U.S. Michael Bennet is being targeted by Republicans ahead of the 2016 election. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
The Republican campaign targeting Sen. Michael Bennet took on an electoral tint Tuesday, as the GOP launched robo-calls in Colorado attacking the Democrat ahead of his 2016 re-election bid.
— which went to thousands of independent women voters — the National Republican Senatorial Committee accused Bennet of “filibustering bipartisan legislation to combat human sex trafficking.” Bennet is one of the few vulnerable Senate Democrats on the ballot in 2016.
“The Denver Post recently reported that Colorado Is A ‘Breeding Ground’ For Human Trafficking so one would think Senator Bennet would be leading the charge to get this bill passed, instead of blocking it,” the robo-call script reads. “Call Senator Bennet today at 303-455-7600 and tell him to stop playing political games with women and children who have been victimized by human traffickers.”
The NRSC refused to disclose how much it spent on the robo-call campaign, making it unclear whether it would leave a mark on the race.
The GOP message tells only half the story and the partisan squabbling is being cast as typical Washington. because of an anti-abortion provision tucked into the legislation — just the kind of issue that Democrats argue is part of the GOP’s “war on women.”
“Make no mistake about it, Republican Senators are currently playing politics with women’s health to the detriment of victims of human trafficking,” said Justin Barasky, a spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. “The anti-human trafficking bill is a bipartisan effort and it should be cleared of this poison bill that is preventing it from becoming law as quickly as possible. In their first months in the majority, Republican Senators have played politics with the Department of Homeland Security, stopping Iran from becoming a nuclear power, and now women’s health and victims of human trafficking. Voters will remember these kinds of despicable political games come 2016.”
The NRSC also is trying to tie Bennet to a decision made by Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper’s administration in 2016 because they don’t meet Affordable Care Act requirements.
The NRSC will announce Wednesday that it filed a public records request for communications between Bennet and his staff with the state Department of Insurance regarding the impending cancellations. A similar records request regarding health care plans during his losing 2014 re-election bid.
“We’ll never know all the conversations that may have taken place behind the scenes, but the least we can do to hold Senator Bennet accountable is to make a public records request for these emails,” said NRSC spokesman Matt Connelly.
