U-Turn Udall Reneges On Monday's Debate Pledge To Vote Against Adjourning And Push For New Energy Bill

**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.

The Rocky:

Rep. Mark Udall learned Wednesday there are some political promises he shouldn't make.

Like pledging to oppose sending Congress on its summer break — and then missing the vote altogether.

Wednesday, the House voted 213-212 to adjourn this week.

The vote came two days after Udall vowed, in a televised debate, to oppose recessing unless the House first took up a crucial energy bill.
. . .
But Dick Wadhams, campaign manager for Republican Senate nominee Bob Schaffer, said Udall not only broke a promise, but that his non-vote was worse than had he voted in favor of the adjournment resolution.

"It's one thing to vote wrong, but to not even show up for the vote? Even by 'U-turn Udall''s standards, that's extraordinary," Wadhams said.

Udall's campaign tries to explain the missed vote, but it doesn't seem to add up--if Udall asked for a delay, and most likely explained why it was needed (even symbolically), then why would the Democrats throw him under the bus and not hold off for a few minutes as he "raced up the stairs"?

Udall, who spent Tuesday campaigning in Colorado, had just landed in Washington Wednesday afternoon when he got word that the adjournment vote was imminent.

He phoned House leaders, asking them to delay the vote, but they didn't.

Udall was racing up the Capitol steps when voting closed. He was one of 10 members absent for the tally.

Tara Trujillo, press secretary for Udall's Senate campaign, said that the Eldorado Springs Democrat was "extremely upset" he was not allowed to cast a ballot.

Perhaps the Dem House leaders failed to grasp the significance of Udall's vote?

Hmmm.

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Well, that didn't take long--Mark Udall took less than two days to break a recorded promise made during Monday's Fox 31 debate to push for an energy solution and against adjournment for Congress:

Boulder Liberal Congressman Mark Udall reneged on a pledge to vote against an adjournment resolution until Congress passed an energy bill when he failed to show up for the vote today in the U.S. House of Representatives. Udall’s vote could have killed the adjournment resolution since it passed by only one vote, 213-212.

“Boulder Liberal Mark Udall not only did not fulfill his pledge to vote against adjourning for the summer until an energy bill passed, he didn’t even bother to show up for the vote,” said Schaffer for Senate campaign manager Dick Wadhams. “Boulder Liberal Udall’s u-turns are pretty common but this is extraordinarily low even by his standards.”

During a debate on Monday, July 28 at KDVR-TV Fox 31, Bob Schaffer challenged Udall to vote against adjourning for the summer recess until an energy bill was passed. Udall agreed to the challenge.

His failure to keep his promise aside, Udall also failed to show leadership and could have cast an obviously critical vote to keep Congress on task and in the business of finding energy solutions including domestic oil exploration rather than skipping out on holiday.

Ben was right--the only place Udall wants to drill is your wallet. And by failing to make any attempt to find any solutions now, Udall continues to let Colorado voters foot the bill.

You can see part of Schaffer's challenge to Udall in a preview clip at myfoxcolorado (first video on the right). Udall ultimately concedes to Schaffer's challenge and says "yes" to voting against adjournment.