Rumored DSCC Pullout Leaves One of Two Possibilities of Democrat Deception

The Denver Post reports that the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) is pulling out of Colorado. Now frankly, I'm not ready to buy it, seeing as how the media jumped off the cliff last week with inaccurate reports about the DSCC's counterpart withdrawing from the state.

But if it is true, maybe there's a connection with this fundraising email sent out very recently from the Mark Udall campaign:

The bad news: Bob Schaffer's report revealed he has stockpiled a huge sum of money -- nearly $3 million -- for use in the final weeks before Election Day. That's a far higher "cash-on-hand" figure than we reported, an alarming advantage we must act to remedy right now.

So we've set an urgent internet fundraising goal of $250,000 -- which we absolutely need to reach to close the money gap before Election Day. Please contribute whatever you can afford towards this final effort.

Mark Udall is telling his supporters that his opponent Bob Schaffer has an "alarming advantage." Meanwhile, we're supposed to believe the PR of "state Democratic sources" that Udall "is comfortably ahead."

So we're left with two choices. Either:

• Democratic leaders are lying to the Denver Post and its readers in an attempt to create a self-fulfilling prophecy, OR


• Mark Udall is lying to his supporters to wring money out of them that he doesn't need

With undecided voters starting to tune in for the last two weeks of the campaign, now would seem an inopportune time for Mark Udall and the Democrats to cede the airwaves. We'll have to wait and see which alternative is indeed the case.

After Russian Invasion, DSCC Anti-Ukraine Ad Looks Even More Like a Mistake

Four months ago the Democrat Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) - dedicated to getting Boulder liberal Mark Udall elected - ran a silly attack ad against Bob Schaffer for his international work in defense of the freedoms of former Soviet republic Ukraine. With this past week's invasion of former Soviet republic Georgia by Russia, the silliness takes on a new dimension.

As Rocky Mountain Right notes:

Mark Udall & Co. can mock Bob Schaffer all they want for maintaining good relations with American allies in the region, the Russian invasion of Georgia proves that this is more important than ever. Just like "Big Oil Bob," this is yet another Democratic smear against Schaffer that is about to backfire.

As we pointed out when the original DSCC ad came out, the attempt already started to backfire back in April. But now? Mark Udall and his surrogates won't want to be talking about this issue at all. The question is whether the media will pick up on it at all.

Democrat Staffer Right on Bob Schaffer's Tail to Stalk Him at Greeley Parade

Brought to you by the people who recently gave us some of the most laughable, absurd propaganda of the political season: It seems a Democrat Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) staffer had to hang really close to Bob Schaffer to stalk him with a camera at the Greeley 4th of July Parade.

I mean, that's really close. Maybe someone should buy the DSCC a zoom lens?

Then again, perhaps Mark Udall had asked for close-up footage of his opponent to study in preparation for the first campaign debate. If so, it didn't work too well. No wonder the DSCC felt impelled to try to spin the debate out of all reality into a Udall victory.

DSCC Tries the Ridiculous "Big Lie" to Spin Mark Udall out of His Debate Disaster

Here's a new dispatch from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC). Try to read it out loud without laughing - I still can't do it:

In the first debate between Democratic Senate candidate Mark Udall and far-right Republican Bob Schaffer, Udall came away the clear winner. Udall presented a clear plan for moving the country forward after years of Republican mismanagement of the economy, national security, and our energy policy.

Sorry, I should have warned you not to read that with food or drink in your mouth. Hope it didn't cause any unfortunate damage to your computer.

Anyone who actually watched last Monday's debate recognizes this as some of the most outrageous and absurd propaganda of the season. "Udall came away the clear winner"? Yes, if by winning the debate you mean "not tripping and falling on your face in front of hundreds of people." And Mark Udall "presented a clear plan"? What clear plan was that ... "working together"?

Hey, these guys at the DSCC ... it's their job to put a little spin on the campaigns. But sometimes they have to make themselves look like royal fools to do it - this is one of those instances for the DSCC. Hope they're getting paid well to publish this unbelievable drivel.

Big Blue Lie Machine Spits out Unsubstantiated Abramoff Slime Job

The memo apparently has gone out from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) and the Mark Udall campaign: When all other attacks fail, conjure up the Jack Abramoff bogeyman to attack Republican opponent Bob Schaffer.

You've probably already read it, but go back and peruse today's slime job dumped through the Denver Post, and find out what actual connection there is between Abramoff and Schaffer. No, go ahead and read - I'm waiting.

