Mark Udall Has a Low Threshold to Be Convinced a Tax-Funded Earmark is Needed

Taking a closer look at the Club for Growth's recent ad exposing Mark Udall's record on earmarks, 9News conducted a "Truth Test." What was the official response of the Udall campaign?:

The campaign's response to the commercial states, "Mark Udall has voted against eliminating earmarks where the proponent of the earmark makes a public and convincing case for keeping it." (E-mail to 9NEWS, Aug. 11, 2008)

Judging by the earmarks he's approved, Mark Udall has a pretty low threshold for what constitutes a convincing case for an earmark.

Hey, at least Mark Udall voted against 1 earmark out of 50 - better than 105 members of Congress. And he could plead the "everybody else is doing it" defense. Fewer than half the members of Congress voted against as many as two earmarks on the list. (And he did show up to vote for 49 earmarks, unlike the vote for an adjournment resolution he promised to make.) But that's simply the career politician culture Udall represents - and a big part of the reason that Congress has a 9 percent approval rating.

If he's searching for a reformer role model within his own party, Mark Udall could look to fellow Democrat Congressman Jim Cooper of Tennessee - who has a mirror image record to his own, voting against 49 of 50 earmarks. Cooper is much harder than Udall to convince that the people's money should be frittered away on pet projects.

Altogether, this report is further proof that Mark Udall is a newcomer to the anti-earmark club.

Mark Udall Healthcare Quips

A couple examples from the end of yesterday's debate help to highlight why Mark Udall isn't exactly in the same league as Barack Obama when it comes to drawing and inspiring a crowd.

Here are two Mark Udall quotes in response to a question about health care reform (access to the full 9News video - see Part 3 - is here):

"We have 800,000 people here in Colorado who don't have healthcare. Many of them feel like they're an illness away from being bankrupt. They don't know how they're going to cover their premiums for the next month. This isn't acceptable."

Those uninsurance premiums are really high, eh?

"Because this isn't only about our economy, it's about our national security. To win the war on terror, we have to have every American as healthy as possible. By working together we can do that."

Congress is going to work together to make us all healthy enough to win the war on terrorism? Um, okay....

And they say that health care is a stronger suit for Democrats.

Missing the Point of Bob Schaffer's Powerful Zing on Mark Udall's Iraq Record

The most striking blow in today's debate between Bob Schaffer and Mark Udall came when 9News moderator Adam Schrager read a question submitted by a viewer: Why are we in Iraq, and how will we know when we we've won the war?

Bob Schaffer answered the first part of the question by reading from a Congressional resolution that included many of the charges against Saddam Hussein's regime - including his chemical weapons program, his state sponsorship of terrorism, and his treatment of the Kurds. A campaign press release said:

Schaffer then asked the crowd to raise their hands if they agreed with the resolution. Udall supports sneered and chuckled until they were told the resolution was introduced by Congressman Udall. An audible gasp was heard from the crowd.

Mark Udall's resolution called for more diplomatic action, but clearly left the military option on the table.

The point of this elucidating moment? That even in opposing the war, Udall clearly acknowledged the reasons that 296 other Congressmen (including 81 Democrats) reasonably relied upon to make their judgment for authorizing military force. And as Schaffer himself explained in the debate, those who voted to support the war didn't want to telegraph our nation's intentions to the regime that had perpetrated the things highlighted in the resolution.

The disagreement was not over the facts in evidence that justified the invasion of Iraq. But Schaffer's question to the audience demonstrated that those supporting Mark Udall fail to recognize the pertinent facts before the nation in Congress and 2002 that were weighed as we debated whether or not to depose the Saddam Hussein tyranny. And those facts remain, even if some conveniently seem to have forgotten them.

Over at the Dead Governors blog, one paid Lefty propagandist thought he caught Bob Schaffer in a gotcha moment - claiming that the Republican candidate "just makes stuff up." The propagandist may have a legitimate disagreement about a foreign policy decision, but he utterly missed the point. Still the Big Blue Lie Machine tries to churn out distractions to hide their candidate's pathetic showing on the debate stage today.

Well, for the sake of an honest debate, I suggest the paid Lefty propagandist give a more careful viewing of the video. But the outcome might just be too painful to watch.

