Bennet Pledges to ‘Make a Difference’ During Victory Speech

By Kristen Scheirman

FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Sen. Michael Bennet (D) promised Coloradans he would return to Washington with a mission to change the Senate and make a difference in the world during his victory speech Wednesday afternoon.

“I’m not going to Washington to play politics,” Bennet said. “I’m going there to fight for more jobs, better jobs, for a clean energy economy, a 21st century education for any child and I’m going to fight so that every American has access to high quality health care at a cost we can afford.

“Yeah, you can cheer to that,” he said, smiling, as his several hundred audience members began to whistle, yell, and applaud, waving a sea of “Bennet for Colorado” campaign signs in the air.

The speech was given just before Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck (R) conceded to incumbent, Bennet, in the Colorado Senate race that was so close the winner wasn’t known until Wednesday morning. Buck ended up behind by 15,444 votes. Bennet earned 48 percent of the votes while Buck earned 47 percent of the votes.

During his speech, Bennet focused on how Americans need to develop bipartisan attitudes and work together in order to succeed in creating change, urging Coloradans not to see the state as divided because of the closeness of the race and the stark differences between the two candidates, but rather to set aside petty differences and stand united.

“What I’ve heard over and over is the aspirations we have for our families and our communities are so much more shared and so much more powerful than the trivial issues, the false choices of politicians, and talking TV heads that try to divide us,” Bennet said.

He said that all people want “an efficient, effective government that works hard for them or gets out of the way” and promised to get rid of needless regulations holding back businesses.

“This was about rolling up our sleeves and getting to work to rebuild our country,” he said. “This campaign and this election were about the innovators, entrepreneurs, and small business owners looking to build tomorrow’s Colorado.”

He emphasized the need for creating a better future for younger generations.

“This election was about making sure our generation lives up to the promise of America. That we will leave more, not less to those who come after us,” Bennet said. “That’s not a Democrat or Republican idea. That is an American idea.”

He also took a moment to thank his family, his campaign workers, and his constituents.

“This is not my victory, this is yours and I will never forget that and I will not let you down,” Bennet said. “Change is hard, we can’t get it done overnight, but we can get it done together.”