Dialing for Dollars Comes Easy for Some New Senators
Former Denver Superintendent of Schools, Sen. Michael Bennet, (D-Colo.), survived baptism by fire this week after being associated with Vice President Joe Biden
Jul 31, 2020152.1K Shares2.6M Views
Former Denver Superintendent of Schools, Sen. Michael Bennet, (D-Colo.), survived baptism by fire this week after being associated with Vice President Joe Biden for several days and emerging relatively gaffe-free.
Bennet — who owes his seat to President Obama’s selection of Sen. Ken Salazar (D-Colo.) for secretary of the interior — is new to politics but his fundraising ability indicates he may be a natural. The Washington Post ran a rather endearing front-page feature storyabout Bennet early this year, describing how he was sleeping on his mom’s couch in D.C.’s Woodley Park neighborhood and running around town with a notepad containing advice and phone numbers as he struggles to adjust to life as a senator.
The Denver Post notes that $100,000 in individual contributions poured into Bennet’s campaign pockets from the D.C. area this year, so the feature probably didn’t hurt.
In contrast, Sen. Roland Burris (D-Ill.) — in addition to a host of other problems stemming from his appointment by disgraced former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich — has only $845 in cash on hand. Anytime my own bank account outshines an elected official’s campaign fund, it’s probably not good news.
And the guy who took Biden’s old seat? Sen. Ted Kaufman (D-Del.), Biden’s former chief-of-staff — who some suspectis “keeping the seat warm” until Biden’s son, Beau, can run — says he has no interest in running in 2010, a point underscored by the fact that he has no FEC record because he hasn’t raised a dime.