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October 03, 2008 05:40 PM UTC

Aspen Times Endorses Udall, Slams Schaffer

  • 39 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

We have no intention of highlighting every editorial endorsement in the next month (diaries always welcome), but we found today’s Aspen Times endorsement of Democratic Senate candidate Mark Udall interesting mostly because it hammers opponent Bob Schaffer as much as it praises Udall.

Congressman Mark Udall, a Democrat from Eldorado Springs, faces Republican Bob Schaffer, a former Congressman from Fort Collins, for the seat now held by U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard, a Republican. We heartily support Udall, a thoughtful politician with a deep knowledge of Western issues who knows how to work across the aisle. Unlike Schaffer, who is for the most part a loyal partisan foot-soldier, [Pols emphasis] Udall is genuinely engaged in problem-solving, coalition-building and decision-making.

Udall has been pivotal in assembling a bipartisan “gang of 16” lawmakers to push comprehensive energy legislation with an all-important emphasis on renewable sources like wind, solar and biofuels; this effort is not only good for Colorado, which is trying to build a new energy economy, but is also good for the nation, which desperately needs an alternative, forward-thinking vision for its energy future. Udall correctly understands energy as both an environmental and quality-of-life issue for Western Colorado and an economic and national security issue for the nation at large.

Through a blitz of negative advertising, Schaffer has depicted Udall as a “Boulder liberal” and an obstructionist on energy development, but Schaffer has done little to articulate a vision of his own, and he left virtually no mark during his three terms in Congress representing Colorado’s Fourth District. [Pols emphasis] Since Schaffer’s onslaught, Udall has adjusted his energy stance to include fossil-fuel strategies like offshore drilling; this politically expedient move could be seen as flip-flopping or as common-sense politics, and we prefer the latter description. Udall comes from a family of skilled and pragmatic public servants like Stewart Udall and Morris Udall – the first made his mark as an Interior secretary during the Kennedy and Johnson years, the second as a conservation-minded Arizona congressman – and he’s willing to bend if the end result constitutes progress.

That’s the way politics work, and we’d rather have a problem solver than an ideologue in the Senate. [Pols emphasis] Vote for Udall for U.S. Senate.

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39 thoughts on “Aspen Times Endorses Udall, Slams Schaffer”

  1. that is a great summary of the qualities these two candidates possess.

    Schaffer is going to regret his bitter partisanship when he sees indie voters going to Udall overwhelmingly.

  2. I can’t stand Schaffer, so if pains me to point this out … but, his lack of accomplishments as a congressman are much more the result of his term limits pledge than his foot soldier partisanship.  He was always a short timer and everyone knew that he was a short timer, so he was never going to get much of anything done.  Udall on the otherhand has been running for the Senate for at least 6 years, and has had every reason to work on his bipartisan credentials.  Don’t get me wrong, I am still voting for Udall, I just don’t think this is the fairest critism.  

    1. It wasn’t like this was something that was imposed on him by Federal regulation.  He probably should have thought about that before his term limit pledge.  Its still a fair accusation.  If he didn’t realize that the business of government requires a ramp up and took the pledge, his ineffectiveness is pretty much his own fault.  If he did know what it took to become an effective legislator and still took it? Well, than he’s just dumb.

    2. It’s really, really takes a long time to become a productive member of a legislative body.  Unless you are Dough Bruce.  Oh, wait, I did say “productive.”

    3. that he wants to go back, but this time in the Senate.

      I absolutely can’t stand that Schaffer derides Washington as some horrible, seedy far off place, yet he desperately wants to return.

  3. before I moved to browner pastures. IMHO, he was a completely ineffective congressman who listened only to those constituents who agreed with his positions. I don’t recall Congressman Schaffer ever reaching out to political opponents or trying to find middle ground on controversial issues. He would not be a high-quality representative of Colorado in the U.S. Senate.

  4. Because they have hardly any blue collar workers who are going to hurt if the Employee Free Choice Act is passed (and it will when Mark Udall is elected). How nice that the rich folks in the Aspen area do not care about working class Coloradans.

    1. I could not agree more. Mark Udall has no substance. He has no plans and he doesn’t know the issues. All he cares about are his union friends because they fund his campaigns. He doesn’t have the intelligence to be our next Senator.

    2. Mark Udall does not support eliminating the secret ballot in union elections and he has said so on the record.

      EFCA does not eliminate the secret ballot, but rather gives legitimacy to both card check and secret ballot elections. Companies like Cingular Wireless and Kaiser Permanente have already adopted the principles of EFCA voluntarily.

      And, why is that Republicans HATE Coloradans who live in Boulder and Aspen? Why do Republicans HATE Coloradans so much?

