Bennet pitches pragmatic progressive platform in Parkersburg

Michael Bennet isn’t currently a household name or a top tier presidential candidate by any measure, but the two-term Democratic Senator from Colorado believes his ability to win purple counties—and states—could catapult him to the front of the pack in the all-important upcoming Iowa caucus.

In between stops on his tour of counties that went twice for Barack Obama before swinging to Donald Trump in 2016, Bennet stopped at the Eclipse News-Review on Monday afternoon for an interview covering topics such as health care, electability and what separates him from the rest of the pack.

“Iowa’s got more counties that voted twice for Barack Obama and once for Donald Trump than any other state in the country, and that fascinates me,” he said. “In order to beat Donald Trump, we need to have somebody who unifies the Democratic Party, but that’s not enough. We need to bring back some of those people.”

Bennet, a former investment company executive and Denver Public Schools superintendent who was appointed to his Senate seat in 2009, sees the defection of Obama voters three years ago as a protest against business as usual in Washington, D.C. and an economy that, in his words, wasn’t working for large swaths of the population.

While he understands the frustration, he added that the country needs a president who takes the job seriously and provides hope for citizens in areas both urban and rural.

For the full story, see this week’s Eclipse News-Review. Subscribe by calling 319-346-1461 or by clicking here.