DENVER — It was as fired up as most politicos have seen Colorado Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet in a while.
“When the senator from Texas shut down the government in 2013, my state was flooded! It was under water! People were killed! People’s houses were destroyed. Their small businesses were ruined forever. And because of the senator from Texas, this government was shut down. For politics,” Bennet shouted from the Senate floor Thursday.
The video quickly went viral. But what does it mean for a possible run for president?
“I don’t know. I am thinking about it,” Bennet told Chuck Todd on MSNBC when asked about a possible run Thursday.
“This guy is obviously shaping up for a presidential run,” FOX31 Democratic analyst Andy Boian said.
Bennet, like most Democrats, may have reservations about a run because of the anticipated crowded field.
But Boian noted Bennet has family connections. Bennet’s brother James is editor of the editorial page at the New York Times. His late father was a diplomat and former president of Wesleyan University.
However, there is one big obstacle Bennet needs to overcome.
“He’s got one giant impediment to running, and that’s John Hickenlooper. He has gone to Iowa [and] New Hampshire several times and indicated he has a strong interest in running,” Boian said.
Boian pointed to that fact Hickenlooper and Bennet are close; Bennet served as Hickenlooper’s chief of staff when he was mayor.
But when Hickenlooper was asked by FOX31 political reporter Joe St. George if he was “offended” by a Bennet run, Hickenlooper replied, “No.”
“Michael Bennet is one of the smartest political people that I know,” Hickenlooper said in November.