DailyKos: Mark Udall, a Progressive Patriot PTMD

Scoreboard time again, and so soon. That paragon of liberal thinking, DailyKos, is promoting a poll with a $5,000 prize:

Russ Feingold's Progressive Patriots Fund is holding a poll to pick the next Progressive Patriots. One of these candidates will get a $5,000 contribution.

The poll has closed. There were 26 votes. Mark Udall won with 12, so he gets $5,000 and another notch on our "reliably left wing" scoreboard line, which is where we put "progressive:"

The Mark Udall is not a moderate scoreboard:
extremist 2
reliably left wing 14
liberal 30
moderate 0
conservative (chuckle)

We started this scoreboard when we noticed that liberal blogs and the msm were routinely calling Mark Udall a "liberal," "reliably left wing," and even "extremist." We do not count comments from conservative blogs and we didn't count a comment on a liberal show by a conservative politician. Those who would like to check our methodology can follow the bread crumbs backwards.

Long ago, we started using music titles to make it easier to find earlier posts and to differentiate scoreboard posts from other posts. Recently, Mark Udall admitted that in 1971 he had his automobile seized in a drug related arrest. Most states don't seize vehicles unless the amount of drugs involved suggests drug dealing. Mark Udall has been quite coy about what happened. An enquiring public wants to know. In that spirit, our future scoreboard entries will be titled Puff the Magic Dragon or PTMD.

Scoreboard Updates PTMD

We've been a bit lax in trying to keep our Mark Udall is not a moderate scoreboard up to date, so today is catch-up day.

Two weeks ago, the Denver Post did a lengthy article on the relative positioning of Mark Udall and Bob Schaffer against well known members of Congress from the last 70 years. The Post noted that Mark Udall was 509th and:

falls squarely within his party's liberal wing — and based on his votes is more liberal than Clinton or Obama.

We will count that in our "reliably left wing" category. We are doing that in part because when we did additional digging into the numbers, we discovered that before Mark Udall decided to run for the Senate, his voting record put him as the 25th most liberal member of Congress. Since he decided to run for the Senate, he has tried to move his record closer to the center. Again, from the Post:

Udall's ranking is 509th from the left, more moderate than Schaffer but still well within the party's left wing. [ Kieth ] Poole's study shows that Udall has shifted to the middle somewhat since 2002, when an earlier version of the scale put him at 379th from the far left.

Meanwhile left leaning magazine "In These Times" has added its assessment of Mark Udall's politics:

Tom and Mark [ Udall ] are progressive U.S. representatives in New Mexico and Colorado, respectively, who have each set their sights on an open, Republican-held Senate seat in their home states.

We count "progressive" as "reliably left wing" because it is most frequently used to describe a liberal's liberal.

Thus, the the "reliably left wing" scoreboard line advances by two, today.

The Mark Udall is not a moderate scoreboard:
extremist 2
reliably left wing 13
liberal 30
moderate 0
conservative (chuckle)

We started this scoreboard when we noticed that liberal blogs and the msm were routinely calling Mark Udall a "liberal," "reliably left wing," and even "extremist." We do not count comments from conservative blogs and we didn't count a comment on a liberal show by a conservative politician. Those who would like to check our methodology can follow the bread crumbs backwards.

Long ago, we started using music titles to make it easier to find earlier posts and to differentiate scoreboard posts from other posts. Recently, Mark Udall admitted that in 1971 he had his automobile seized in a drug related arrest. Most states don't seize vehicles unless the amount of drugs involved suggests drug dealing. Mark Udall has been quite coy about what happened. An enquiring public wants to know. In that spirit, our future scoreboard entries will be titled Puff the Magic Dragon or PTMD.

Puff The Magic Dragon

The Denver Post wanted so much to attach the "liberal" label to Mark Udall that it found a way to sidestep actually putting the label on him:

The fact that Udall would be considered liberal by most voters...

We will be counting that in our scoreboard today.

The Mark Udall is not a moderate scoreboard:
extremist 2
reliably left wing 10
liberal 30
moderate 0
conservative (chuckle)

We started this scoreboard when we noticed that liberal blogs and the msm were routinely calling Mark Udall a "liberal," "reliably left wing," and even "extremist." We do not count comments from conservative blogs and we didn't count a comment on a liberal show by a conservative politician. Those who would like to check our methodology can follow the bread crumbs backwards.

