Talk about wildly out-of-context, the Colorado Independent has declared Michael Bennet one of the most bipartisan Democrats in the U.S. Senate.
The word “bipartisan” is woven into their six-paragraph story seven times, however it never appears even once in the original story upon which it was based, that appeared in the Washington Post.
The Post’s headline:
Here are the members of Congress who vote against their party the most
The Independent’s headline:
Bennet ranked fifth most bipartisan Democrat in Senate
Even the cynical Washington Post isn’t jaded enough to declare that voting against one’s party majority about 10 percent of the time where Bennet ranked is considered “bipartisan” – and that was for the votes that didn’t “really matter that much.”
Bennet’s split with Democrats jumps a whopping seven percent when the votes did matter.
The Post says it researched every vote taken this year, so that would include the non-controversial matters that were essentially voice votes, procedural votes to move forward with debate and amendments.
Although the Post did not share with us which votes they counted as going against one’s party, the Independent assumed that Bennet stood with Republicans on a cybersecurity measure, defense spending bill, and the Keystone XL pipeline.
Most assuredly, the Keystone pipeline was the one vote this year that really mattered in which Bennet split from his party.
However, bucking his political party seven percent of the time on close votes, means Bennet voted with Democrats 93 percent of the time.
Those of us living on planet Earth would consider that a significantly partisan voting record.