ROVE CLAIMS WIN OVER BENNET AT DINNER, IF NOT AT POLLSKarl Rove does a wicked impression of Michael Bennet.It sounds something like a cross between Mr. Magoo and a flustered English butler. And that’s after only a single meeting between the Republican mastermind and Colorado’s junior U.S. senator, a Democrat.

Seems Rove — known as “The Architect” and widely credited with steering a string of Republican electoral victories, including President George W. Bush’s two presidential wins — and Bennet were among the guests of Denver Post publisher Dean Singleton at this year’s Gridiron Dinner a couple months back, along with Colorado’s senior senator, Democrat Mark Udall. The annual shindig, thrown by a venerable Washington, D.C., organization of journalists, is one of the hottest tickets in the nation’s capital and this year included remarks by President Barack Obama.

Now, Rove and Bennet hadn’t met in person before the dinner, but they met on the battlefield last year during the brutal 2010 Colorado Senate race, when the Democrat faced a tough fight from Republican nominee Ken Buck. During a year when Democrats fell left and right – but mostly left — Bennet squeaked out a win that wasn’t official until the day after the election — it was one of the closest races in the country.

One of the reasons the race was so tight was the massive amount of outside money poured into the contest on behalf of both candidates. A post-election report by The Sunlight Foundation pegged Colorado’s U.S. Senate race as the winner — we use the term loosely — with the most spending by outside groups, some $30 million. A big chunk of that was shoveled into the race by a group helmed by Rove, the giant political action committee American Crossroads, which spent more than $5 million opposing Bennet.

Rove told the story of his real-life encounter with Bennet to a group of Republicans at a fundraiser in Denver last Wednesday.

“You can imagine how thrilled he was to meet me,” he began with a cackle.

Here’s the version Rove, a noted raconteur, gave of his encounter with Bennet, complete with an over-the-top impersonation of the senator’s distinctive voice:

“Dean says, ‘I’d like to introduce you to Karl Rove,’ and (Bennet) says, ‘I know who he is.’ I said, ‘Come on, you won.’ He said, ‘But you spent all that money against me!’ I said, ‘We made you a better candidate and a better senator as a result.’ The guy turns bright red and Udall falls down laughing his ass off,” Rove said with obvious delight. “We sat across from each other the rest of the dinner and the poor guy could not look at me for five seconds. It was nice to know I was inside his head a little bit. Just wish he’d been there as the former senator, not the current senator.”

BUCKING FOR A BALANCED BUDGET AMENDMENTApparently back in the saddle after a grueling loss in last year’s Colorado Senate race to Sen. Michael Bennet, Ken Buck announced the formation of a nonprofit called “Balance America” a few months ago. Organized for the purpose of “educating, researching, and training leaders in all 50 states to ratify a Balanced Budget Amendment to the U.S. Constitution,” Buck plans to talk more about it at an event June 13 at Colorado Christian University in Lakewood.

As Republican Buck said in his initial announcement about the organization, “There must be something in the water out here, since Sen. Mark Udall, Colorado’s other Democrat Senator, has co-sponsored an amendment, with Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby, that would require a balanced federal budget except in cases of war or an override by a three-fifths vote of each house of Congress.”

Buck, who currently serves as the district attorney in Weld County, said he couldn’t say for certain whether he favored such an amendmen at the time, “though I am intuitively inclined to favor it. The really big problem (made vastly worse if ObamaCare survives) is entitlement spending, and a balanced budget amendment without ObamaCare repeal and major reforms of Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security is a non-starter.” 

Buck said he also thinke that the exceptions in the Shelby/Udall proposal are essential for any successful amendment. 

“It will be interesting to see how this debate develops against the backdrop of a tough presidential and senatorial election cycle coming up,” Buck said.

HANCOCK ANNOUNCES DENVERFORWARD CO-CHAIRS Mayor-elect Michael Hancock has announced the co-chairs for his DenverForward transition team. As part of the transition, the co-chairs will help review city department opportunities and challenges, recruit great leaders for the Mayor’s Cabinet, and help prepare to launch his first 100 days initiatives.

The Co-Chairs will help provide leadership for the DenverForward transition effort, and will have the opportunity to lead one of the transition committees. The Co-Chairs announced today are:

Honorary Co-Chairs: Gabriela Cornejo Vidal and Mayor Guillermo “Bill” Vidal; Helen Thorpe and Gov. John Hickenlooper; former state Rep. Wilma Webb and former Mayor Wellington Webb.

General Co-Chairs: Dawn P. Bookhardt, founding partner, Bookhardt & O’Toole; Cole Finegan, managing partner, Hogan Lovells; Pat Hamill, CEO, president and founder, Oakwood Homes; Anna Jo Haynes, president emeritus, Mile High Montessori Early Learning Centers; Walter Isenberg, president and CEO, Sage Hospitality; former State Treasurer Cary Kennedy; former Lt. Gov. Barbara O’Brien; Theresa Peña, school board member and former president, Denver Public Schools; Daniel L. Ritchie, chancellor rmeritus, University of Denver; and former State House Speaker Ruben Valdez.

“Michael has stressed community involvement and inclusion as we make recommendations for his administration,” DenverForward CEO John Huggins said. “We are fortunate to have this great group of experienced Co-Chairs to help launch his administration.”

Citizens can learn more about the transition process by visiting www.DenverForward.com. They can volunteer to serve on one of numerous transition committees and also apply for a job with the new administration.

“We will look throughout the community, and beyond, for the ideas and leaders that will help Mayor-elect Hancock move Denver forward,” Huggins said. “We encourage everyone to sign up on the DenverForward website and get involved.”