In appointing Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet as the head of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee the party will be getting a representative from a crucial western swing state whose 2010 election served as a model for President Barack Obama forging his winning campaign strategy.

Bennet first entered the Senate in 2009 as an appointee after then-Sen. Ken Salazar left Congress to serve as President Obama's secretary of the Interior. Plucked from his job as superintendent of Denver Public Schools, Bennet had never held elected office. But he went on to narrowly win a hotly contested race against GOP challenger ...