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Frozen on the salon's big-screen TV, it was Bennet's recent viral speech greeting Republican Senator Ted Cruz in the Senate. In his speech, Bennet, a mild-mannered legislator who speaks with an air of pragmatic optimism, speaks passionately about the government's closure and raises his voice as he accuses Cruz of "crocodile tears" for have lamented a tactic that he had used before.
It was a performance that many in Helen Varner's living room said Thursday, which goes against the way Bennet behaves himself, which even the senator has acknowledged.
"I'm glad you did not play that now," he told the restricted audience, "because I would say," God, I do not want to follow that guy. " "
Bennet's explosive moment last month became his calling card, allowing the senator to meet with groups that would not have known him a few months ago.
What is less clear, is if that is enough to launch it into an already overflowing field of presidential candidates.
"I do not think it sets my time in the Senate," Bennet told CNN sitting on Varner's couch, adding that he "was fine" with the fact that people learned it for the first time. times of speech.
"It's only a speech, but it gives me the impression that there are people who are open to this message and others who simply do not want to to accept such a deeply pitiful idea of what our government could accomplish. "
For the Iowa who were considering supporting a possible Bennet series, the speech was a good start.
"It's where I was introduced to it," said Varner, the 70-year-old host of Bennet's first event. "I sat down and watched it all, then went back and watched on YouTube. (…) I probably watched it four or five times in its entirety."
"It was the moment for me," said Kim Mangers, a 59-year-old Democrat from Dubuque. "It made me feel that he was there for people."
Even with the encouragement of people like Varner and Mangers, however, Bennet's next task is to convince voters that his catchy speech is not the beginning nor the end of what he has to offer to a growing group of Democrats who are running the chance to take President Donald Trump.
Bennet is not willing to say what makes him better than those Democrats – many of whom are his colleagues in the Senate – who are already running. And he says that he's firmly on his own timeline.
"When I'm ready, I'll let you know," he said.
The Colorado Democrat also said he wanted to accommodate more candidates – "I think the more we're crazy," he said – and he thinks it will strengthen the potential candidate.
But, wondering if he should introduce himself, he proposed a difference between him and the other candidates: geography.
"This should be obvious to everyone, but geographically, I'm just at a country here," said Bennet, the only Nebraska separating Iowa from Colorado.
As he was crossing Iowa, Bennet made his way to a fair outside Winterset on Saturday, the city made famous by the book and movie "The Bridges of the County of Madison ". Even for Democratic activists sensitized to party politics, he needs an introduction.
"Hi, I'm Michael Bennet," he says again and again, passing from one group to the other.
Vickie Brenner, who housed Bennet in her family's home, tried to help people make a familiar connection and refine her progressive credentials.
"Like many of you, I saw the video! Brenner said when she introduced the visiting senator. "How many of you have seen him bring Ted Cruz to the Senate?"
Several hands rose in the hall of about three dozen people, nodding their head in gratitude.
Bennet presents himself as a pragmatic legislator who has a progressive voting record, but who also knows what it takes to win in a state divided by two voters like Colorado. He relies heavily on his roots in education – he was director of Denver Public Schools before joining the Senate in 2009 – and sees education as the "biggest problem" facing the country.
Answering questions about the changing climate, money in politics, economic opportunities, etc., his answers are long – in the manner of a senator who is not suddenly compelled by the timing hearings of a committee.
"I apologize," he said Saturday after talking at length about the need to leave before he could answer all the questions in the room.
He talks about what Washington should be, not how. He speaks more of the Capitol than of the White House.
In addition, he does not take a firm stand on some of the central issues that drive the campaign debate. When an elector asks if he fears that the party is being pushed too far to the left, he does not respond directly, but demands that coalitions be formed to make progress.
"I will not judge the Green New Deal one way or another," he told a voter about the plan that divides some Democrats for practical reasons. "I do not say anything negative about the Green New Deal."
For some, however, Bennet's tone makes him a "moderate", as I've called an Iowa woman during a question-and-answer session on Thursday.
Bennet flinched at the nickname.
"Good," he says before describing himself as a "pragmatic idealist".
"Anyone who thinks he is a progressive should be interested in progress," he said.
Although some of Bennet's political proposals are consistent with his party's progressives, his views on Medicare for All – the broad health plan proposed by Senator Bernie Sanders and many other candidates for 2020 – is more centrist, did not let the senator escape.
"I am worried about this bill," he said, pointing out that he was worried about Sanders' proposed Medicare for All bill on proposed insurance plans. by employers, as is the case in most countries of the Americas. "I do not think it's a good place to start."
When he entered the race – a decision he had announced Saturday at CNN that he would be doing "soon" – he would no doubt be pushed to take a stand on progressive projects like the Green New Deal.
While so many of his fellow Democrats are already seeking to be appointed to the party, the fact that he is exploring his own candidacy raises the question of what, in his view, is lacking in the current field.
"I'm not sure that something is missing, I think it's a moment in history where we will have a billion people on our side and I think that's it." Well, "said Bennet in an interview Saturday. "I think it was a tragedy for us to lose against Donald Trump – inconceivable that we lost to Donald Trump.We must find a way to get back from there, not just to win, but also to govern the country."
Correction: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of the name of Helen Varner.
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