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Incumbent but unelected Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) does not seem to be off to a great start in his campaign against recently nominated Ken Buck, the Tea Partyish candidate who beat the establishment Republican in the race. A new poll from Reuters today gives Buck a 9 point lead — Bennet 40%, Buck 49%.

Now a key point to bear in mind is that Buck was the guy they wanted to win the Republican primary.

But here’s the thing. Here’s the trendline for Bennet v. Buck …

And here’s the trendline for Bennet v. Norton …

Now, the Buck trendline includes some numbers from after the primary. But let’s say you strip those out and back to the end of July. Here’s what it looks like. Pretty much the same …

Was Buck really the ones Dems wanted to be running against?

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