Long ago, we started using music titles to make it easier to find earlier posts and to differentiate scoreboard posts from other posts. Recently, Mark Udall admitted that in 1971 he had his automobile seized in a drug related arrest. Most states don't seize vehicles unless the amount of drugs involved suggests drug dealing. Mark Udall has been quite coy about what happened. An enquiring public wants to know. In that spirit, our future scoreboard entries will be titled Puff the Magic Dragon.

Born on the 4th of July

We saw this yesterday, but avoided writing about it because there was so much other Udall news.

The Colorado Springs Independent made this somewhat incoherent statement (it is easy to see how it happens in the day of word processing-we do it too often, ourselves):

This, even though Udall isn't liberal enough for some progressive liberals in the 2nd Congressional District, who complain they've been ignored, particularly when voicing their views on the war in Iraq.

It sure looks like an acknowledgement that Mark Udall is a liberal to us, and yet the left wing Independent then tries to claim that Udall is a moderate:

Yet Udall's moderate positions, including his stance to continue funding the war, have attracted a potential spoiler. Green Party candidate Bob Kinsey, a retired schoolteacher who lives in Denver and has run previously for Congress, sees himself as a grassroots alternative to voters dissatisfied with the commercialized election process

It's just another lie from the big blue lie machine, but there is a reason for it, admits the Independent:

"Democrats who seek to reach statewide voters usually must project an image of being moderate and pro-business," [ Bob Loevy, a Colorado College professor of political science ] says, adding that Democrats who want to win the big races "must get to the middle."

So, that brings us to our scoreboard:

The Mark Udall is not a moderate scoreboard:
extremist 2
reliably left wing 10
liberal 29
moderate 0
conservative (chuckle)

We started this scoreboard when we noticed that liberal blogs and the msm were routinely calling Mark Udall a "liberal," "reliably left wing," and even "extremist." We do not count comments from conservative blogs and we didn't count a comment on a liberal show by a conservative politician. Those who would like to check our methodology can follow the bread crumbs backwards.

The Yellow Rose of Texas

Californian in Texas, subtitled "the ramblings of a liberal Californian" opines:

[ Mark ] Udall is further left than governor [ Bill ] Ritter and senator [ Ken ] Salazar, but he does have a small advantage because of the state's Democratic trend in recent elections.

Since the conventional wisdom is that both Ritter and Salazar are liberal, with Bill Ritter seen as moving farther and farther to the left daily, Californian in Texas obviously believes that Mark Udall should be classified on our scoreboard as "reliably left wing."

The Mark Udall is not a moderate scoreboard:
extremist 2
reliably left wing 9
liberal 28
moderate 0
conservative (chuckle)

We started this scoreboard when we noticed that liberal blogs and the msm were routinely calling Mark Udall a "liberal," "reliably left wing," and even "extremist." We do not count comments from conservative blogs and we didn't count a comment on a liberal show by a conservative politician. Those who would like to check our methodology can follow the bread crumbs backwards.

I Left My Heart In San Francisco

As promised yesterday, we are incrementing the scoreboard by one. The Seminal, a self identified liberal blog called Mark Udall a liberal.

The Mark Udall is not a moderate scoreboard:
extremist 2
reliably left wing 8
liberal 28
moderate 0
conservative (chuckle)

We started this scoreboard when we noticed that liberal blogs and the msm were routinely calling Mark Udall a "liberal," "reliably left wing," and even "extremist." We do not count comments from conservative blogs and we didn't count a comment on a liberal show by a conservative politician. Those who would like to check our methodology can follow the bread crumbs backwards.

Paint Your Wagon

John Kerry's email is fouled up. The system is sending ghost emails, or so reports the New Political Communication Unit. The second ghost email has the following paragraph:

Follow this link to learn more about Jeanne Shaheen in New Hampshire, Mark Udall in Colorado, Tom Allen in Maine, and Jeff Merkely in Oregon. They're all good, progressive voices, and if we elect them all to the Senate, we'll have gone a long way in forcing a new direction in our country.

The link isn't provided by NPCU, but if John Kerry thinks Mark Udall is a progressive, which is actually well west of liberal, then we will happily add it to our scoreboard. We count progressive as "reliably left wing:"

The Mark Udall is not a moderate scoreboard:
extremist 2
reliably left wing 8
liberal 27
moderate 0
conservative (chuckle)

We started this scoreboard when we noticed that liberal blogs and the msm were routinely calling Mark Udall a "liberal," "reliably left wing," and even "extremist." We do not count comments from conservative blogs and we didn't count a comment on a liberal show by a conservative politician. Those who would like to check our methodology can follow the bread crumbs backwards.

