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Walker Webcast: U.S. Senator Michael Bennet Talks About Climate Change, Economics and Democracy

In early 2019, a C-Span video of U.S. Senator Michael Bennet went viral. A normally soft-spoken individual, the Colorado representative was on his feet, excoriating U.S. Senator Ted Cruz. Bennet’s fiery speech lambasted the Republican Texas senator’s “crocodile tears” in attempting to pass a measure that would pay Coast Guard members during the 2018-2019 partial shutdown of the federal government. Bennet’s passionate comments also criticized the use of eminent domain in in seizing land on which to build the border wall promised by then-President Donald Trump.

The viral video was a far cry from Bennet’s first senate campaign in 2010. Bennet had been appointed by Colorado Governor Bill Ritter to fill the seat that had been vacated by then-Senator Ken Salazar’s appointment to Secretary of the Interior in early 2009. And when Bennet began to campaign for the seat, he told Walker & Dunlop Chairman and CEO Willy Walker that his name recognition in the state had been a paltry 3%. Still, he won the election. “I had never run a campaign, and I had no idea how to do so,” he told the Walker Webcast host on May 18, 2022. “But I had an amazing team of people.”

As he approaches the 2022 November midterm elections, Bennet has upped his name recognition—the Cruz stand-off video didn’t hurt in that regard. He also shared his views on some of the more alarming issues of the day. For one thing, there are the natural disasters resulting from climate change, and Colorado has not escaped unscathed. Poor air quality, dangerous wildfires and brush fires and a slowly dwindling Colorado River are of huge concern.

“We’ve done a terrible job of trying to explain to people what the (climate change) transition is going to look like,” Bennet said. “We’ve made it very easy for (West Virginia Senator) Joe Manchin to flick us away without breaking a sweat. We have to do a better job.”

As for the economy, Bennet shared concerns about inflationary pressures and the fact that housing scarcity and increasing prices are making it more difficult for Coloradans to find decent homes. “I can summarize in 15 years of town hall meetings; people come in and say ‘we’re working really hard and killing ourselves, but no matter what we do, we can’t afford healthcare, housing, early childhood care or higher education. We can’t save’,” Bennet said. “To me that’s a reflection of economy that has worked for top half of Americans, but not for others.”

And Bennet spoke at length about democracy. As a member of the Senate Committee on Intelligence, he has had a front-row seat to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, observing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s behavior, and watching him “making fundamental mistakes,” he said. Putin’s actions demonstrate why totalitarianism is horribly ineffective, Bennet added, while pointing out the bravery of the Ukrainian people.

“Their bravery has been inspiring to democracy in the free world,” he said. “It’s inspiring that people in the free world are saying to people like me, ‘you gotta do more’.”

Speaking of democracy, Bennet is a huge believer in democracy, despite the institution’s dysfunctions. But he sounded a note of caution. “We have partisan differences. But if we really think this democracy will succeed as a perpetual game of shirts and skins, it will be impossible. It cannot happen,” he said. The goal isn’t to agree with each other, and that out of clashes will become supportable solutions and proposals. “If this place (Washington, D.C.) can’t operate that way, then the country can’t operate that way,” Bennet explained. “If the country can’t operate that way, we’ll have a hard time competing with Beijing.”

Speaking of clashes, when Walker brought up the topic of the 2019 video, Bennet said it hadn’t been his intent to be confrontational. But the more he felt Cruz was dissembling, the more he thought he had to intervene. “I’d had enough of it,” Bennet said, pointing out that the 2013 government shutdown led by Cruz had stalled recovery efforts to help Coloradans who’d suffered through a huge flood.

Still, when it came to recovering from the flood, local and state authorities stepped up. “People under every political stripe were trying to get the job done,” Bennet commented.

On-demand replays of the May 18, 2022 webcast are available by clicking here and through Walker & Dunlop’s Driven by Insight podcast series.

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Sen. Michael BennetWalker & Dunlop's Willy Walker

About Amy Wolff Sorter

I love content. I love writing it, visualizing it, and manipulating it to fit into different formats. I have years of experience in working with content, both as creator and editor. The content I create and edit provides assistance with many goals, ranging from lead generation, to developing street cred through well-timed thought-leadership pieces. Content skills include, but aren't limited to, articles and blogs, e-mails, promotional collateral, infographics, e-books and white papers, website copy and more.

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  • ◦Economy
  • ◦Policy/Gov't
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