the president and his choice, michael bennet, both won. colorado senator michael bennet finally knows what winning a race feels like. >> tonight is your victory, and i thank you. >> reporter: appointed to the senate but never elected to any office, bennet had appeared to be in trouble, but beat back an aggressive rival. >> washington needs a lot less finger pointing and name calling, and a lot more problem solving. >> reporter: defeated challenger andrew romanoff said now it's all about november. >> it is the time for us to heal. it is the time for us to be united. it is the time for us to advance the cause that we share. >> reporter: winning on the republican side, career prosecutor ken buck. who had said this on the trail. >> why should you vote for me? because i do not wear high heels. >> reporter: former lieutenant governor jane norton was the establishment choice, but the tea party picked buck.

>> reporter: obama backs michael bennet. a loss for bennet could be an embarrassment for obama. >> oh, my gosh. >> reporter: it's a political smackdown in connecticut. >> i approve this message because it's time for something different. >> reporter: former world wrestling entertainment ceo linda mcmahon hopes to trade the ring for the senate. >> what i hear when i'm around in the state is not they're not concerned with soap opera story line. >> reporter: the conservative is expected to advance to november likely pitting her against connecticut attorney general richard blumenthal. in georgia -- >> are you ready to elect a pro-life pro-second amendment commonsense constitutional conservative that will might like a momma grizzly for you. >> reporter: sarah palin supports karen handel. the biggest prize this primary day, pinning political power in your corner. voters in florida from two weeks

senate. >> reporter: a loss for bennet would be an embarrassment for obama. in georgia today the gubernatorial primaries are testing the strength of republicans at the national level. newt gingrich and mike huckabee have been campaigning for nathan deal while sarah palin is throwing her support to karen handel. >> are you ready to elect a pro-life, pro-second amendment, commonsense, constitutional conservative who will fight like a mama grizzly for you? >> reporter: if her candidate wins, she's guaranteed to be seen as the mama grizzly bear of her party headed into the

michael bennet took 54% of the vote. >> so, to the pundits and the talking heads, i have a simple message. welcome to colorado. >> reporter: bennet's rival, andrew romanoff, not only had is support of former president bill clinton, he was the beneficiary of liberal disaffection with obama. but in the end, the obama machine came through. >> this is a pretty good wednesday in the white house. >> reporter: in republican races, voters tilted to the tea party, and democrats say that will help them in november. in georgia, nathan deal narrowly beat sarah palin's hand-picked candidate for governor. in connecticut, a former world wrestling executive, linda mcmahon, won the senate nomination. and in colorado, tea party candidate ken buck easily won the senate primary. >> now they're electing conditions in their primaries that are probably too conservative to win. >> reporter: but democrats are not counting their blessings just yet. republicans have high hopes of winning back the house. >> if they want to see last night as a good night, they ought to savor it, because there

night and did he draw any message from michael bennet's victory? >> the president called him not long after the race was called. the president had trouble out there -- had traveled out there to help him gain support and raise money. the president was proud to lend his name -- i think he appeared over the course of last weekend, get out the vote mailings, television ads, and the president for dissipated in senator bennet's town hall. we talked about what comprised voter turnout in the democratic primary. in first time and nearly first- time voters coming out, coming back out again to participate

bennet was appointed last year, after ken salazar left the senate to become interior secretary. president obama had endorsed bennet, while former president clinton endorsed romanoff in the hard-fought primary race. bennet's eight point win was a piece of good news for a beleaguered white house. >> the president was proud to lend his name, appeared in mailings, ads, participated in teletown hall. >> lehrer: but with the democratic primary behind him, bennet would not commit today to have mr. obama back to campaign this fall against a republican opponent. >> we'll have to see. we'll obviously do what's right for the campaign. he's been a huge help and i appreciate his endorsement. and we'll see what happens between now and november. >> lehrer: bennet will face republican district attorney ken buck with ties to the tea party movement. he claimed the mantle of outsider in beating former lieutenant governor jane norton. >> republicans have been sending their elected officials back to washington d.c. to change congress, and instead those republicans have been changed by congress. >> l

michael bennet defeated andrew romanoff. it is a little more than an hour. >> good morning everyone. welcome to our unity day. the democrats rose in the state of colorado. it is my great pleasure this morning to introduce to you one of the best chairmaen at the democratic party. he cut his teeth doing a grass- roots work. he is here to serve as in this country. please, welcome the chairmen of the national democratic party, tim kaine. >> thank you. hello, colorado. this is great. thank you very much. it is an honor to be back in colorado. i use to come here in the summers for fun. you put on a great convention in 2008. everytime i get here, i have warm feelings. the yourself a round of applause. [applause] i am excited to be here because of so much good work that has been done by colorado democrat. we have so many great representatives. you will hear from a number of them. i will try to be brief. what you as a party have is a strong reputation for showing unity. here are two day -- [applause] two days after a challenging elec

