One way or the other, today will mark the end of a surprisingly close battle in the Colorado Democratic Senate primary. A late-charging challenge from former Colorado House Speaker Andrew Romanoff has put Sen. Michael Bennet on the defensive in recent days, and a once-civil campaign has taken a nasty turn.The race has often been cast as an insider vs. outsider contest — but it’s not always clear which candidate is which. Bennet, the incumbent with the big war chest and President Obama’s endorsement, is actually participating in his first-ever election campaign, having been appointed to both his current seat and his last job as Denver superintendent of schools. Meanwhile, Romanoff, the scrappy upstart, is actually a veteran legislator who won the party’s convention and caucuses in the spring, and who has deep ties to the party establishment, most notably Bill Clinton. Perhaps it would be more accurate to characterize the race as outsider-turned-insider vs. insider-turned-outsider.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=122902