Low-profile Democrat presidential candidate Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO) managed to worm his way into the first primary debate, despite low poll numbers and a stunning lack of name recognition.
Bennet announced his presidential bid last month, but it largely flew under the radar. He believes his honesty will set him apart from the other 23 candidates vying for the nomination.
“I have a tendency to tell the truth to the people I represent in Colorado, and I want a chance to do that with the American people,” Bennet told CBS This Morning in May.
“I think right now the Democratic Party doesn’t stand for very much at the national level with respect to what the American people think,” he continued. “But this is an opportunity to show what we stand for, for us to have a competition of ideas.”
“I think it is phenomenal we have got as diverse an array of candidates as we have in all respects and that we got the number that we have,” he added. “A process like this is long overdue in the Democratic Party.”
His optimism hasn’t translated to strong poll numbers. The Real Clear Politics average shows Bennet clocking in around 0.5 percent, and the latest Morning Consult update shows Bennet with a serious name-recognition dilemma. A stunning 50 percent have never heard of him.
Despite those factors, Bennet was able to secure a spot on the stage for the first Democrat primary debates.
The first two debates are in Miami and scheduled for June 26 and June 27. In order to qualify, one must “either secure 1% support in three approved polls or obtain 65,000 unique donors from 20 states,” according to Business Insider.
The Democratic National Committee said it would cap the number of candidates at 20. Surprisingly, Bennet sealed his spot thanks to a recent CNN poll conducted by SSRS. The poll happens to be one of the three the DNC is using as a qualifier. Bennet reached one percent, despite the fact that many who selected him didn’t know who he was. In fact, even those who had heard of Bennet failed to list him as their primary choice.
According to Business Insider:
By digging deeper through the numbers, CNN political and data analyst Harry Enten figured out that of the 44% of voters who had heard of Bennet, none listed him as their first choice for the Democratic nominee.
But of the 56% of respondents polled who said they hadn’t heard of Bennet, “enough of them chose Bennet in a listed ballot to get him to 1% in our poll overall,” Enten wrote.
CNN’s poll was conducted May 28–31 and surveyed just over 1,000 U.S. adults.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.