You saw a lot of innuendo and insinuation and character assassination, but no connection. We're used to seeing this kind of political mudslinging and guilt by third-degree association from many of the Lefty blogs, but it's a little more striking when one of Denver's major newspapers would write a headline and a lead that creates an unsubstantiated smear on a public official's character.

First, there's the mundane fact that we don't find until the 30th paragraph in the Post story: The trip was sponsored and paid for by the Traditional Values Coalition. Not Jack Abramoff. Sorry, Lefty conspiracists.

Then there's the revelation that Schaffer has never met, talked with, or taken money from Abramoff - none of which comes out until the 16th paragraph. Thus the Post facilitates Schaffer's sliming.

For contrast, how about a real example of a member of Congress tainted by Jack Abramoff corruption? Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid took Abramoff donations, met regularly with the criminal lobbyist, and wrote letters for Abramoff's clients, while Abramoff hired a high-ranking Reid staff member.

In the article, Mark Udall's spokesperson uses a vile form of sophistry:

"Given that many Republican members, including Tom DeLay, Bob Ney and Conrad Burns, have lost their seat or gone to prison based on their association with this criminal, it's pretty remarkable that Schaffer seems to be proud of his association with these sleazy Abramoff-sponsored junkets," said Taylor West, a spokeswoman for Schaffer's Democratic opponent, Mark Udall.

Nothing new there from West. It's time for the Big Blue Lie Machine and its surrogate the Denver Post to put away the Abramoff card, and start dealing with the facts.

Hollywood Democrat Supporting Bob Schaffer Because of DSCC Anti-Ukraine Bias

Five days ago we highlighted why a new attack ad from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) against Republican U.S. Senate candidate was pure folly: it ended up contrasting Schaffer's integrity and fiscal conservatism with his Democratic opponent Mark Udall, a tax-and-spend liberal career politician.

Now its folly is exposed for another reason. A Hollywood Democrat who blogs at Cyber Cossack is angry with the DSCC for using the ad to exploit anti-Ukrainian prejudice in a low political attack:

The video ridicules Bob Schaffer, a former Congressman who is now running for Senate from Colorado on the Republican ticket. Mr. Schaffer is part Ukrainian and has been very supportive of Ukraine’s struggle against communism and for democracy and a free market economy – both supposedly laudable goals on both sides of the aisle in the United States Senate.

This commercial is blatantly both anti-Ukrainian and anti-American in its racist bias. To rub in the point, the commercial “just happens” to accompany the video image with Mexican mariachi music, thus extending the insult to an even larger important American minority community.

I find it appalling that in 2008, in the United States of America, such cheap racism would be posted by a major political party’s official senatorial campaign committee. There are myriad nations that have received hundreds, if not thousands of times as much aid from the United States as does Ukraine. Why has the DSCC not campaigned against support for any other nation? Why has the DSCC singled out Ukraine for ridicule?

Either the Democratic Party is in fact anti-Ukrainian racist or it believes that Ukrainian-Americans are so inept and impotent that they can be abused at will without consequence.

I don't necessarily accept all the writer's assumptions (the national Democratic party does not generally favor free market economic principles) or his conclusions (I think the DSCC is likely more motivated by narrow political ambition and blind to the consequence of its rhetoric than it is anti-Ukrainian or racist).

But his anger and frustration does an excellent job in further highlighting the folly and the unintended consequences of Mark Udall's supporters in trying to bring down their political opponent. This is the Cyber Cossack's best idea:

I call on the Democratic candidate Mark Udall to personally refute this racist characterization of Ukraine, immediately withdraw this commercial and to replace it with an apology to all Americans and Ukrainian-Americans together with a strong statement of support for Ukraine’s struggle for democracy and a free market economy.

Contact candidate Mark Udall at 1100 Bannock Street, Denver CO 80208, tel. 303-820-2008, fax 303-893-4078, e-mail via his web site http://www.markudall.com/page/s/contact

If it seems like good advice to you, too, feel free to take it.

Finally, the Cyber Cossack's endorsement:

Mr. Schaffer deserves only our admiration – and, Yes – THE THANKS OF ALL AMERICANS – for his hard work in defense of democracy.

His words, not mine. But I can give them a hearty "Amen."

