Roundup: Buck Is Back For 2014

UPDATE: People for the American Way answers news of Ken Buck's entry into the 2014 Senate race with a clip video they originally released in October of 2010. This takes us back.

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2010 GOP Senate nominee Ken Buck.

Progressive Cowgirl noted it first here last night, and here's a quick coverage roundup (so far) of 2010 GOP U.S. Senate nominee Ken Buck's entry into the 2014 race against Democratic incumbent Sen. Mark Udall.

Washington Post:

Republican Ken Buck, who in 2010 lost narrowly to Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), will seek to challenge Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) in 2014…

“Ken’s going to finish the job in 2014,” Buck consultant Walt Klein told the Denver Post.

Buck lost to Bennet by less than 2 percent in 2010 — a strong year for Republicans nationally. But, as with some other GOP candidates that year and in 2012, Buck committed some gaffes that appeared to cost him — including comparing homosexuality to alcoholism and making a remark about high heels while running in the GOP primary against former lieutenant governor Jane Norton.

The Hill's Jonathan Easley:

In 2010, political watchers believed Bennett, who was appointed by then-Gov. Bill Ritter (D) in 2009 to fill the seat left by Ken Salazar (D), who became Secretary of the Interior, was vulnerable to a Republican challenger in a year that a wave election gave the GOP a majority in the House.

But Bennett squeaked out a victory over Buck, whose campaign was plagued by controversial comments. Buck believes global warming is a hoax, and at one point appeared to liken homosexuality to alcoholism.

The Denver Post's Kurtis Lee:

Buck, a Tea Party Republican, filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission Wednesday and will officially launch his campaign with an announcement tour around the state in early September, according to a campaign official. He joins state Sens. Randy Baumgardner and Owen Hill, who have both announced they will seek the GOP nomination to unseat Udall.

Huffington Post's Paige Lavender:

The tea partier has made headlines in the past for some of his more outrageous statements. In 2010, Buck said people should vote for him because he doesn't "wear high heels."

"I have cowboy boots on. They've got real bulls**t on them," Buck said. "That's Weld County bulls**t, not Washington D.C. bulls**t."

We'll have more to say as the field of GOP primary candidates adjusts to the entry of 2010's nominee and "Tea Party" favorite son. We've discussed at length the reasons for Buck's on-paper unlikely defeat in 2010, against a freshly-appointed incumbent in a year that perhaps uniquely favored staunchly conservative Republican candidates. That said, certainly Buck has experience as a candidate for high office that no other GOP contender can match. Buck's entry represents a moment of truth for the other candidates in this primary, who had better be able to match (or supplant) Buck's national connections right now if they want to stay in this race.

But the happiest people we've talked with today are Democrats dusting off their thick 2010 oppo files. Within a Buck re-run for Senate in 2014, they say, lay gifts to the party's electoral prospects in this state well beyond this one race. As we'll have lots of time to explain in the coming months, Buck represents the model of exactly what Democrats have mastered the art of campaigning against.

But for today, Buck is the candidate to beat in this primary. And as we've said before, this race makes a lot more sense for Buck than a run for Attorney General. For all of his problems in 2010, he did come close to defeating Sen. Michael Bennet. Had Buck run for Attorney General and lost, his political career would be essentially over. Instead, he's the GOP favorite for his Party's Senate nomination in 2014; if he's going to run a statewide race, he might as well aim higher.

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