“Welcome to the Recovery!,” shouts Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. (Yeah–you’re welcome to it, pal.) Running a ponderous description of everything you think you’ve been doing in the New York Times–yeah, that’ll do it. That’ll make of those jobless folks in the Rust Belt feel better and put money in the pocketbooks of all of those people whose unemployment benefits have run out nationwide. Former Clinton Administration Labor Secretary Robert B. Reich has a better handle on, yes, feeling your pain, and acknowledging the gap between Wall Street profits and Main Street realities.
Meanwhile–the Unelected Senator from St. Alban’s Locust Valley Wall Street Colorado Michael Bennet has loaned his struggling primary campaign $300,000! Yes, friends: all of that business acumen learned at the feet of right-wing union-busting billionaire Phil Anschutz has led him to run the most expensive U.S. Senate campaign in Colorado history–and all he has to show for it is a 20-point reversal in the polls in six weeks. I’ve said it before, and you know I’ll say it again: what a tool.
That Bennet had to give himself cash a week before ballots are counted means his campaign has burned through almost $5.8 million. That figure exceeds all previous spending records in Colorado Senate primaries.
In July alone, the campaign spent $1 million.
How does this compare with what his primary opponent, “career politician” Andrew Romanoff, has spent so far? “Bennet has spent $1.9 million on advertising to Romanoff’s roughly $757,000, both campaigns said. Romanoff’s total spending so far is $1.7 million, compared with Bennet’s nearly $5.8 million. ” Romanoff isn’t taking Political Action Committee (PAC) money so he has far less money to throw around–yet he’s turned around Bennet’s 17-point lead in mid-June into a 3-point lead for him. Maybe Romanoff has learned a thing or two about timing and running a campaign in his, you know, career in politics? Just a thought.
My prediction: Bennet will either lose next week, or he’ll lose in November. He’s going to have to clean out his desk in January, in any case.
Historiann 
After reading the Geithner piece, click over a few pages and read the NYT profile of the woman now in Tennessee somewhere, having run through the max 99-weeks of unemployment benefits, staying for a week in a motel, (financed by selling a television) and needing a “miracle” not to be living in her car after that. One would think/ hope that Timmy would have an advisory council somewhere (preferably stipendiary, or at least per diemed) to which she could add some valuable perspective. But probably not. Have to keep an eye on the deficit meter too.
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Higher permanent unemployment means more volunteer soldiers for the empire.
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see also Krugmann’s NYTimes editorial from Yesterday (Aug 2nd). We’re being fed to the wolves.
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This would have been a good place to mention that Romanoff sold his house in order to fund his campaign.
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Everyone knows that Romanoff has been cash poor–and I don’t think it’s objectionable for candidates to self-fund (to a reasonable degree. Our campaign finance system is fracked up six ways from Sunday.) This post is about judgment and management of money. Bennet apparently spent the money almost as fast as he raked it in, and now after outspending Romanoff nearly 4:1, he’s desperate for cash.
A few weeks back when Romanoff sold his house and none of the political watchers in the state were tut-tutting about what a desperate, Hail Mary move it was, I thought there must be some encouraging internal polling that the campaign had and that was selectively leaked to the media.
OTOH, the commentariat last night and today seem to think Bennet’s move smells of flopsweat. I guess he ain’t the best Senator Wall Street money can buy, with a burn rate of nearly $6 million in a state with ONE major media market!
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