Democrats and Republicans are punishing each other with issues and ethical questions raised during insider primary battles, airing out volatile questions but also guaranteeing many voters will dislike whoever gets elected.
This week alone, Republicans bashed Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet over an allegedly risky financing scheme while he was head of Denver Public Schools, echoing the charges of primary opponent Andrew Romanoff.
Democrats are spending $750,000 on TV ads reminding voters of ethical failures by Bennet rival Ken Buck when the Republican was in the U.S. attorney’s office, repeating the charges of primary opponent Jane Norton.
Over and over, the campaigns are happily borrowing ammunition first supplied by ideological opposites.
Democrats reuse Norton campaign shots that Buck is a profligate spender in his Weld County district attorney office. Republicans pick up Romanoff’s spent arrows aimed at Bennet as a Wall Street lap dog.
“It’s not surprising these primary issues are perfectly ripe for the other side to take advantage of,” said Colorado State University political science professor Kyle Saunders. “And it’s no surprise they’re taking advantage of issues that got a lot of publicity six months ago.”
The primaries field-tested issues that may still resonate with voters, he said.
Coloradans are seeing the results of a “closed primary” system, where independents can’t vote. Candidates tend to seek the backing of the smaller number of interested, engaged primary voters by making strong statements that they may regret later.
By his own admission, Buck has spent the past few weeks fighting off Bennet attacks based on Buck’s primary comments captured on video. Buck has tried to alter or clarify his positions on abortion restrictions, a national sales tax, privatizing Social Security and other issues.
Buck’s campaign is now hitting Bennet for statements he made early in his campaign, pledging to vote against any spending bill in Washington that wasn’t paid for. Bennet has since voted to extend unemployment benefits that relied on borrowed money.
“You’re going to say some extreme things that are detrimental when you’re driving back toward the middle,” said independent Colorado pollster Floyd Ciruli.
Buck and Bennet now have high “unfavorable” ratings in polls of likely voters. The tough primaries never gave them much room to introduce themselves to voters with a positive message, Saunders said.
Some voters may have a different take, though, on the reloading of primary attacks, Ciruli said.
“The targets of those attacks have survived,” Ciruli noted. That may signal to the potential audience, he added, that the original attack from months ago “may not have been that bad.”
Michael Booth: 303-954-1686 or mbooth@denverpost.com
