POLITICAL NOTEBOOK: Obama coming to Colorado to back Bennet

President Barack Obama is bringing his image-polishing tour to Colorado Feb. 18 in a move that also aims to bolster rookie Sen. Michael Bennet.

Bennet’s website says Obama will give an afternoon speech at downtown Denver’s Fillmore Auditorium, just east of the state Capitol. Bennet is taking Republican heat for backing Obama’s health care reform plans and is also facing a primary attack from Democratic Senate hopeful Andrew Romanoff.

The event will require tickets for admittance.

The Bennet campaign thinks Obama, still popular in Denver where he accepted his party’s nomination at the 2008 Democratic Convention, can turn the tide.

“There is a groundswell of grassroots support growing across the state in support of Michael Bennet's campaign for U.S. Senate,” Bennet's campaign wrote in an e-mail. “That's exactly why the President is coming -- he wants to be a part of this movement and show his support for keeping Michael as a valuable leader in the Senate.”

Obama is countering sagging poll numbers and a stinging defeat for his party in the Massachusetts senate race by whistle-stopping the country. With a still-faltering economy and staggering growth of the national debt, Obama is touting programs to create more jobs.