This morning on Colorado Public Radio (CPR) they were interviewing new Democrat Party State Chairman Rick Palacio, who had some interesting insights into the fractured Democrat Party in Colorado. Thanks to the reader who tipped us to this interview.
In the interview, CPR asks Palacio if there is still any split in the party after the bitter Bennet/Romanoff US Senate primary. Palacio admits there is still a gaping wound left in the Democraty Party over the "unfair way" the primary played out.
The split is so bad that Palacio believes they lost a number of seats over the rift in the party, including the Secretary of State's office and the State Treasurer seat.
After the Obama machine brought its full resources to bear in crushing the hometown favorite Romanoff, we can see how some Democrats may be none-too-pleased with the Party.
After all, Romanoff was the Democrat who led the charge and took back control of the State House after many years in the political wilderness. Among the party faithful who knock on the doors and make the phone calls, Romanoff led convincingly, beating Bennet by 8 points at the precinct caucuses and a whopping 20 points at the State Assembly.
Bennet was so fearful of the distaste party activists had for him that he was gathering petition signatures to get on the primary ballot, in case Democrats gave him less than 30% at the State Assembly.
But then the Obama machine stepped in, sending Organizing for America staffers out to Colorado and holding tele-townhalls for Bennet supporters with Obama himself. The Obama administration went so far to get Romanoff out of the race that they even bribed him with a job to not run.
Do you really think that the Romanoff volunteers will sign up to help Obama's machine now that it was brought to town to crush their grassroots efforts? We sincerely doubt it.
Bennet's money and machine may have given him the nomination, but it didn't earn him the admiration of the most loyal Democrats who form the backbone of the Party. Palacio has a hell of a job ahead of him and one that is fraught with the perils of trying to get people to volunteer to help an organization that did its darndest to destroy their hard work only a few short months ago.
If you're interested in hearing the full interview you can listen to it here.