Trouble in Udall Land

Mark Udall is about as far left as we imagine it is possible for a Colorado politician, even a Boulder Liberal, can get and still expect to be reelected.

He is so far to the left that we have a scoreboard feature that tracks the number of times his liberal blogging allies and the msm refer to him as a liberal, reliably left wing, and even extremist. That scoreboard is in the upper right corner of this site.

Now, PlagiarismNowAction has a post up whose only goal is to push Mark Udall even farther left. (Those who wonder why we call PlagiarismNowAction by that name are welcome to search this blog under that term for an explanation.)

He [Mark Benner ] plans to run on the issues. Issues important to him include the environment, torture, withdrawal from Iraq, and holding Bush and Cheney accountable with investigations and impeachment if warranted.

He is being pressured by Democratic Party elites not to run. He will need your support to buck the system. Call and encourage him.

I am a 42 year Democratic supporter. I am a (L)iberal. I believe a challenger could very possibly potentially siphon enough votes from Udall to force him to move left on the issues.

Unlike left wing blogs which are engaged in a never ending attempt to promote Republican primaries, we have much more class than to try to interfere in or promote this primary. It will happen or it won't happen completely independent of what we might do or say. We are merely reporting on it.

They Call The Wind Maria

In the enthusiasm over the poll results, our fellow bloggers appear to have missed this quote from Rothenberg:

Now, state voters will have a clear choice between liberal Cong. Mark Udall (D) and conservative former congressman Bob Schaffer (R). Neither man is running from party or ideological labels, but each believes he fits the state better.

Actually, Mark Udall is moving farther left by choosing to "blog" on MoveOn.org.

Meanwhile, we update our scoreboard:

The Mark Udall is not a moderate scoreboard:
extremist 2
reliably left wing 7
liberal 26
moderate 0
conservative (chuckle)

We started this scoreboard when we noticed that liberal blogs and the msm were routinely calling Mark Udall a "liberal," "reliably left wing," and even "extremist." We do not count comments from conservative blogs and we didn't count a comment on a liberal show by a conservative politician. Those who would like to check our methodology can follow the bread crumbs backwards.

Mark Udall (or an insider think-alike) to blog on DailyKos

Not only can Mark Udall, (D-DailyKos) not be truthfull, he is authorizing a Kos insider to blog on Kos under his name and lie for him. This was buried in the comments on a December 4th post on Kos (6th & 7th comments down):

Things look as good as they ever will (0 / 0)
Mark makes the point to Jonathan Singer well. The largest majority pulled off by a Democrat in a statewide federal race in Colorado in 30 years was Ken Salazar by 1.8 points.
With kind deference to Kos, there is no rational basis for any assumption that this will be an easy pick-up.
by Mark Udall on Tue Dec 04, 2007 at 11:40:57 AM PST
[ Parent ]
Yikes! That was me, not Mark. (0 / 0)
I probably gave something away, but we're preparing to do some diaries with Mark on Kos in the near future and I was logged in as him.
So for the purposes of the above comment that was me not Mark. :-)
by Janus on Tue Dec 04, 2007 at 11:43:12 AM PST
[ Parent ]

Henceforth this blogger will refer to Mark Udall as the would be Senator from DailyKos. There isn't a soul who would believe that Udall can, or even wants to separate himself from the far left, let alone pretend that he is a moderate.

I Left My Heart in San Francisco

Kos is at it again.

Then again, the GOP's entire campaign against Mark Udall is that he's a "liberal"...

He goes on, admittedly tongue in cheek:

Today, the liberalist of liberal liberals, Tom Udall (who is liberal), is scheduled to be feted at a liberal party with the liberalist of liberal Democrats in liberal San Francisco, a city full of liberals. Considering liberal Mark Udall is already too liberal for Colorado victories, it seems fitting.

The event of liberals, liberally organized by ultra liberal blogger Markos Moulitsas, a liberal, of the really, really, really liberal blog 'Daily Kos', is liberally scheduled to take place at a liberal bar in liberal San Francisco, a city full of liberals.

The point that he is missing is that we here in Colorado hardly have to try to tag Mark Udall as a liberal. Our friends in the msm and the left leaning blogs do it regularly for us. See our scoreboard at the right. We are going to make a point in not counting this clever little post because we already have enough posts and msm mentions to make a very solid statement as to how far left the left thinks Mark Udall really is.

