President Joe Biden's Colorado visit mixes policy and politics

Less than four weeks before the midterm election, President Joe Biden flew to Colorado to designate Camp Hale as a National Monument, giving Sen. Michael Bennet's campaign a boost.

Bennet, along with Sen. John Hickenlooper and Rep. Joe Neguse, pushed for the designation.

CBS News Colorado Republican analyst Dick Wadhams says, while Camp Hale is worthy of the designation, it's being used as a prop in Bennet's race.

"This is a rushed event to give some political benefit to Senator Bennet and the president would otherwise not be coming here."  

CBS News Colorado Democratic analyst Mike Dino says the president's visit is good policy and good politics. 

While Biden may not be hugely popular in Colorado, Dino says, public lands are, "The outdoors, wilderness, that's why people live here. It always polls well."

He says announcing the designation in the heat of an election cycle doesn't take away from the significance of it, "A lot of times these things get done in the heat of an election or when it's coming down to the wire."   

But Wadhams says the designation should have come through legislation, not executive action. After all, he says, Democrats have controlled the White House and both chambers of Congress for two years, "And so (Bennet) had to go hat in hand to the President and beg a three week before the election visit to Colorado to do something Congress should do and that he's not able to do because he's not an effective senator."

Dino admits executive action isn't ideal. Another president could repeal it. Still, he suggests, a win's a win, "There are some voters who will vote on abortion, and there are some voters who will vote on crime and the economy, and there are some who are going to vote on our outdoor quality of life and this is a big thing for that."    

Public polling shows Bennet up by at least nine points over his Republican challenger Joe O'Dea but recent spending suggests the race may be closer. The national Republican party just dropped 1.2 million in the race to help O'Dea and Democratic PACS are also spending heavily for Bennet.