Sen. Michael Bennet was on a roll. His digs at President Trump excited the crowd that was decidedly pro-Democrat as Bennet spoke from the aisle between the pews in Montview Boulevard Presbyterian Church Friday evening.

David Engel, a student at the University of Colorado Denver, took the mic at the town hall meeting and said he “wanted to go bigger with it” than the previous question about health care.

“What do you think about the state of the Democratic Party?” Engel said, igniting hoots and cheers from the crowd that filled the sanctuary.

Bennet replied, “It’s a great question,” which is what people usually say to buy themselves time to think. He began, “I would say …”

He said he had been telling other Democrats for years that “Washington has decoupled from the American people.” He said partisan priorities pursued by Democrats and Republicans often don’t advance the priorities of everyday folks.

“I never would have predicted, nor would I have ever recommended, nor would I recommend it today that the remedy for that would have been electing Donald Trump as president of the United States,” he said.

The applause was back.

But did you catch that? If you’re mad at Trump, be mad at Democrats for making Trump possible.

Bennet said the corrosive tone of D.C. politics pushed voters to decide “it might not be the end of the world to send an unqualified reality TV star to the White House.”

About three minutes into his answer, Bennet said the Democrats have some fundamental rebuilding to do to connect with most Americans, especially working people.

Two or three people chimed in “Bernie,” as in Sanders, the socialist-turned-Democratic candidate more favored at the party convention in Colorado than eventual nominee Hillary Clinton.

“Yeah, but he wasn’t nominated …” Bennet, a Clinton ally, told the crowd, before the room bubbled into cross-talk.

“… Well, you might think that, but in any event, I won’t dispute the fact that he resonated with a lot of people,” Bennet replied.

That Bernie instance, better than any I’ve seen in the last four years, showed the identity crisis Democrats must overcome to regain Congress and the White House.

It’s even trickier to be a Democrat in Colorado, a state that depends on energy and agriculture for its economic bread and butter. The national Democratic ethos is defined by cracking down on industry, standing up for abortion rights, pushing tighter controls on guns and building a social safety net at the expense of tapped-out taxpayers.

Those are values not embraced outside Colorado’s major metro areas, not even among all Democrats.

Don’t get me wrong: Colorado Republicans could open a washateria with their dirty laundry. New chairman Jeff Hays of El Paso County has to stitch together a state party that didn’t give the current president any delegates last year, and whose delegation walked out on Trump during the Republican National Convention.

The titular leader of the national party lambasted Colorado’s GOP establishment in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal.

Just two years ago, top-name Republicans, including Attorney General Cynthia Coffman, tried to force then state party chairman Steve House to resign over gossip of an affair. House didn’t seek another term this year.

Remember that scene from “Spartacus,” where all the slaves announced “I’m Spartacus” to the Roman army to sacrifice themselves instead of their leader? (h/t Grand Junction’s Dalton Trumbo) If that had been the Colorado Republican Party, everybody would point and say, “He’s Spartacus,” even at guys who aren’t Spartacus.

Sure, Colorado’s Republican leaders are alienated from one another, but Democrats are alienated from their voters.

Pueblo County tells the story. Last fall the majority in this working-class, heavily Catholic enclave gave Trump the majority of its votes, the first time a Republican presidential candidate has won there since Richard Nixon beat George McGovern in a 1972 nationwide landslide.

“There’s a big difference between a Pueblo Democrat and a Boulder Democrat,” Colorado Republican strategist Chris Hansen said.

“The Democrat Party in Colorado is controlled and run by Denver and Boulder liberals. That’s not a talking point. That’s a fact. Their priorities are pushed by Boulderites and Denverites who don’t understand the rest of Colorado.”

Democrats might assume they are well-positioned for next year’s election if they keep talking about Trump to applause, the way Bennet did Friday night. Former state Sen. Morgan Carroll tried that against incumbent Republican Mike Coffman in the 6th Congressional District race last year.

She lost by 9 percentage points. In March Carroll was elected chairwoman of the state party, clobbering Clear Creek County Commissioner Tim Mauck, who pledged to bring rural (in other words, moderate) voters back to the party.

“I think one of the reasons Bernie resonated with people is he’s authentic in a meaningful way – in a meaningful way,” Bennet told the crowd.

Authentic and meaningful is as good a road map for Carroll and the Democrats, post-Hillary, as I’ve heard.