Mark Udall Should Be Asked Whether He Agrees with Pickens Entirely, or Selectively

A watcher reports hearing Mark Udall say - and really, you don't have to listen long in this campaign to hear Boulder's liberal Congressman say it - "T. Boone [Pickens] has it right" - in reference to America's energy policy and the need to break our dependence on foreign oil.

But as this video from the Senate Republicans points out, Democrats have been quoting Pickens out of context:

T. Boone Pickens has been calling for a comprehensive energy policy - wind, solar, biofuels, offshore drilling, ANWR, the whole caboodle, or as some have called it, the "kitchen sink" approach. One candidate in Colorado's U.S. Senate race has been on the same page: Bob Schaffer.

Mark Udall? As another well-known political Mark in Colorado points out, Udall has pulled one of the more drastic U-turns in recent campaign memory, leaving heads scratched:

As to the sincerity of Udall's conversion, only the commercial paid for by his senate campaign backs him up. All other evidence suggests that this is a poll-driven conversion of political convenience.

Udall's campaign website dwells on developing wind and solar power but says little about developing new sources of oil and gas. Instead, Udall falls back on old liberal canards: "we cannot drill our way to energy security" and "not every place that can support oil drilling should be drilled."

Memo to Mark Udall: If you're going to cite T. Boone Pickens, don't be selective. Or then again, maybe you really do agree with him now. It's hard to tell after that recent whiplash-inducing U-Turn. Reporters need to look at Pickens' complete position and ask Mark Udall the tough questions.