Romanoff is known in Colorado for his love of dogs, and today he got the endorsement from the Big Dog himself — President Clinton.

In endorsing Romanoff, Clinton is bucking the national party, who has made no secret of it’s support for any incumbent (i.e. Specter).

Here’s the whole email

PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON

June 29, 2010

Dear Friend,

I first met Andrew Romanoff in 1992, when he was a student at the Kennedy School of Government and I was a candidate for President. Four years later, I was running for a second term, and he had just been elected to his first — as one of Colorado’s representatives on the Democratic National Committee.

I was proud to carry Colorado in 1992, but you should be even prouder of what Andrew Romanoff did to turn the state blue. He worked harder than anyone in Colorado to put Democrats in positions of power — and to use that power to benefit every single citizen.

Andrew led the effort to win a majority in the Colorado House of Representatives for the first time in 30 years, and to keep that majority for the first time in more than 40 years. He built the largest Democratic majority since John F. Kennedy was President.

Even more important, Andrew took on Colorado’s biggest challenges and made enormous progress. As the first Democratic Speaker of the House since 1976, he:

* Put together an Economic Recovery Plan to bring good jobs to Colorado and balance the state budget.
* Passed the largest investment in school construction in state history — a billion-dollar plan to repair, rebuild and modernize schools, especially in rural Colorado.
* Protected Coloradans from the threats they face every day: insurers who deny their claims and refuse to honor their policies, scam artists who prey on seniors and bilk them out of their life savings, polluters who destroy the environment and expect somebody else to pay for the damages.

Andrew won. Colorado won.

In 2008, the editors of Governing Magazine honored Andrew as "Public Official of the Year." They recognized in Andrew the same qualities that the National Conference of State Legislatures, the Council of State Governments, and more than 50 other organizations had already seen — integrity, courage, compassion. Simply put, Andrew Romanoff is one of the best legislative leaders in the United States.

Colorado is far better off today because of Andrew Romanoff’s leadership. America will be too.

As a Senator, Andrew Romanoff will continue to stand up to special interests and fight for working families. We need Andrew’s leadership in Washington — especially now, when so many Americans are losing so much. "It is not enough," as Andrew put it at the Colorado Democratic Assembly last month, "to put a President of real talent and vision and leadership in the White House if the same qualities are not matched at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue."

Andrew won the state assembly by 21 points. With your help, he’ll win the primary and the general election.

Andrew brings to this race both an extraordinary record of public service and an extraordinary capacity to lead. I believe that those assets, as well as his deep commitment to Colorado, give him the best chance to hold this seat in November.

I support Andrew Romanoff, and I hope you will too. Please make a generous contribution to his campaign today.

Sincerely,

Bill Clinton

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Regardless of people’s view of the former president (I know some people love him, some not so much), this is a HUGE win for the Romanoff campaign. Clinton is willing to put his name on the line (and probably catch hell from Obama and the DSCC) for a real progressive out here in Colorado.