Three states... Colorado, Connecticut, Minnesota... hold primary elections today,and Georgia holds a runoff election to decided the state's Republican gubernatorial nominee.
The only suspenseful Democratic race today is the senatorial nomination elections in Colorado between incumbent Sen. Michael Bennet, who was appointed in 2009 to fill the seat vacated by Obama Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, and Andrew Romanoff, former Colorado state House Speaker from 2005 to 2009.
Bennet, wealthy former investment banker and Denver schools superintendent, is a malleable centrist who has proven a reliable vote for White House legislative agenda. Bennet is strongly supported by President Obama who lavishly praised Bennet as a "rookie" who could become "one of the most outstanding senators we've ever had."
Romanoff is a scrappy progressive Democrat who quipped that "It is possible to be pro-Obama and pro-Romanoff at the same time" despite his anger at legislative compromises made by the Obama administration on innumerable issues important to liberals.
Said Andrew Romanoff in July, ""On health care, energy, the environment, financial reform -- my positions are not just more progressive. They're more aggressive."
Interestingly, Romanoff was an early and vocal supporter of Hillary Clinton for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination. Defying the stunned White House, former President Bill Clinton heartily endorsed Romanoff in today's Senate race, calling him Democrat's "best chance to hold this seat in November." President Clinton has also recorded robocalls endorsing Romanoff.
Aided by Obama appearances on the campaign trail, Bennet led the race early on, but in May, Colorado Democrats endorsed Romanoff at their annual convention with 60% of their votes, giving Bennet less than 40%.
A loss by Bennet would be a blow to the centrist Senate coalition Obama relies on to cobble together his "bipartisan" legislative agenda. A loss by Bennet would also prove embarrassing to the White House... although no more embarrassing than many other recent incidents.
Besides being a victory for progressives, a win by Romanoff would be a remarkable show of ballot-box influence by Bill Clinton, who is also credited with singlehandedly rescuing Sen. Blanche Lincoln from losing her primary reelection race in Arkansas.
I have no predictions as to who will win the Bennet-Romanoff race today, although I'm certainly rooting for progressive Andrew Romanoff, whose energy and excitement for the race are hopefully contagious.
One thing is certain, though: if Romanoff wins today, Bill Clinton will be regarded as more powerful than President Obama at getting out the vote for Democrats. And at getting what he, Bill Clinton, wants...
Which begs the fascinating question, what do Bill and Hillary want?
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