come november bennet will face prosecutor ken buck, the winner of a tight republican primary. >>> in connecticut, former wrestling executive linda mcmahon easily won the republican senate nomination after pouring tens of millions of her own dollars into the race. mcmahon will face and challenge democratic state attorney general richard blumenthal this fall. >>> and in the republican runoff for georgia governor, former congressman nathan deal is leading former secretary of state karen handel, but that race is too close to call. >>> defying advice from lawyers to keep quiet, new york congressman charles rangel took to the house floor yesterday, making it clear that when it comes to charges against him, he's not going without a fight. a defensive rangel said he's not resigning, despite 13 ethics charges against him from the house ethics committee. he denied he was corrupt and told fellow lawmakers that if they thought he should step down, they should just expel him, the harshest penalty in an ethics case. >> if it is the judgment of people here for whatever reason that i resign, then, h

bennet avoided becoming the third sitting senator this year to lose in a primary. t.j. wingic, abc news, washington. >>> new york democratic congressman charlie rangel is not resigning despite facing more than a dozen ethic charges. he made that clear at an unexpected 37-minute speech on the house floor. any call on the house ethics committee to move it along without delay. >> don't leave me swinging in the wind until november. i do want the dignity that the president had said. if i can't get my dignity back here, then fire your best shot in getting rid of me through ex-pulse. >> he admitted to making mistakes but maintains he has done nothing corrupt. >>> a new storm is menacing the gulf coast as it heads to the site of the big bp oil spill. a relief well has been suspended and a governor has declared a state of emergency there. amy has the latest there. >> thank you, rob and vinita. the gulf is certainly in the spotlight. our latest low pressure system has been officially upgraded to a tropical depression about 150 miles from the west coast of florida. you can see the

michael bennet defeated andrew romanoff. it is a little more than an hour. >> good morning everyone. welcome to our unity day. the democrats rose in the state of colorado. it is my great pleasure this morning to introduce to you one of the best chairmaen at the democratic party. he cut his teeth doing a grass- roots work. he is here to serve as in this country. please, welcome the chairmen of the national democratic party, tim kaine. >> thank you. hello, colorado. this is great. thank you very much. it is an honor to be back in colorado. i use to come here in the summers for fun. you put on a great convention in

so, to the pundits and the talking heads, i have a simple message, welcome to colorado. >> bennet will face ken buck in november. >>> in connecticut, former wrestling executive linda mcmahon easily defeated two other candidates to capture the republican senate nomination. mcmahon spent more than $20 medical of her own money on the campaign. she hopes to capture the seat held by retiring senator chris dodd. >> people ask me every day, linda, why did you decide to run for the united states senate? and i can tell you, it is because i had a great fear that the american dream was in the greatest jeopardy that it has ever been in our lifetime. >> mcmahon will be the underdog when she faces richard blumenthal in november. he ran unopposed. >>> in georgia the republican runoff for governor is too close to call. the three-week runoff election between karen handel and nathan deal featured biting attack ads. handel was endorsed by sarah palin and deal by newt gingrich. >>> in minnesota, mark dayton won nomination for governor. he'll face republican state representative tom emmer. >>> a tropical d

you had president obama backing bennet. former president bill clinton backing romanoff. in the end bennet pulled it out, 54-46 but romanoff did close the gap in the final weeks. in georgia, another proxy war on the republican side, this in the gubernatorial primary. karen handel was backed by sarah palin and called her one of the mama grizzlies she's backing and former congressman nathan deal backed by mike huckabee and newt gingrich. this one is just too close to call right now. fewer than 1% of the votes separate them and there could be a recount here, and finally up in connecticut, a big race on the republican side, linda mcmahon, the former head of world wrestling entertainment, won the republican primary after spending $22 million in the primary. she's going to face the attorney general democrat richard blumenthal. he faced questions about whether he exaggerated his war record in vietnam. that's going to be the november matchup right now. we spoke with linda mcmahon, but first, i talked to senator bennet. congratulations, senator. that's your first win ever, right?

