The Colorado Democratic primary campaigns quickly turned from presidential favors to the issue of campaign pledges and fundraising on Tuesday.

Sen. Michael Bennet’s campaign attacked what they believed was a flip-flop by Andrew Romanoff on a key campaign promise: refusing to accept PAC money. Romanoff’s campaign admitted Tuesday that it would accept funding from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) following a successful primary election.

Though the DSCC accepts PAC money, the Romanoff camp denied being inconsistent with the “no PAC money” pledge, or with an earlier statement the candidate made disregarding the DSCC as “outside interference” and an “incumbent-protection racket.”

Romanoff remained defiant:

“I don’t take any PAC money now, I have not done so at any point in this campaign, and I will not do so in the general election,” Romanoff said in a statement late Tuesday afternoon. “I don’t know how to make my stand any clearer.”
Noting that the DSCC has thrown its weight behind Bennet in the primary, Romanoff promised to ask the political organization to “exclude any PAC dollars from contributions or expenditures it makes on my behalf.”

The Colorado Statesman stood by its characterization and reporting of the January interview with Romanoff:

Asked directly whether he would refuse the support of the DSCC, a political committee, if he won the primary, Romanoff replied, “I don’t welcome the outside interference. My campaign is going to continue to rely on contributions from individuals — we’re not taking money from political action committees.”
Romanoff went on to say, “When we win the primary, we’ll find a lot of friends around the state and country we might not have now. But I’m not going to change my message to suit the interests of new-found friends.”
Romanoff sat with a reporter from The Statesman for an interview immediately following a Jan. 19 press conference where he declared he was still running for the Senate — after rumors swirled he was instead considering a run for governor — and made his most uncompromising statement to date about his refusal to take money from political action committees, which he labeled part of an “incumbent protection racket.”