We’ve stated before that election results have proven time and again the accuracy of pollster Scott Rasmussen’s numbers. With that in mind, we are pleased to report that today Rasmussen puts former Colorado State House Speaker Andrew Romanoff (D) “in a virtual tie” with former Colorado Lieutenant Governor Jane Norton (R) in the race for the CO U.S. Senate seat currently held by appointed Senator Michael Bennet (D). While Norton currently “earns 44% of the vote,” Romanoff is behind by only two percentage points at 42%. Bennet is behind by nine points.
According to Rasmussen, “Colorado’s race for the U.S. Senate is considerably tighter this month, especially if Democratic incumbent Michael Bennet isn’t in the race.”
“Voters not affiliated with either major party prefer the Republicans over Bennet in every case but break even when Romanoff is the Democratic candidate.
“Both parties will hold their primaries on August 10.”
Rasmussen adds that “Bennet’s continuing inability to gain ground suggests that incumbency is one of his biggest problems,” and notes that 60% of Colorado voters say the country would be better off “if most congressional incumbents were not reelected in November.”
“Just 21% believe their representative in Congress is the best person for the job, and only 29% think that person deserves to be reelected.”
The irony behind all this: Not only is Bennet endorsed by President Obama, who made a controversial appearance in Denver last month on the Colorado senator’s behalf, but by the end of 2009 Bennet’s campaign had already collected nearly $5 million in contributions and had more than $4 million on hand. As we’ll discuss in our next post, those funds came primarily from big-money sources. Meanwhile, Romanoff has sworn not to accept donations from big-money interests and is fueling his campaign via a grass-roots effort that had raised a mere $630,000 and had less than half a million dollars on hand at the end of 2009.
As we continue to say and report, big money does not necessarily equate to better politics. Some experts we’ve highlighted such as Bill Moyers of PBS and Kevin Phillips (author of Bad Money: Reckless Finance, Failed Politics, and the Global Crisis of American Capitalism) might argue that big money means nothing but crippled, ineffective politics. Perhaps when national leaders of the Democratic Party pay more attention to such beliefs they’ll lend their assistance and support to the most deserving Democratic candidates who’ll succeed in the long run—rather than to those with the most cash on hand at the moment.