  5. Colorado needs to wake up! The truth of the matter is that if Mark Udall is elected to the US Senate in November, so many things are going to happen which will negatively affect the Colorado worker. Mark Udall will raise taxes, therefore hurting our already failing economy. He will help to pass the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) which will tragically hurt Colorado workers and their freedoms. We can’t have that happen, and I believe Colorado voters won’t let that happen. Mark Udall is bad for workers and bad for Colorado.

    2. Wake up yourself. The worst person for any common worker to elect would be Bob Schaffer. His ‘tax cuts’ are in the usual Republican mode of a generous portion for rich people and a few scraps for hard working employees with a promise that more will ‘trickle down’ when the rich do their hiring.

      The only people who’ll get their taxes raised if Udall is elected are the rich. Unless you’re someone making more than $250,000 dollars a year you have nothing to worry about. And even if you do, it is going to be better in the long run because cutting the deficit helps the economy.

    3. at convincing people of the rightness of your position. Always strikes me as sounding like the crazy guy yelling at me on the street. Especially when you claim to have the truth about some secret plan that nobody else quite knows.

    4. Mark Udall has voted to lower taxes on middle class families and small businesses 65 times.

      Mark Udall supports extending the 2001 tax cuts for middle class and working families, including the child tax credit, marriage penalty relief, and the 10% income bracket. He has cosponsored legislation to help small businesses.

      Unlike his opponent who puts Big Oil first, Mark Udall looks out for the working class folks of Colorado.

    1. I’m glad that the normal folks up there in Aspen are endorsing Udall.  It clearly shows that he represents the values of the working men and women of Colorado.  I’d much rather have someone in the Senate that is endorsed by the Boulder Camera and the Aspen Times than, you know, the Parker Chronicle.

      Udall will win Pitkin, Boulder, Summit and Grand Counties no doubt, but will he ultimatley connect with the “average” voter in the middle of this state (politically)? Remains to be seen.  

      By the way, it was good to see Pelosi not slap all the R’s across the face and then tell them to vote for the bailout package, she might actually pass something here.

      1. voting against the bailout by 2/3 (last time). Republicans voting against something is clearly Pelosi’s fault.

        Man, you guys are truly bankrupt.  Own it, brother.  

            1. $700 Billion in taxpayers $$?

              This is Division I politics brotha!!  This ain’t intramurals!

              A history lesson for you Twitty, and the pre-socialist/obama/Hollywood/SouthAmericanLeftist..Democratic Party:

              Do you know who Tip O’Neil was?  He was the speaker of the freakin house under Reagen, and after Reagen pased his tax cuts, O’Neil actually called him up to congratulate him.  He didn’t try and make a political stunt out of it, ala Pelosi, he did what he thought was good for the rest of the country.  Now I know you guys are getting a lot of press lately about your wonderful Union/Environmental Movement/Class Warfare alliance that is slowly overtaking this state with it’s fundraising capabilities, and that’s great and all, but it will only serve you for a while.  You will see that the “people” are not going to follow you down this road, no matter what you think.

              “Own” a vote for the “people” of this country? You’re goddamn right I’ll own that sh*t!!!!!!

              Go host a fundraiser.

      2. Udall has been a great friend to rural Colorado.  His leadership as Co-Chair of the Amendment 37 campaign, along with Co-Chair Republican Speaker of the House Lola Spradley set his rural/ag/working man credentials in stone.  He’s the best friend rural Colorado has had in a long time.  Can’t wait for him to get to the Senate.

        BTW Ben Stein — rural folklore is that Udall spent an evening in a rural Colorado bar talking with Republican ranchers and farmers about their issues….it had a lasting effect on the R’s that met him in that environment.  When do you suppose the last time was that Shaffer was seen drinking beer with common folk?????

        1. Writter, walk before you run please, don’t plug a campaign before you get all the facts.  Udall is all Boulder/Summit, not Fort Morgan/Greeley, big differnce when runnig a state-wide campaign….

          1. “Udall is all Boulder/Summit, not Fort Morgan/Greeley”

            Those are “facts?”

            I believe the beer drinking referred to took place in Wray, just a hop, skip, and an 85-mile drive east of Ft. Morgan.

  7. Newsflash!  Aggressive, rude, arrogant, paternalistic pols with knee-jerk right wing answers to every question are really passe.  See Bush, George W.

      2. Udall is less than aggressive.  But Schaffer’s let-me-keep-interrupting to tell you how bad Udall is style is grating.  His problem is the problem of a lot of R’s running right now – he owns up to nothing, and offers nothing for the future.  Nothing is ever his fault either.

        Plus, he’s crooked as hell !

        1. ran against David Duke?

          The bumper sticker said:

          “Vote for the crook. It’s important.”

           Louisiana has the same dilemmas we do, but somehow, they handle them with more style.

             –Vote for the wimp. It’s important.

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