DSCC "Attack Ad" on Bob Schaffer Ends Up Highlighting Mark Udall's Weaknesses

The Washington Times blog reports on the latest hit from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) on Republican U.S. Senate candidate Bob Schaffer:

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) today issued a video attacking Schaffer for a 2002 statement in the Denver Post claiming that he'd accomplished more for the Ukraine "with less effort than I have in my own district with more effort."

Schaffer's mother is a Ukrainian immigrant and he was former co-chairman of the Congressional Ukrainian Caucus. The DSCC quoted the Denver Post saying that Schaffer's impact on his district was debatable, due to a self-imposed term limit and his tendency to oppose non-defense spending.

Wow, DSCC. Way to wring a quote way out of context. To know Bob Schaffer is to know this quote is about his commitment to advancing the principles of freedom both at home and abroad. That he may have been able to accomplish more vis a vis Ukraine than northeastern Colorado says more about the relative conditions of the two places following the end of the Cold War than his interest in helping the citizens of his district.

What a pathetic attack. And to what effect? The DSCC ends up highlighting Bob Schaffer's integrity (he honored his term-limit pledge) and his fiscal conservatism (he wasn't a big fan of Congressional pork). This is an exact quote from the December 15, 2002, Denver Post article in question [No active link]:

[Schaffer's] term-limits pledge and opposition to government spending that led him to oppose every spending bill except defense each year did not endear him to those who dole out favors in Washington.

That contrasts pretty well with Mark Udall, the career Washington politician, with a tax-and-spend liberal record. Keep these ads coming.

Absurdicus makes a plea

Our friend Absurdicus is back with a comment on the Big Blue Lie Machine Post. It is too long to repeat here and keep to our short post format, so we will pick and choose:

Apparently my entire argument is lost because of my mistake of elevation. God forbid I would assume elevation above the earth was not normalized to elevation above ground level.

Go use Google Earth now. You will find it to be addictive. Your real mistake was to respond to what we wrote without even looking at what we were writing about. Had you done that you would have had to assume nothing.

Absurdicus is now the first individual that we know of to admit that the Roan Plateau is no Garden of Eden, no pristine untouched land worthy of saving because of its uniqueness:

Despite my basic math mistake, the argument that at 1000 feet a piece of land should be drilled on just because it doesn't look "pretty" is still my argument. Please address my point, that just because it looks ugly at any distance it should be drilled and drunk up like a milkshake.

Frankly, we didn't know that was your argument.

No one, not Bill Ritter, not John Salazar, not Ken Salazar, not the Sierra Club, not Trout Unlimited, not the Wilderness Society, not the Denver Post, not the Rocky Mountain News, and especially not Mark Udall nor any other individual or organization involved with pushing the environmental agenda has had the intellectual honesty to make that argument.

Instead, they use words and photographs intended to fool the public into believing that the land is something it is not. We never would have thought to look at the land using Google Earth but for the obviously deceptive video ad that we wrote about in Looking More Closely at The Udall Commercial - Part 3. We've driven through that part of Colorado many times and it is a lot of things, but it is not wet.

Absurdicus, we don't know how to respond to your argument. It is one that needs to be had in an honest way by the politicians who represent us, unencumbered by the false propaganda that is pumped out daily.

Instead, we have the politicians like Mark Udall and Bill Ritter as well as the newspaper editorial boards who should be demanding and engaging in an honest discussion unwilling to do so out of fear that they would lose in that environment. There can't be another reason.

The politicians spend their time pushing the false propaganda and taking big campaign donations from the organizations which generate it. The organizations collect big donations for supposedly "protecting the environment" when they are often doing no such thing.

There will never be a response to your argument from us or anyone else because none on your side, probably including you, will allow it to be held under conditions we could respect.

With Friends Like These...

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) sent out a release yesterday attacking Republican U.S. Senate candidate Bob Schaffer under the heading "Will "Bobby Boy" Schaffer Break His Silence And Tell Bush To Stop Threatening Roan Drilling...?":

George Bush will touch down in Denver today to raise money for the Senate candidate he affectionately refers to as “Bobby Boy,” former Congressman and current oilman Bob Schaffer. Since the fundraiser will take place behind closed doors, no one will know what the two men actually discuss, but Schaffer has the perfect opportunity to show Coloradans he can stand up for them by urging the president to stop pushing to open the Roan Plateau to oil drilling.

Someone should have told the DSCC to check first with their candidate - Boulder liberal Mark Udall. After all, it was only less than a month ago that Udall agreed to "support expanded natural gas production on public lands atop the Roan Plateau".