bennet, appointed to the seat, was branded the establishment candidate even though this was actually in his corner, the endorser in chief, president barack obama. romanoff ran as the outsider despite his years in state politics. romanoff had the backing of former president bill clinton. bennett avoided becoming the third sitting senator this year to lose in a primary. rob and vinita? >> our thanks to t.j. >>> a state of emergency has been declared in louisiana because of a tropical depression that is now gaining strength. >> it is expected to turn into a tropical storm that will threaten the gulf coast. accuweather's amy aaronson has the very latest. good morning, amy. >> thank you, rob and vinita. the gulf is certainly in the spotlight. our latest lre s has been officially upgo a tropical depression. that's about 150 miles from the west coast of florida. here you can certainly see the defined circulation on the radar but looking very unorganized. we are just looking ate shower andrstovity eustained wind gusts up to 35 as it tracks northwestward here through the gulf, we are expectin

democrats had a good night with michael bennet. >> the republican primary voters are really, really angry. ithere is anger out there, the epicenter of it is the base of the republican party. they threw overboard the more established candidates that had the backing of the u.s. chamber of commerce and leaders in washington, and instead nominated outsiders, and newcomers, and very strong conservatives who have got some flaws. decrats are hoping that they can exploit those flaws and eke out factors that might of been hard and not even possible. >> is that wishful thinking? >> i don't think it is wishful thinking. peter hart, a democratic pollster, says that is the jet tblue election. everybody is frustrated and headed for the emergency exits. [laughter] the four consensus, establishment candidate choices and four republicans -- i don't think there's any question that there would be competitive in the race is now. instead, they chose people that were far to the rit, like sharron angle in nevada, who wants to abolish social security, or privatize social security, get rid of the social security,

we've got senator bennet joining us this morning. hello, senator, good morning and congratulations. >> good morning. well, thank you. thanks for having me today. >> you know, your race fueled this idea that president obama might not be such an asset on the campaign trail as he was two years ago. now this morning after your victory, and it looks like you won pretty handily looking at the numbers with 100% of precincts reporting, you won more than 54% of the vote, what do you want to say about president obama as his -- in terms of his being an asset on the campaign trail? >> you know, i'm very pleased to have had his support, but i don't think it made the difference in the primary, it won't make the difference in the general. the content of what i hear in my town hall meetings has never been farther away from what we're hearing on our television sets than it is today. people are focused on how we get out of the most savaged economy since the great depression, and i think, you know, the politics in washington and the political conversat

michael bennets has president obama's endorsement. >> he's been a breath of fresh air. >> reporter: while his competitor, andrew romanoff, scored president clinton's support. in the republican primary, jane horton is vying against tea party favorite ken bach. minnesota holds a gubernatorial primary while a senate seat is up for grabs in connecticut. richard blumenthal awaits the winner of the connecticut gop primary between rob simmons and linden mcmahon. and in georgia, sarah palin's star power will be put to the test. >> are you ready to bring it on? >> reporter: her pick in the republican primary for governor, karen handel, is pitted against former congressman nathan deal. some experts say the key to today's primaries is actually who shows up. democrats will be paying close attention to see if republican momentum is holding. a recent pew research study shows gop enthusiasm is at a 16 year high. 77% of republicans say they will definitely vote this year compared to 65% of democrats. a big motivating factor, the economy. >> on the national landscape, there is one single issue. and that's

he also campaigned for michael bennet, who won in colorado this week. there was a story that said this was a good week for the president. >> i think it was a good win, it is an anomaly. their track record ahead of colorado was dismal, especially when you look at pennsylvania with arlen specter and joe sestak. i think they're hoping this is not an anomaly. david axelrod told me this is proof there is not going to be away the election. this election -- every election is specific to the state and district they are being run in. it is hopeful thinking. they do not want to see a wave election. if the trend holds true, it will be a rough november for democrats. >> i would agree with that. the president's approval rating is a big problem. he is down to about 43% in the gallup poll right now. when presidents are below 50% in the ratings, historically, they lose about 36 seats in the house. republicans need 40 seats to take back the majority. the president is facing disapproval ratings on almost every issue. that is a problem when he heads to the campaign trail.

