As the sun was setting and the skies remained gray in Bow, N.H., I turned on to a long road, riddled with cars covered in bumper stickers such as “Protect Our Care” and “Bennet for America.”
As I turned the corner into the living room, I saw at least 50 voters captivated by Senator Michael Bennet during a Q&A session. Wearing a casual pair of jeans, a blue button-down shirt sans tie and his signature Timex strap watch, Bennet commanded the room with his understanding of policy, politics and the necessity for comity in our current political climate.
As the former superintendent of Denver public schools, Bennet spoke passionately about the need for universal pre-K. “We passed universal pre-K in Denver and added 2,000 kids to the rolls of Denver public schools. Sherrod Brown and I have been working on this issue for a long time,” Bennet said, referring to the progressive Ohioan senator.
As he put on his jacket and prepared for his flight to Iowa, I waited for Bennet in the foyer. “Hi, Matt, I’m Michael,” he said. Before I had the chance to ask him any questions, he started to ask me about Tufts, introduced me to his daughter and asked if I knew a certain Coloradan who attends Tufts.
I asked Bennet about his electability case — his ability to get to the White House as the Democratic nominee. “I’m the only candidate in this race who’s won a swing state twice … and I think that I’ve got a deep keel that’s been forged in that purple state. My policy agenda is one that can appeal not just to Democrats but to independents as well and win back the nine million people who voted twice for Barack Obama and once for Donald Trump.”
A recent Politico article described him as the “ultimate dark horse primary candidate.” Bill Shaheen, husband to New Hampshire's senior Senator Jeanne Shaheen, said that he is “very strongly [supporting] Michael Bennet … he’s the person America should choose.”
Other die-hard Bennet supporters liken him to another Yale-educated Coloradan: former Senator Gary Hart. Hart won a stunning upset in the New Hampshire primary in 1984, shocking the establishment and front-runner Walter Mondale. Hart’s 1984 New Hampshire campaign was managed by none other than then 37-year-old Jeanne Shaheen.
“I come from a state that’s one-third Democratic, one-third Republican and one-third independent,” Bennet often says. I began my question: “You often say you come from a state that’s one third—” and then he cut me off. “Ah, a third, a third, a third.” Bennet and his daughter laughed. “I’m quoting you, quoting me.”
“I do think it’s important we have somebody who’s focused on what real, breathing, living Americans need out of the government and not just on what social media is demanding at any given moment,” said Bennet.
Bennet’s deft political abilities saved him during the GOP onslaught of the 2010 midterms and won him another difficult race in 2016. Like Hart in 1984, Bennet should not be discounted as a fringe non-factor. As former President Obama noted in November 2016, Bennet is one the Democratic Party’s most gifted new leaders.
More from The Tufts Daily
Trending
The Print Edition