Kos, you are welcome to follow the bread crumbs that you will find to the right to check our methodology. We've even found your blog calling him a liberal, but we notice that you have stopped, not because he has stopped being a liberal, but because of the baggage that word carries.

Singin' & Swingin'

This will be an unusual addition to our scoreboard because two far left wing bloggers are hosting a "Drinks With Mark Udall" event. Markos from Daily Kos simply does not hobnob with run of the mill liberals. They must believe that Mark Udall is at least "reliably left wing" or they wouldn't bother to show up, let alone host the event. We will increment that counter by two on our scoreboard. (We strongly considered incrementing the extremist counter, given how far left Kos is.)

The Mark Udall is not a moderate scoreboard:
extremist 2
reliably left wing 7
liberal 25
moderate 0
conservative (chuckle)

We started this scoreboard when we noticed that liberal blogs and the msm were routinely calling Mark Udall a "liberal," "reliably left wing," and even "extremist." We do not count comments from conservative blogs and we didn't count a comment on a liberal show by a conservative politician. Those who would like to check our methodology can follow the bread crumbs backwards.

My Old Kentucky Home

Another liberal blogger, politicslug has called Mark Udall a liberal.

This leaves the liberal Rep. Mark Udall ...

The Mark Udall is not a moderate scoreboard:
extremist 2
reliably left wing 5
liberal 25
moderate 0
conservative (chuckle)

We started this scoreboard when we noticed that liberal blogs and the msm were routinely calling Mark Udall a "liberal," "reliably left wing," and even "extremist." We do not count comments from conservative blogs and we didn't count a comment on a liberal show by a conservative politician. Those who would like to check our methodology can follow the bread crumbs backwards

Oh, Shenandoah, I long to see you

Scoreboard time again! SquareState has been kind enough to publicly admit that Udall is a "progressive."

If Mark Udall had a last name that wasn't associated with a strong tradition of progressive politics in Arizona, of all places, I would still think he has the makings of an excellent Senator based on his record in Congress.

While the term "progressive" is usually associated with people who want to be thought of as further left than "liberal," we will add this reference to the "liberal" count.

The Mark Udall is not a moderate scoreboard:
extremist 2
reliably left wing 5
liberal 24
moderate 0
conservative (chuckle)

We started this scoreboard when we noticed that liberal blogs and the msm were routinely calling Mark Udall a "liberal," "reliably left wing," and even "extremist." We do not count comments from conservative blogs and we didn't count a comment on a liberal show by a conservative politician. Those who would like to check our methodology can follow the bread crumbs backwards

Added: Another liberal blog has just quoted SquareState verbatim. We are therefore incrementing the liberal count from 23 to 24 without creating another post.

Swing Left, Sweet Chariot

Having read and reread the Rocky Mountain News article on Udall's apleanty, we think it would be more than fair to add it to our scoreboard. While El Presedente correctly (see below) chooses not to count the Walt Klein quote, there are actually two comments on Udall's political positioning. The other:

The family's history in politics has led some to call them "the Kennedys of the West."

Tom Udall's father, Stewart Udall, served six years as a Democratic Arizona congressman before being appointed secretary of the interior in 1961.

Mark Udall's father, Democrat Morris "Mo" Udall, replaced his brother Stewart in Congress, where he served for 30 years. Smith is a second cousin to Mark and Tom Udall.

Got all that? By now in its fourth generation, the Udall political family tree has a lot of branches. Most limbs lean left.

We think that we can legitimately count the last sentence as a msm observation about Udall's position on the spectrum without compromising our methodology. We'll add it to the liberal column.

The Mark Udall is not a moderate scoreboard:
extremist 2
reliably left wing 5
liberal 22
moderate 0
conservative (chuckle)

We started this scoreboard when we noticed that liberal blogs and the msm were routinely calling Mark Udall a "liberal," "reliably left wing," and even "extremist." We do not count comments from conservative blogs and we didn't count a comment on a liberal show by a conservative politician. Those who would like to check our methodology can follow the bread crumbs backwards.

Mark Udall: Definitely "Progressive," Not Exactly "Hugely Popular"

Oh, that all our Lefty friends were as ill-informed and overconfident about Colorado's upcoming U.S. Senate race as the Kentucky pacifist blogger who has written:

In Colorado, Rep. Mark Udall (D), a hugely popular progressive, is out-polling possible Republican challengers handily.