senator bennet will now go up against someone who thinks that social security is a bad policy and that we should do away with our involvement in a student loan program that allows thousands to send their kids to college without having to pay exorbitant interest rates. i think that that is a debate that will turn out quite well for us in november. >> when asked if he would want the president to campaign with and through the general lesson, he was noncommittal. >> i think our involvement depends on the television or the mail boxes or the news out there, it is fairly well documented. his substantive professional experience was superintendent of the din for schools, and an enormous amount of reforms that he can be proud of. i think that he will be an enormously strong candidate in the fall. >> did democrats feel better about their prospects in 2010? and the impact of the economy will be two for three months from now? >> our hope is to get the economy turned around not just in three months, but tomorrow. i think the outcome of last night's election in the states where those primaries were h

senate. >> reporter: a loss for bennet would be an embarrassment for obama. in georgia today the gubernatorial primaries are testing the strength of republicans at the national level. newt gingrich and mike huckabee have been campaigning for nathan deal while sarah palin is throwing her support to karen handel. >> are you ready to elect a pro-life, pro-second amendment, commonsense, constitutional conservative who will fight like a mama grizzly for you? >> reporter: if her candidate wins, she's guaranteed to be seen as the mama grizzly bear of her party headed into the midterms. these are obviously state races but with the midterm elections coming up and 2012 looming in the distance it's all about positioning. and, george, there's a lot at stake. >> sure is. for more we're joined by donna brazile, from washington, and mary matalin from new orleans. good morning to both of you. donna, let me begin with you. as david pointed out while these races are going on in colorado especially the president's in texas, the gubernatorial candidate in texas does not appear w

michael bennet, the sitting senator, one of several appointed senators in trouble this year in an election bid is backed by the white house. the president calls him a breath of fresh air in washington, a city of hot air, but his opponent, andrew romanoff, is backed by bill clinton. so you've got a real battle of endorsements going on there. and on the republican side, you have ken buck, who is a tea party candidate against former lieutenant governor jan norton, who has john mccain behind her and the governor of arizona, the controversial governor of arizona, behind her. but she's having a lot of trouble from ken buck who says, at least he doesn't wear high heels. how that goes with voters, i don't know. >> not a bad line. we'll see if it's another day for outsiders. cokie roberts, thanks very much. >> what's wrong with high heels anyway? >> we'll find out tomorrow. >>> coming up, actress mia farrow takes the stand testifying about supermodel naomi campbell's diamonds. they're telling two different stories, so which one of them is telling the truth? >>> and your pet's food could be making y

i have differences when michael bennet comes to the broader analysis. -- with the michael when it comes to this broader analysis. there are elements of the iranian government [inaudible] they may feel forced to sit at the negotiating table. are they willing to go all the way? you have other factors as well. some are actually benefiting from sanctions. they have enriched themselves tremendously as a result. i think it goes beyond that. even when you have a case in which two countries actually may have a common interest in being able to avert a disaster and be able to find solutions, and the absence of trust and confidence , one should not be surprised if they felail. it is in the context that this article actually has some interesting ideas. we have had diplomacy. it is not as methodical as it has been in the past the due be --past. we had two meetings. there were a couple of messages. after that, we entered into the sanctions phase. it should be mentioned that the primary reason as to why diplomacy did not succeed is because of what happened in iran with the fraudulent elections, and hu

when you do these on-site evaluations, i say to senator bennet and you take action, six to ten over the last couple of years was the figure i heard -- six to ten? >> no, he asked me how many were on probation. >> yeah. and then you said on others that you take action against. and let's just take the probation. that's not the entire school, that's just the site, is it not? in other words, if you went to a location for the university of phoenix and you found an on-site and you put them on probation, you don't put the whole university of phoenix on probation, you just do that one site. the location. so it's the location. so what you might be putting them on probation might be going to somewhere else. >> we have instances where we have put entire systems on probation. >> and you'll provide that to this committee? >> yes, sir. >> i'd appreciate that. now m hawkins, i heard dr. mccomis say something that caught my attention on a question i believe was asked by senator franken, that the same information is provided to perspective for profit students and other college students. is that what you

colorado senator michael bennet is the nominee. ds karen handelgu narrowly in georgia. we're watching races and connecticut. this added it will face the republican in november. she spoke recently. this is courtesy of w.cctx in hartford. >> and i love you. [laughter] i think some of my most fondest memories of this campaign trail will be little ones like that. showing up spontaneously and doing those things. the really warms my heart because i am a sucker for kids. [laughter] a lot to thank all of you for being here tonight, and a special thanks to my family, some of whom could not be here. my friends here, my tireless staff, and to all the volunteers, all the many of you, all of you. because certainly without the efforts all, all of our volunteers, i would not be standing here tonight having completed a two rounds of the three we have to go. i also want to thank my opponent cahow -- my opponents who ran a terrific races and their loyal supporters were their hearts out for candidates in whom they really believed. this was a very competitive, compassionate, and heartfelt