Colorado's two major candidates for U.S. Senate debated everything from the war in Afghanistan to President Barack Obama's controversial health-care-reform legislation at a high school in Pueblo last night. Sitting U.S. Senator Michael Bennet, the Democrat who is trailing in several polls, accused Republican Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck of changing his views on certain issues (such as Social Security) in order to suit the audience, notes the Chieftain. While Buck denied the charge, a case-in-point presented itself last night.

As Bennet defended health-care reform, Buck said he "would repeal the health-care bill," accusing Bennet and the Democrats who voted for the legislation of "nationalizing" health care. But after the debate, Bennet's researchers presented The Denver Post with a quote from a Longmont newspaper in which Buck says it would be "irresponsible to repeal the entire health-care bill." Buck's campaign now tells the Post he wants the health-care legislation repealed and replaced with market-driven reforms, meaning Buck either changed his mind or the Longmont paper misquoted him. The Post article isn't clear.

Meanwhile, The New York Times writes that "tea party politics has caught fire in Colorado," and Buck is mainly the reason why.