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Ken Buck (R) U.S. Senate candidate (March 17, 2010) |
DENVER - Appearing live Wednesday morning on FOX 31's Good Day Colorado, the four candidates who made the strongest showings in Tuesday night's party caucuses talked about how they'll try to build momentum as they head towards potential primary battles in August.
Romanoff wins big
Tuesday's biggest winner, Democratic Senate candidate Andrew Romanoff, called his 51-42 percent win over the incumbent, Sen. Michael Bennet, a victory for Main Street over Wall Street.
"I'm the only real hope of changing a corrupt political culture," Romanoff said. "Wall Street spent an avalanche of cash flooding our voice mails and our mailboxes with glossy brochures, but at the end of the day, people don't like the way Washington works. I think that's message we heard last night."
For their part, Bennet's campaign tried to spin the loss as a victory; although the candidate's decision to remain in Washington, DC Tuesday night -- even while saying over and over again that Washington is broken -- is an obvious effort to downplay the disappointing caucus results.
"As someone who isn't a political insider, tonight's support is especially meaningful," said Bennet, who, again, is the incumbent U.S. Senator.
In a press release sent out Tuesday night, Bennet's campaign manager Craig Hughes took the spin even further.
"This is a huge victory for us," Bennet said. "Competing against a political network built over nearly two decades is never easy, but not only did our opponent not do as well as expected."
"I don't think folks in Washington know how to do math," Romanoff said. "We won this race, and, more importantly, Main Street won."
GOP Senate race tightens after Buck ties Norton
As the high-profile Democratic senate primary heats up, so does the race on the Republican side to take on the eventual winner.
Despite a massive edge in fundraising, GOP front-runner Jane Norton couldn't beat Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck, who actually won by a fraction, taking 37.9 percent in the GOP senate straw poll to Norton's 37.7.
"It was a landslide," quipped Buck, who pointed to his wide grass-roots support.
"After having all the advantages, the endorsements, money, the endorsements of the people in DC, all the advantages, 63 percent of party activists voted against the anointed candidate. Now we've got to make sure they coalesce around our campaign, but it is significant that they have rejected what DC wanted them to do."
Norton, who declined FOX 31's invitation to appear Wednesday morning, released a statement Tuesday night and, not surprisingly, downplayed the significance of the caucus results.
"Caucuses are the starting gun in the marathon race to November," Norton said in a statement. My campaign is taking nothing for granted as we continue to fight to ensure the citizens of this state have their voices heard in Washington."
With former state senator Tom Wiens also drawing 16 percent of the vote Tuesday, there's ample evidence that Colorado's Republican base is less than enamored with Norton.
And Buck, in an off-camera conversation, openly questioned her ability to hold up under the scrutiny of the media and noted her apparent lack of comfort discussing campaign issues with reporters and at candidate forums.
Romanoff wins big
Tuesday's biggest winner, Democratic Senate candidate Andrew Romanoff, called his 51-42 percent win over the incumbent, Sen. Michael Bennet, a victory for Main Street over Wall Street.
"I'm the only real hope of changing a corrupt political culture," Romanoff said. "Wall Street spent an avalanche of cash flooding our voice mails and our mailboxes with glossy brochures, but at the end of the day, people don't like the way Washington works. I think that's message we heard last night."
For their part, Bennet's campaign tried to spin the loss as a victory; although the candidate's decision to remain in Washington, DC Tuesday night -- even while saying over and over again that Washington is broken -- is an obvious effort to downplay the disappointing caucus results.
"As someone who isn't a political insider, tonight's support is especially meaningful," said Bennet, who, again, is the incumbent U.S. Senator.
In a press release sent out Tuesday night, Bennet's campaign manager Craig Hughes took the spin even further.
"This is a huge victory for us," Bennet said. "Competing against a political network built over nearly two decades is never easy, but not only did our opponent not do as well as expected."
"I don't think folks in Washington know how to do math," Romanoff said. "We won this race, and, more importantly, Main Street won."
GOP Senate race tightens after Buck ties Norton
As the high-profile Democratic senate primary heats up, so does the race on the Republican side to take on the eventual winner.
Despite a massive edge in fundraising, GOP front-runner Jane Norton couldn't beat Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck, who actually won by a fraction, taking 37.9 percent in the GOP senate straw poll to Norton's 37.7.
"It was a landslide," quipped Buck, who pointed to his wide grass-roots support.
"After having all the advantages, the endorsements, money, the endorsements of the people in DC, all the advantages, 63 percent of party activists voted against the anointed candidate. Now we've got to make sure they coalesce around our campaign, but it is significant that they have rejected what DC wanted them to do."
Norton, who declined FOX 31's invitation to appear Wednesday morning, released a statement Tuesday night and, not surprisingly, downplayed the significance of the caucus results.
"Caucuses are the starting gun in the marathon race to November," Norton said in a statement. My campaign is taking nothing for granted as we continue to fight to ensure the citizens of this state have their voices heard in Washington."
With former state senator Tom Wiens also drawing 16 percent of the vote Tuesday, there's ample evidence that Colorado's Republican base is less than enamored with Norton.
And Buck, in an off-camera conversation, openly questioned her ability to hold up under the scrutiny of the media and noted her apparent lack of comfort discussing campaign issues with reporters and at candidate forums.