For a better informed opinion, please search through the well-sourced links on this site, including analyses of relevant polls here and here and here. Memo to the Bluegrass State: The name of the Republican candidate in this race is former Congressman Bob Schaffer.

Nevertheless, a liberal blogger has tagged Udall as a "progressive," which means it's time once again to update the "Mark Udall is not a moderate" scoreboard. The term "progressive" previously has been determined to fall under "reliably left wing" within the context of the scoreboard, which is updated below as follows:

The Mark Udall is not a moderate scoreboard:
extremist 2
reliably left wing 5
liberal 21
moderate 0
conservative (chuckle)

We started this scoreboard when we noticed that liberal blogs and the msm were routinely calling Mark Udall a "liberal," "reliably left wing," and even "extremist." We do not count comments from conservative blogs and we didn't count a comment on a liberal show by a conservative politician. Those who would like to check our methodology can follow the bread crumbs backwards.

Alexander's Ragtime Band

Yesterday, The American magazine called Mark Udall a Liberal.

The Mark Udall is not a moderate scoreboard:
extremist 2
reliably left wing 4
liberal 21
moderate 0
conservative (chuckle)

We started this scoreboard when we noticed that liberal blogs and the msm were routinely calling Mark Udall a "liberal," "reliably left wing," and even "extremist." We do not count comments from conservative blogs and we didn't count a comment on a liberal show by a conservative politician. Those who would like to check our methodology can follow the bread crumbs backwards.

If I Had a Wagon...I Would Go To Colorado

Ralph D’Andrea, a western slope liberal blogger has been quoted in a recent Political Notebook interview admitting that Mark Udall is "out of the mainstream."

PN: Is he [ Bob Schaffer ] more out of the mainstream than Mark Udall?
RD: No. So it all depends on who appeals to the voters in the middle.

This comment adds to our Mark Udall is not a moderate scoreboard. It is hard to score, so we will just add it to the liberal category.

The Mark Udall is not a moderate scoreboard:
extremist 2
reliably left wing 4
liberal 20
moderate 0
conservative (not in this lifetime--or the next)

We started this scoreboard when we noticed that liberal blogs and the msm was routinely calling Mark Udall a "liberal," "reliably left wing," and even "extremist." We do not count comments from conservative blogs and we didn't count a comment on a liberal show by a conservative politician. Those who would like to check our methodology can follow the bread crumbs backwards.

The first three notes just happen to be: do re mi

The Mark Udall is not a moderate scoreboard:
extremist 2
reliably left wing 4
liberal 19
moderate 0
conservative (not in this lifetime)

It was incremented today when the Grand Junction Sentinel made the following comment:

It’s curious that Udall, a certified liberal who is seeking statewide office in a state that does not always vote in a certifiably liberal fashion, has bought into a phony attack on Limbaugh propagated by Media Matters, the liberal Internet group. Even after reading the transcript of Limbaugh’s Sept. 26 show posted on Media Matters’ Web site, it takes a considerable stretch to conclude Limbaugh’s “phony soldiers” comment referred to military personnel who merely favor a speedy U.S. withdrawal from Iraq.

We started this scoreboard when we noticed that liberal blogs and the msm was routinely calling Mark Udall a "liberal," "reliably left wing," and even "extremist." We do not count comments from conservative blogs and we didn't count a comment on a liberal show by a conservative politician. Those who would like to check our methodology can follow the bread crumbs backwards.

And yes, we know that we linked to the same article on two sequential posts, but each post had a different purpose.

Whistling a Happy Tune

The Political Realm says about Mark Udall:

The race will present a contrast for Colorado voters, will both campaigns gearing up to portray the other as too extreme. Democrats have had recent success in the state, but with more moderate candidates. If Udall is able to define his own candidacy and record, he should be in good shape.

That qualifies as calling Udall a liberal. Mark Udall, (D) MoveOn.org, hasn't even tried to define himself as anything but a flaming liberal. His allies on the left and in the msm always call him "liberal," "reliably left wing" or, occasionally "extremist." It has happened so often that we have a scoreboard that never includes conservative blogs as sources for labeling Udall. People who want to check our methodology are welcome to follow the bread crumbs backwards.

The Mark Udall is not a moderate scoreboard:
extremist 2
reliably left wing 4
liberal 18
moderate 0
conservative (no one would believe it)