Fundraising Keeps Race Daunting for Bob Schaffer, Raises Questions for Mark Udall

Bob Schaffer has a steep uphill climb in the last few weeks of Colorado's U.S. Senate race. There's a lot working against him. And the third quarter fundraising numbers don't make it much easier:

Democratic Senate candidate Mark Udall posted his best fundraising quarter of the campaign, raising $2.7 million through Sept. 30, about $800,000 more than his Republican rival, Bob Schaffer.

Schaffer collected $1.9 million in the quarter that ended Sept. 30, his campaign reported. That brings to $6.6 million the total the former congressman has raised.

Interestingly, though, the Denver Post also reports that Bob Schaffer has $2.7 million on hand, compared to $545,000 for Mark Udall. Schaffer needs to deploy that cash advantage strategically and aggressively to give his campaign any shot at pulling out victory on November 4.

Oh, and Politicker notes that "Udall's campaign did not immediately respond to a request for documentation of their third-quarter numbers." And the reports from both campaigns are not yet posted up on the FEC disclosure site, either.

In the meantime, a few questions for review:

• Will there be any contributions for Mark Udall from Jodie Evans or far-Left Hollywood celebrities?
• Did Udall visit retired sweatshop owner Susie Tompkins-Buell for more money on his latest swing to California?
• Did tax cheat Charlie Rangel's PAC add more to the $12,000 Udall's Senate campaign has already received?

If for no other reason, it will be good to have answers to these questions for posterity. The FEC reports will shed the needed light.

Mark Udall's Votes Abet Economic Crisis, Aided by Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac Money

When it comes to the current economic crisis, liberal Washington insider Mark Udall once again proves he is more a part of the problem than of the solution. In February 2005, then-Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan warned Congress of letting the bloated institutions Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to grow with low capital and high risk.

On October 26, 2005, Udall voted against amendments that would have added capital to the mortgage lending giants and authorized them to sell off or acquire assets or liabilities, "if an asset or liability is deemed to be a potential systemic risk to the housing market, the capital markets or the financial system."

Let's be honest here. There are Democrats and Republicans in Congress who screwed up by making these votes. Mark Udall is with them on the wrong side of history.

More interestingly, according to the Federal Election Commission, Mark Udall has taken $3,000 in campaign contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Now that's not nearly as much as Barack Obama has taken from the failed financial institutions.

And it's not as much as Udall has taken from tax cheat Charlie Rangel's PAC, from retired sweatshop owner Susie Tompkins-Buell, or from campaign finance violator Norman Hsu, and twice as much as Udall received from jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Just trying to put things in perspective.

Mark Udall Says Tax Cheat Rangel Should Step Down, But Keeps Rangel PAC Money

From this morning's Meet the Press debate with Bob Schaffer, Mark Udall gave a tepid call for admitted tax cheat and fellow Democrat Charlie Rangel to step down from his committee chairmanship:

"I think it would be helpful if Charles Rangel steps down," Udall said of the New York congressman, who is being investigated for failure to pay taxes on a condominium he owns in the Dominican Republic even as he presides over the House's main tax policy committee.

Made almost as an aside, the comment may create problems for Udall after he said last week that he wasn't going to return a $12,000 contribution from Rangel's PAC to his campaign. [emphasis added]

You don't say? Mark Udall doesn't seem terribly interested in returning Rangel's money, or the money raised from retired sweatshop owner Susie Tompkins-Buell.

And inquiring minds want to know if Mark Udall took money from terrorist coddler Jodie Evans at this weekend's Hollywood fundraiser. Someone needs to ask the tough questions.

In Taking Money from Those Undercutting Workers' Rights, Mark Udall Is Consistent

Mark Udall has received major fundraising support from retired sweatshop owner Susie Tompkins-Buell. On the other hand, Udall also has co-sponsored the Employee Free Choice Act in spite of "serious reservations".

Mark Udall has taken thousands of dollars from union leaders to undercut workers' rights to a secret ballot. Udall also has taken thousands of dollars from a former sweatshop owner cited for illegal interrogation and intimidation of underpaid immigrant laborers. What else can be said? At least he has demonstrated some level of consistency.

Of Charlie Rangel & Susie Tompkins-Buell: Mark Udall on Campaign Finance "Ethics"

With Friday's report from the Rocky Mountain News that Mark Udall refuses to return contributions from admitted tax cheat (and fellow Democratic Congressman) Charlie Rangel, the list continues to grow of dirty money flowing into the Udall campaign.

After all, Mark Udall is the only candidate in this U.S. Senate race to take campaign contributions from jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Do you remember Norman Hsu, indicted for federal campaign finance violations? Yes, Mark Udall gave $1,000 of his Hsu money to charity. But as blogger Chris Rodriguez pointed out last year:

On top of the $1,000 he's giving back, let's not forget the $5,000 he got from the Hsu funded "For A Change PAC", the $10,000 from the Hsu funded "Searchlight Leadership Fund" (Harry Reid's PAC), and $40,000 from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committees, also recipients of large Hsu donations.

Norman Hsu. Charlie Rangel. What about Susie Tompkins-Buell?

[Tompkins-Buell's company] Esprit de Corp. was found by the National Labor Relations Board to have illegally interrogated and intimidated $2-an-hour Chinese workers, and then to have shut down a factory to keep them from unionizing. The Department of Labor found that an Esprit contractor doctored payroll records and refused to pay overtime.

Tompkins-Buell - whose "sweatshop" problems were detailed at length in the far-Left Nation magazine on May 16, 1994 - later sold Esprit for millions of dollars, which she now uses as a prominent Democratic Party fundraiser.

According to the Federal Elections Commission, Susie Tompkins-Buell and her husband Mark Buell each gave $2,300 to Mark Udall's campaign on June 19, 2007. Both Tompkins-Buell and her husband list San Francisco as their residence. Also on June 19, the Udall campaign took in nearly $50,000 from a series of San Francisco area contributors - his largest one-day California take in all of 2007. On May 31, 2007 - 19 days before all the funds poured in - the Udall campaign reported paying Tompkins-Buell $972.50 for "event personnel."

So was the retired "sweatshop" owner Susie Tompkins-Buell not only giving thousands to the Mark Udall campaign, but also organizing a $50,000 fundraiser for him? It sure looks that way.

And the Mark Udall campaign has the audacity to say what?

"Bob Schaffer may be the most ethically challenged candidate ever to run for office in Colorado," [Udall spokeswoman Tara] Trujillo said. "When Jack Abramoff's candidate rattles off about campaign contributions, he's getting really desperate."

More ethically challenged than Mark Udall, taking and keeping money from Jack Abramoff, Norman Hsu, Charlie Rangel, and Susie Tompkins-Buell? Puh-lease.