose families have lived in Colorado for generations.
Bennet’s Policies
Bennet, being the typical East-Coast Establishment Democrat acts like a authoritarian.
Bennet is on the wrong side of nearly every pro-liberty bill.
To make matters worse Bennet has actively supported legislation that increases funding for the global empire of the US military.
For a quick look at how Bennet votes, look at Ballotpedia’s key votes from the last few years:
Key votes: 116th Congress, 2019-2020 (all sourced from: https://ballotpedia.org/Michael_Bennet)
114th Congress:
Let’s also take a look at the New American’s recent rating for Michael Bennet:
It’s clear by looking at his record, that Bennet is a key supporter of the US Federal Government’s war on the liberty and privacy of the American people.
Bennet has supported the worst legislation in recent memory, including taxpayer handouts to big business, and record war spending.
Also, during Bennet’s ill-fated Presidential run, he missed a majority of votes in the Senate:
Bennet’s voting record could lead someone to describe him as a stooge of the Democratic Establishment.
Ontheissues.org rates Bennet as a “hard-core liberal“
Let’s look at some of his recent legislation more closely:
State-Controlled Social Media
One of the most worrisome pieces of legislation that Bennet has introduced is his S.4201 – Digital Platform Commission Act of 2022.
According to the Washington Post, this bill creates a new Government Agency that would “have the power to interrogate the algorithms powering major tech platforms, and to set new rules to ensure the biggest companies are transparent about how they handle thorny decisions around content moderation on their platforms.“
Bennet wants the State to fight against the “harm” caused by “disseminating disinformation and hate speech.“
This is a frightening attempt by an Authoritarian to control speech across social media.
State-Funded Media
In 2020, Bennet’s misguided efforts led him to introduce a bill for State-funded local media.
Following in his father’s footsteps, Bennet thinks taxpayers should support “news agencies” like NPR.
Of course, Bennet only wants speech for those that support his agenda.
When Amazon shutdown Parler, Bennet applauded:
Rigging the System for Democrats
Bennet also attempted to manipulate US politics toward permanent Democratic-control.
His support of making Washington DC a State would have empowered Federal employees, contractors, and other political power brokers with additional seats in the Federal Government.
Making Washington DC a state makes no sense when one considers that the political powerbase of that community is rooted in Federal politics.
Anti-Energy Policies
Bennet’s anti-energy policies have left Coloradoans with higher gas prices and outrageous home energy bills.
Since Bennet is married to a former Environmental Lawyer, it is no surprise that Bennet cares more about a political agenda than the people of Colorado.
In February 2021, Bennet voted against the Keystone Pipeline.
And in June 2021, Bennet voted at least three times against the energy industry, adding new taxes and making it more difficult to operate.
And in September 2021, Bennet voted to confirm Tracy Stone-Manning as Director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
Stone-Manning faced controversy for her connections to extremist eco-group Earth First.
In March of this year, Bennet introduced legislation to tax oil companies for the purpose of making them lower their prices to consumers!
Absolute economic idiocy!
Gun Bans
Bennet has been leading the call for Gun Control.
After the horrible tragedy in Boulder last year, Bennet wasted no time exploiting the event for his own agenda:
Bennet is shameless when it comes to pushing for gun control:
Taxation is Theft
Bennet was one of the leading Senators behind a Corporate Minimum Tax last year.
This would gut businesses of capital, and there is no doubt that their stolen money will be used to further restrict their ability to operate.
Bennet also voted in favor of allowing states to collect internet sales tax!
Covid Tyranny Complicity
In December of 2021, Bennet had the opportunity to vote to Nullify Joe Biden’s Employer Vaccine Mandate.
Bennet decided to vote against Colorado workers.
Bennet supported Injections as a Requirement to Work.
Absolutely disgusting.
This issue alone should be enough for Coloradoans to send Bennet back home!
Bennet’s Response to January 6th, 2021
Looking for a laugh?
Read Bennet’s response to the events of that day:
Conclusion
Colorado US Senator Michael Bennet does not represent Colorado voters.
In fact, Bennet is an outsider whose wealth and connections took him up the ladder of US politics.
Bennet is nothing like a Coloradoan.
Bennet went to fancy private schools in Washington DC, graduated from Wesleyan and Yale.
And it shows, Bennet has more allegiance to the DC Establishment than to Colorado!
Bennet has worked nearly his whole life in Government.
And the few short years he worked in the private sector, he was involved with mergers and financial dealings that very few people can relate to.
Bennet is not only out-of-touch with Colorado, he has never been in touch!
Colorado deserves to have someone represent the State who has roots here.
Someone who is invested in our communities, not invested in Connecticut or DC.
Bennet’s policies have been a disaster for Colorado.
Higher energy prices, more domestic spying, empire-building, attacks on our right to self-defense and free speech.
Coloradoans need to take back their State, and drive out out-of-state tyrants like Bennet.
It’s time for Colorado to be Free.
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