Colorado's Senators Working Together To Bridge Divide Between Parties
DENVER (CBS4)- Colorado Senators Michael Bennet and Cory Gardner, are trying to work together for the good of the state.
Bennet, the senior Senator and a Democrat, along with Gardner, the junior Senator and Republican, are part of a new effort to bridge the divide between the parties on Capitol Hill.
Bennet, a city dweller and Gardner, a farm boy, make an unlikely pair. But at a time of historic partisanship in Congress, the odd couple is doing something very odd indeed when it comes to working together.
"If we're going to do the best job we can for Colorado, it's not going to be about left or right, it's about what we can do for the state and I think that's the approach we've taken in the first days after the election until now," said Gardner.
Last spring, Gardner invited Bennet on a tour of the Eastern Plains where Gardner grew up.
Then Bennet returned the favor, inviting Gardner on a tour of Denver Public Schools where Bennet served as superintendent.
"What I know about education, it comes from a committee hearing, it comes from a briefing. Michael has experience of actually having lead the Denver Public School system and having worked on the policies," said Gardner.
Their relationship hasn't always been so cordial. Bennet chaired a committee that relentlessly attacked Gardner during last year's election. And there was the incident where Gardner described Bennet in a less-than-flattering way in the Washington Post.
"Michael Bennet has portrayed himself as this go along, get along above the partisan fray type of senator... and then you went on to call him Chief Partisan of the United States Senate," said CBS4 Political Specialist Shaun Boyd.
"We're not going to agree on everything, that's not realistic and I mean that doesn't just have to do with party, it's a personal experience but I think both of us believe very strongly that this country is desperate for a model of leadership in Washington that is bipartisan and is not focused so much on the differences but really focused on the things we can agree on," said Bennet.
It may be surprising to learn how many major issues they've found agreement, the Keystone Pipeline and trade, education reform and water conservation. They've also worked on legislation to prevent a government shutdown, finish the VA Hospital and establish banking for the marijuana industry.
"It's important to see that it's not just words on a piece of legislation or a vote that you're casting, that there's actually somewhere there's a senior in high school or a 7th grader at Denver Discovery that's benefiting from these, that our votes, these actions, our words, have real-life consequences," said Gardner.
"My impatience with the partisan battle in Washington and the finger pointing and the lack of problem solving... When people out here, every day that we're back there doing that, are here teaching kids or trying to learn without respect to that empty partisanship, I think this isn't just for show, I think it's very important to set a model that other people can follow," said Bennet.
According to Congressional Quarterly Roll Call, which tracks voting patterns, partisanship and polarization are driving legislative behavior more now than at any other time since they started tracking it 60 years ago.
