Fact-checking the Colorado Senate race

The Colorado Senate race is among the most hotly contested races in 2010. The contest is between Michael Bennet, the Democratic incumbent, and Republican Ken Buck, a district attorney with support from the tea party movement.

A recent ad from Bennet attacks Buck’s views as out of the mainstream.

“Extreme beauty, extreme sports — good extremes in Colorado,” the ad says. “But what about Ken Buck’s extreme ideas? Do we really want to privatize Social Security and risk it in the stock market? … Are we ready to outlaw abortion, even in cases of rape or incest? Extreme beauty is a good thing, but Colorado’s no place for Buck’s extreme ideas.”

We previously fact-checked the charge that Buck wants to privatize Social Security and  we rated that statement Half True. We found that Buck has been clear that he does not want to change the program for current retirees or those close to retiring.

We also looked at whether Buck wants to outlaw abortion “even in cases of rape or incest.” Though Buck has had to explain his positions some other abortion-related issues, he’s stayed the course on this one. We reviewed Buck’s statements on abortion and found that Bennet’s description was accurate. We rated the statement True.