NY Times-Obama's Coattails Buttons Up Victory for Sen. Candidate

Col. Sen. Michael Bennet: coloradopols.com

(Story by Kirk Johnson for the NY Times)

DENVER — Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado, a Democrat who had hitched his star to the fortunes of President Obama, survived a bitter primary challenge on Tuesday, suggesting that at least here in this Western swing state, the much touted wrath of the American voter may not, in the end, be quite ready sweep away all before it.

Mr. Bennet, who was appointed to the Senate last year to fill a seat vacated by Ken Salazar, now Mr. Obama’s interior secretary, defeated Andrew Romanoff, a former speaker of the Colorado House. Mr. Romanoff conceded about an hour after the polls closed with what a spokesman for Mr. Bennet described as “a very nice call.”

His victory suggests that for all the anger at establishment politicians and officeholders this year, Democrats and President Obama still retain some political clout in swing states that sided with the party in the 2008 presidential election.

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