bobbyw24
08-08-2010, 01:25 PM
By CARL HULSE
GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo. – Two Senate primaries that were supposed to be tranquil affairs have turned into roaring Rocky Mountain shoot-outs that could provide the best test yet of how deeply anti-establishment, anti-Washington sentiment is running this year.
With the fierce duels to be settled Tuesday, independent analysts and party operatives say the contests between Republicans Ken Buck and Jane Norton and Democrats Michael Bennet and Andrew Romanoff are close, making it uncertain which two contenders will be left standing to compete in November for a seat that appears up for grabs.
It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Mr. Bennet, appointed to a fill a Senate vacancy last year, and former Lt. Gov. Norton were blessed early on by the party hierarchy. They were to breeze to their respective nominations by virtue of the fundraising help and stature the White House could provide Mr. Bennet, 45, and the standing and credibility lent to Ms. Norton, 55, by the imprimatur of leading Republicans and the Chamber of Commerce.
But Mr. Romanoff, a 43-year-old former state House speaker, and Mr. Buck, a 51-year-old veteran prosecutor, could not be dissuaded from challenging the favored choices. Now they find themselves with a chance to win.
Should they triumph, it would represent a stinging repudiation of the Obama administration, which has put serious presidential muscle behind Mr. Bennet, as well as the Washington Republicans who coalesced around Ms. Norton.
“It would be a huge slam in both cases on the respective establishments,” said Floyd Ciruli, a veteran independent pollster based in Denver.
Policy differences in the races are subtle. Both Mr. Buck and Ms. Norton promise to cut federal spending, repeal the new health care law and get tough on immigration; Mr. Bennet and Mr. Romanoff pledge to help create jobs, aid struggling families and push alternative energy sources. Given the common policy themes, the insurgent-versus-establishment narrative has loomed large.
Mr. Buck has built his campaign around the notion that he is the outsider, playing that card to the hilt as he traveled the state to meet with Tea Party activists and like-minded groups while castigating Congressional Republicans as well as Democrats for the nation’s economic straits.
He notes that Ms. Norton has been endorsed by most sitting Republican senators, got fundraising help from the head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, is the sister-in-law of a top Republican consultant in Washington, and was encouraged to join the race by Senator John McCain of Arizona, who appeared with Ms. Norton during the weekend.
Mr. Buck, in contrast, has been endorsed by Senator Jim DeMint, the South Carolina conservative who has split with party leaders on backing challengers this year. But unlike other fire-breathing conservatives who have defeated Republicans embraced by party heavyweights in Kentucky, Nevada and Utah, Mr. Buck is no newcomer to politics.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/09/us/politics/09colorado.html?_r=1&hp
GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo. – Two Senate primaries that were supposed to be tranquil affairs have turned into roaring Rocky Mountain shoot-outs that could provide the best test yet of how deeply anti-establishment, anti-Washington sentiment is running this year.
With the fierce duels to be settled Tuesday, independent analysts and party operatives say the contests between Republicans Ken Buck and Jane Norton and Democrats Michael Bennet and Andrew Romanoff are close, making it uncertain which two contenders will be left standing to compete in November for a seat that appears up for grabs.
It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Mr. Bennet, appointed to a fill a Senate vacancy last year, and former Lt. Gov. Norton were blessed early on by the party hierarchy. They were to breeze to their respective nominations by virtue of the fundraising help and stature the White House could provide Mr. Bennet, 45, and the standing and credibility lent to Ms. Norton, 55, by the imprimatur of leading Republicans and the Chamber of Commerce.
But Mr. Romanoff, a 43-year-old former state House speaker, and Mr. Buck, a 51-year-old veteran prosecutor, could not be dissuaded from challenging the favored choices. Now they find themselves with a chance to win.
Should they triumph, it would represent a stinging repudiation of the Obama administration, which has put serious presidential muscle behind Mr. Bennet, as well as the Washington Republicans who coalesced around Ms. Norton.
“It would be a huge slam in both cases on the respective establishments,” said Floyd Ciruli, a veteran independent pollster based in Denver.
Policy differences in the races are subtle. Both Mr. Buck and Ms. Norton promise to cut federal spending, repeal the new health care law and get tough on immigration; Mr. Bennet and Mr. Romanoff pledge to help create jobs, aid struggling families and push alternative energy sources. Given the common policy themes, the insurgent-versus-establishment narrative has loomed large.
Mr. Buck has built his campaign around the notion that he is the outsider, playing that card to the hilt as he traveled the state to meet with Tea Party activists and like-minded groups while castigating Congressional Republicans as well as Democrats for the nation’s economic straits.
He notes that Ms. Norton has been endorsed by most sitting Republican senators, got fundraising help from the head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, is the sister-in-law of a top Republican consultant in Washington, and was encouraged to join the race by Senator John McCain of Arizona, who appeared with Ms. Norton during the weekend.
Mr. Buck, in contrast, has been endorsed by Senator Jim DeMint, the South Carolina conservative who has split with party leaders on backing challengers this year. But unlike other fire-breathing conservatives who have defeated Republicans embraced by party heavyweights in Kentucky, Nevada and Utah, Mr. Buck is no newcomer to politics.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/09/us/politics/09colorado.html?_r=1&hp