U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet could learn a thing or two from former Vice President Kamala Harris.

After anguishing over whether to run for governor of California following her presidential loss last year, Harris has announced she will not be a candidate.

In a burst of personal reflection and honesty, Harris essentially admitted that while she would like to be governor of California, she really wasn’t interested in doing what a governor has to do which is run the state. It is clear Harris still harbors presidential ambitions and being governor would require her to be occupied by mundane issues like state budgets, crime and homelessness, and other issues far removed from the glamour of the White House and Washington, D.C.

The only reason Harris was even considering running for governor was her insatiable desire to remain in public office, any office, now that she is a private citizen.

Bennet should listen to Harris.

Since he announced his candidacy for governor of Colorado this past April, Bennet has offered no real agenda other than he hates President Donald Trump. What better platform to pursue his anti-Trump crusade than the floor of the United States Senate and yet here he is saying he wants to be governor of Colorado.

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Bennet gives lip service to Democratic touchstones such as climate change and public lands but try to find specific plans to improve the state’s deteriorating roads or confronting crime, homelessness and drug abuse and you will drown in anti-Trump diatribes.

When asked about his position on the Taxpayers Bill of Rights or TABOR, he said he wanted to “reform” it, which really means he wants to strip away restraints on state spending and the ability of Coloradans to vote on tax increases.

Bennet heroically declared his revulsion for the evils of “dark money” funded by sinister corporate interests.

Bennet certainly knows about “dark money.” He benefited from more than $16 million in “dark money” that attacked his Republican opponent, Joe O’Dea, when Bennet was reelected in 2022.

Funny this courageous opponent of “dark money” did not utter a word of opposition when his political allies assaulted O’Dea. Bennet’s principles only go so far as his narrow political interests.

Bennet also knows about corporations. He became a wealthy man working for one of Colorado’s most respected corporations before he became a senator.

Bennet piously declares he does not accept contributions from corporate interests which is a total joke. Political committees that contribute to his campaign take money from corporate interests, allowing Bennet to maintain his anti-corporate virginity. Same thing for U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper, who is running for reelection in 2026.

Bennet is terribly specific about his intention to appoint his successor should he be elected governor. This gives him a powerful political weapon to hold over the heads of young, ambitious Democrats who would love to be appointed to the Senate or who aspire to be selected as his lieutenant governor running mate.  What better way to keep these Democrats in line in the Democratic primary for governor against Attorney General Phil Weiser.

The governorship of Colorado should not be used as a consolation prize for a tired, three-term incumbent senator who apparently is intimidated by Trump and the Republican majority in the U.S. Senate but who cannot stand the thought of not being in public office.

Colorado Democrats deserve better in their nominee for governor. Every Colorado citizen deserves much more in our next governor.

Dick Wadhams is a former Colorado Republican state chairman who managed campaigns for U.S. Sens. Hank Brown and Wayne Allard, and Gov. Bill Owens.  He was campaign manager for U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota when Thune unseated Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle in 2004.