For open-minded independent voters, the debate is a worthwhile watch. They can decide for themselves.

Don't Forget....

Don't forget to submit a question for the July 14 Bob Schaffer-Mark Udall debate sponsored by 9News.

The First Bob Schaffer-Mark Udall Debate Announced: Send Your Questions to 9News

At last, a real live debate in the Colorado U.S. Senate race!:

The July 14th event, sponsored by the Southeast Business Partnership and hosted at the Wildlife Experience in Parker, will be the first time Rep. Mark Udall (D-Colorado) and former Rep. Bob Schaffer (R-Colorado) share the same stage answering the same questions during the 2008 election season....

9NEWS will moderate the event and give viewers from across Colorado the opportunity to submit the questions asked and the topics covered. Anyone interested in participating in the event can e-mail or text-message a question or comment to: YourShow@9NEWS.com.

Have a favorite issue, but not sure of a good question to ask? Go here to find links to Mark Udall's stated position on a whole range of issues - from the war on terrorism to energy to education to healthcare to taxes to the 2nd Amendment, and more.

See you at the debate.

U.S. Term Limits Ad for Bob Schaffer Earns High Marks for Truthfulness

A recent ad that U.S. Term Limits ran on behalf of Republican Senate candidate Bob Schaffer won high marks on the "Truth Test" at 9News.com:

QUOTE: "Today, we have more charter schools–thanks to Bob Schaffer."

TRUTH: This is true. Bob Schaffer has been an active supporter for charter schools since the Colorado Charter Schools Act (SB 93-138) passed in 1993. Its prime sponsors were then-Sen. Bill Owens (R-Aurora), then-Rep. Peggy Kerns (D-Aurora) (Source: CO General Assembly) and signed into law by then-Gov. Roy Romer (D-Colorado).

Schaffer was an original co-sponsor of that proposal. (Source: Schools of Choice Unit at the Colorado Department of Education e-mail, April 7, 2008)

In 1996, then-Sen. Schaffer co-sponsored legislation at the State Capitol that created an advisory committee to develop ways for improving the Charter Schools Act. (Source: CO General Assembly)

Further, Schaffer, with other like-minded parents in Fort Collins, founded that city's first-ever charter school, Liberty Common School, in 1997. (Source: Denver Post, October 24, 1999).

It's nice to see honest political ads touting the record of a candidate with true integrity: Bob Schaffer. A breath of fresh air for Colorado's independent voters.

Bob Schaffer, Prince of Darkness

One of the slick tricks of modern electronic journalism is to use lighting to "throw a bad light" on subjects the journalists do not like. Photo journalists sometimes photoshop photographs to make them black and white because black and white photos are less appealing. Television journalists have their own tricks.

Our colleague thoughtfully posted links to the Your Show videos of Bob Schaffer and Mark Udall. You all watched those, right?

Note that Mark Udall is well lit. Bob Schaffer, by contrast, is sitting in semi darkness with a light behind him to make the camera less able to focus on his facial lighting. It is hard to imagine a less attractive lighting setup. It is also hard to imagine that this wasn't intentional.

Another observation: Bob was a bit more verbose than Mark. By going last, we'd bet his long answers and bad lighting made part of the audience go away.

US Senate Candidates Bob Schaffer, Mark Udall Answer Questions On YOUR SHOW

Bob Schaffer

Mark Udall

Brief description:

YOUR SHOW celebrated its one-year anniversary this week by focusing on Colorado's U.S. Senate candidates for the seat being vacated by incumbent Sen. Wayne Allard (R-Colorado). Rep. Mark Udall (D-Colorado) was our first guest one year ago and once again, he answered your questions and comments. Former Rep. Bob Schaffer (R-Colorado) first appeared on the program shortly after Udall and he, too, answered your questions and comments for a second time.

In our first segment, Rep. Udall appeared on the program live Sunday morning, discussing the war in Iraq, health care, what history will say about President Bush's administration, which candidate he would support for the Democratic presidential nomination and renewable energy.
. . .
The second segment featured a taped interview conducted on Friday with former Rep. Schaffer. He spoke about No Child Left Behind, the war in Iraq, his stand on the future of fossil fuels, and balancing the needs of American companies with the immigration debate.

More later.