Bob Schaffer

Last Monday, Mark Udall promised he would vote against adjournment to force Congress to deal with gas prices and the energy issue. The thing is, he didn't. He missed the vote and got totally slammed by his opponent Bob Schaffer. From the Denver Post:

"While Coloradans are paying $4 a gallon for gasoline, I guess it wasn't important enough for (Udall) to show up for work this week," said Dick Wadhams, the campaign manager for Republican Senate candidate Bob Schaffer. "He made a commitment Monday, he didn't even show up for work Tuesday and then he missed the vote today."

The Democrats won that vote 213-212. If Udall had been there, it would have been 213-213 and failed, because a tie-vote loses in the House.

In other words, Mark Udall broke his word. When it came down to him versus Nancy Pelosi's leadership, he chose Nancy. Now Udall, will tell you he didn't break his word. Read on to see the machinations that he and Steny Hoyer went through to give Udall cover.

In Colorado's closely-watched U.S. Senate race, it's been a bad week for liberal Democrat Mark Udall. Here's a quick rundown:

1. Coming off the first candidate debate in which he was soundly put on the defensive by Republican Bob Schaffer, Mark Udall appeared to come out a little stronger at Monday's recording of a televised debate. But that all would wash away.

2. At the debate, Mark Udall accepted Bob Schaffer's challenge and promised to vote against a resolution that would adjourn Congress without addressing domestic energy shortages.

3. The very next day, Mark Udall showed up late in Washington after some private campaign fundraising and missed the adjournment resolution vote, which passed 213-212. The Lefty spin machine later tried to excuse Udall by pointing out that he got to participate in the final adjournment vote, but missed the irony in their claim.

4. The Bob Schaffer campaign began pressing Mark Udall to release the names of private donors who were more important than the Coloradans to whom he made the promise.

5. A third consecutive poll was released showing Mark Udall's once significant lead has disappeared and the race in a statistical dead heat.

6. An outside group began airing ads on local TV networks exposing Mark Udall's less-than-conservative record on taxes. As we now like to say at Schaffer v Udall: "The only place Mark Udall wants to drill is your wallet."

All in one week.

**Update--Udall claims he was "on his way" to the vote and couldn't get the vote delayed, but was able to vote on another resolution just 10 minutes later:

Democratic Senate candidate Mark Udall missed a critical vote today that might have kept Congress from going into summer recess until it passed an energy bill, breaking a vow he made in a recent debate.

Udall spokeswoman Taylor West said the Boulder County lawmaker was on his way back to Washington at the time and that the vote was called with only 10 minutes' notice. Udall asked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to delay the vote without success, and the resolution passed by one vote, 213-212.

With gas prices the No. 1 financial worry of voters, promising to try to keep lawmakers in session until they took action was a bold stroke, but missing that vote could be an equally costly political mistake by the five-term congressman.

Whoops!  When even the MSM points out the failure . . .

There was an excuse a reason for the missed vote, of course:

Udall's staff said the Democrat stayed in Colorado to attend several campaign-related events, including a meeting with business leaders and a fundraising event — which Udall's Republican opponent quickly jumped on.

"While Coloradans are paying $4 a gallon for gasoline, I guess it wasn't important enough for (Udall) to show up for work this week," said Dick Wadhams, the campaign manager for Republican Senate candidate Bob Schaffer. "He made a commitment Monday, he didn't even show up for work Tuesday and then he missed the vote today."

West said that her boss would send a letter to Pelosi today objecting to the fact that the vote wasn't delayed long enough for him to make it from the Washington airport to the Capitol.

Udall missed the 1:04 pm vote on adjournment, but made the next vote just 10 minutes later.

Missing a vote you make a pledge on in debate just two days earlier should be a top priority.  We expect Udall to do the job he has already been elected to do.  If a campaign can't balance an actual work schedule with fundraising and campaigning needs, then Udall needs a better day planner or to reorganize his priorities.

By the time the debate yet-to-be-aired segment appears Sunday, it will already be clear--Udall can't keep his promises.

