New Dem Strategy: Talk Like You're A Republican

Guy Benson | September 08, 2010 1:06 PM

President Obama will not receive lockstep Democratic support for his new "stimulus" efforts, as a prominent vulnerable Senator has broken ranks:

Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) broke with President Obama on Wednesday, saying he would not support any additional stimulus spending.
Bennet, who was endorsed by the president in Colorado but is facing a tough reelection fight, rejected the $50 billion public works program proposed by Obama earlier this week.

“I will not support additional spending in a second stimulus package," Bennet said in a statement.

The statement is a sharp pivot for Bennet, who voted for the initial $787 billion stimulus plan backed by Obama in February of 2009. The freshman senator sounded more like a Republican than a Democrat on Wednesday, calling for any new spending to be funded through unspent stimulus dollars.

Sen. Bennet may be refininf his Republican impersonation now that judgment day is less than two months away, but for many Coloradans, it's far too little, too late. If Bennet had demonstrated true independence when it really counted, perhaps he wouldn't need to resort to these sort of stunts. After all, rather than re-electing a poser, Colorado can choose the real deal in November.