A recent Colorado Politics cover story asked the question, is Michael Bennet beatable in November? I certainly hope the answer is no, but the story notes that GOP Senate leader Mitch McConnell recently headlined a fundraiser for Bennet’s opponent, Joe O’Dea in Washington. And McConnell’s support is very likely to be a double-edged sword when it comes to campaigning.

Now, I need to let you know up front here that I am not even a tiny bit unbiased in this election. I was chair of the El Paso County Democratic Party when Bennet first stood for election (he had previously been appointed to the Senate when Ken Salazar left for an Obama cabinet position). I still remember that in that campaign Bennet came to Colorado Springs 26 different times, showing that he had the astuteness to understand what all too many other statewide Democratic candidates didn’t: that if you get roughly 40% of the vote in El Paso County, you likely win the state race. While El Paso County has lots and lots and lots of Republicans, it also has the second biggest number of Democrats, after the Denver/Boulder area. We are a big population county, and Bennet got that.

And I am also not unbiased because I ended up working for Bennet as a staffer for four years, and during that time I got to see that MFB, as he was referred to in our inter-office communications, was exactly the right kind of person to be a U.S. senator. Bennet is brilliant and kind, and those are very important factors in good governance. He is a true moderate and votes that way. He gave up a very lucrative private sector job, and took a massive pay cut, to begin his government service, and he is passionate about doing what is best for the people of Colorado.

His opponent, Joe O’Dea, also claims to be a moderate, and heck, he might even be one. If so, that will make him the rare judicious and thoughtful GOPer that often gets described as a RINO (Republican In Name Only). But I have my doubts…

During the GOP primary campaign the Dems spent a chunk of money trying to get a different Republican the nomination by attacking him as “too extreme” for Colorado. The hope was that the MAGA crowd would think that, wow, the Dems are afraid of this far-right guy, let’s vote for him. While that strategy seems to have worked in other states, it did not here in the Centennial State, and O’Dea won.

Franky, I thought it was a foolish waste of money, but as the national Democratic leadership rarely (Ed: ever?) calls to ask my opinion, the ads aired and here in Colorado, O’Dea won.

But O’Dea has a McConnell problem.

By allowing the GOP hard-right and, frankly, dishonest leadership, to embrace him and his campaign, O’Dea’s pleas that he is, in fact, a moderate (or as he says it, a “pro-choice centrist”) will ring a tad hollow. By wrapping himself in the McConnell flag, O’Dea effectively destroys any claims that he will be an independent voice and a moderate. Recall please that McConnell delivered two stolen SCOTUS seats to Trump by first inventing, and then by ignoring, a “rule” he made up about when presidents should be allowed to nominate someone for that high court. O’Dea will likely be asked if he will vote for, say, a Biden nominee if McConnell tells him not to. I would be very interested in his answer.

I know from my own failed 2008 run for Congress that whom you take donations from, and whom you surround yourself with, sends a message to voters. I was proud to be endorsed by folks like Mark Udall and Federico Peña, and others of a more moderate world view. Regardless of any other endorsements, O’Dea will likely find the image of McConnell firmly placed around his neck, albatross-like, in every advertisement we see from the Bennet campaign.

I’ve always believed that actions speak louder than words. Bennet has shown himself to be a true independent and moderate, supporting that which he feels is just and opposing the rest. O’Dea, on the other hand, with no statewide reputation in place will be judged by the company he keeps. Zipping off to DC for a not exactly secret but certainly not too public fundraiser with McConnell and the other McConnell acolytes in the Senate should give any voter pause as to where O’Dea’s views are really firmly held — truly in the middle or over on that hard-right extreme with his fundraising buddy.

I suspect the McConnell strategy will fail. Biden won Colorado by 13 points and Bennet is a strong candidate. And every time O’Dea declares himself to be a moderate, I suspect we’ll see a Bennet commercial noting that he has fully embraced McConnell for fundraising, and once you accept the king’s shilling — McConnell’s money — you owe the king your loyalty and obedience.

It will be an interesting campaign to watch, but in the end, Colorado voters are far too sophisticated to fall for a candidate who claims to be one thing while embracing the opposite.