That's some U-turn.

More background on the Udall pledge at SchaffervUdall.

We need to engage in these Senate races, and every seat matters. Here's the latest from Colorado. -Patrick

Even as he trails in the polls, Colorado's Republican U.S. Senate candidate Bob Schaffer gets no breaks. A story in this week's Grand Junction Sentinel claiming Schaffer was engaged in wrongdoing by violating an unwritten State Department policy when he traveled in his role as an energy executive to discuss an oil development deal with the Kurdistan Regional Government.

But more facts have come forward in this case that demonstrate:

1. State Department officials gave Schaffer's employer the private go-ahead, and

2. Two Democrat operatives are posing as objective experts to keep the smear going against Schaffer.

Read the facts that seriously question the substance and the motives of this latest attack on Bob Schaffer over at the Schaffer v Udall blog.

Rather than letting the old media's carelessness be an excuse, the new media needs to pick it up a notch to help Schaffer's campaign engage with voters and overcome these bumps in the road that are getting far more play than they deserve.

The Republican is still the underdog but has a very real chance to win here in Colorado, especially insofar as an issue can continue to be made of the impact of Mark Udall's radical environmentalism on consumers at the pump, and the gross distortions about Udall's foreign policy record can be exposed.

Check out the pair on Gordon Smith.  His campaign’s new spot directly links him to Barack Obama in what is easily the most ballsy ad by a Senate incumbent so far this cycle.  The ad fits neatly into the excellent air campaign Smith has been running and what’s likely to be a wider trend among blue state Republicans of associating themselves with Obama or his message.  Colorado GOP Senate nominee Bob Schaffer also joined in on the fun this week by parroting Obama’s visuals and logo. 

From the states. -Patrick

Colorado is the site of one of the nation's most hotly contested U.S. Senate races. Republican Bob Schaffer, a strong conservative, faces a Democratic Congressman familiarly known to Coloradans as "Boulder liberal Mark Udall."

Two months ago a Denver Post reporter - apparently seeking some sort of investigative journalism award - penned a series of three front-page stories about Schaffer. The stories, based on sketchy sources, sought to implicate a trip Schaffer made as Congressman to the Marianas Islands with Jack Abramoff, forced labor, and sex slavery.

One of the key contrasts in the important Colorado U.S. Senate race is the issue of tax reform. Bob Schaffer has a consistent record as the taxpayer's friend, while Mark Udall has a consistent record as an old school tax-and-spend liberal Democrat.

You can almost hear the groans of protest from some Democrats: Mark Udall? He's just against all those tax cuts for the rich? He wouldn't vote to increase taxes on the middle class, especially not as Colorado families face the crunch of rising energy prices? Right?

Wrong. Fellow Democratic Congressman have called out Mark Udall and the Party's liberal leadership for just that:

Reps. Bill Foster (D-Ill.) and Don Cazayoux (D-La.), who both won election earlier this year in districts held for years by the GOP, explained their votes against the Democratic budget as stands against tax increases on middle-class voters.

“I can’t support a budget, from either party, that raises taxes on the middle class,” Foster said in a statement posted on his website. “I campaigned on a platform of middle-class tax relief, and I was elected to Washington to bring about change. When asked to choose between my party and the people I represent, I will choose the families of the 14th district every single time.”

Cazayoux struck a very similar tone.

“I voted against [the budget] because it allows tax cuts to expire in 2010, raising taxes on most American taxpayers,” he said in a statement given to The Hill. “I promised the people of the 6th district of Louisiana to vote with my party when they are right, and vote against them when they are wrong. My vote today was the right vote for my constituents.”

On a narrowly decided question, Mark Udall's vote in the House of Representatives helped to lay the groundwork for bringing back the marriage penalty and other tax hikes on hard-working, middle-class Colorado families.

Mark Udall is just representing liberal Boulder in Congress. But he is out of step with most of Colorado.

Cross posted at Schaffer v Udall