Is the DSCC press release therefore a tacit admission that Beltway Democrats believe Udall won't stand up for Coloradans? Is Udall in the pocket of President Bush? Or maybe, as the Rocky Mountain News intimates, he was motivated by a self-serving "political calculus"?

If a 100% off-limits, pristine Roan Plateau that undermines Colorado jobs and the energy economy is part of the DSCC agenda, maybe they should make sure their own guy is on board first. With friends like these pointing out his inconsistent and convenient environmental policies, Udall has got to be a little disconcerted.

DSCC Big Blue Lie Machine Still Churning

You would think that the Democrats who are supporting the Mark Udall candidacy would have figured out that this author takes great pleasure in pointing out their fibs, falsehoods, and fabrications.

It is quite obvious that no one in that campaign believes that Mark Udall can be elected if they stick to the truth. They can't even be consistent in their lies.

The liberal blogs have raised a hue and cry over the fact that Bob Schaffer won't spell out his positions. Mike Saccone wrote an essay on "Schaffer's Silence." The DSCC is so lacking in material that it started its own "Parody site" on the theory that if Schaffer wouldn't spell out his positions, it could make them up. Since that site was founded, Schaffer still has not spelled out his positions (and shouldn't be in a hurry to do so).

Today, Lynn Bartels of the Rocky Mountain News provided the following quote from a DSCC spokesperson:

"Bob Schaffer must figure that since he has wholeheartedly endorsed George Bush's agenda, he might as well get something in return," said Matthew Miller, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spokesman.

Matthew Miller and the DSCC must figure that Lynn Bartels will publish any inconsistent lie without questioning its inconsistencies. We are curious, as Bartels should have been, about the basis for the statement that "Bob Schaffer...has wholeheartedly endorsed George Bush's agenda..."

This, folks, is how the Big Blue Lie Machine Works: Keep throwing out lies and some will slip into the msm.

Another Lie from Udall Spokesperson

Yesterday we highlighted a Grand Junction news story in which Boulder liberal Rep. Mark Udall's campaign ineffectively tried to spin legitimate criticisms against his record. Upon closer review, we also should have included this snippet:

"It is very surprising it's happening this early," said [Udall campaign manager Mike] Melanson. "It's the only place in the country -- we're the only Senate race where negative attack ads have gone up."

What about these Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee ads attacking Republican candidates in New Hampshire, Minnesota, Maine, and Kentucky? If he's going to speak so authoritatively about "negative attack ads" nationwide, shouldn't Melanson figure out what his own party is doing first? Of course, he's aware of what's going on from the DSCC, you say.

Once more, Udall's spokesperson spouts an easily disprovable lie. What's going on here?

Looking More Closely at The Udall Commercial - Part 3

In Part 1, we talked about the way the anti - Schaffer Disappearing Act ad was produced and how cheaply and easy it was to produce but:

It's impressive for anyone who doesn't understand what is going on. The hard part is getting the photography. We're a bit suspicious of the photography, but who knows?

In Part 2, we began examining the photography:

The Roan Plateau segment just didn't look right. There is so much blue water and white snowcaps in their photograph that it looks pristine, beautiful, and, well . . . wet!

Cynics that we are, we suggested readers use Google Earth to look at the Roan Plateau for themselves. There is not a lot of water there. It is scrub land.

The next photo that we want to examine is the Pinon Canyon photo that appears about 17 seconds into the video. That photo was taken right at sun up. The orange is the color given to the land as the sun's rays go through the thickest part of the atmosphere. The shadows caused by the hills make the areas in shadow look more lush than they are.

No one seems to have thought of this when the photo was used, but anyone who uses the full screen mode on YouTube will see how unproductive and barren this land is. If more land is needed for maneuver training by the Army, it is hard to justify protecting this kind of land from that use. Pandering politicians like Ken Salazar and his brother John who claim otherwise are doing themselves and their own reputation a disservice.

Of Course, Mark Udall is not just a panderer, he is a liar who would sell out the nation's security for a few votes. He told the ranchers in the pinon canyon area that future wars would be against urban based terrorists and that the Army didn't need their land. Never mind that he is a member of the House Armed Services Committee and knows better.

15 Seconds into the commercial (it moves fast) is a photo of Bob Schaffer standing beside a building with a large plaque. Curious minds that might want to know where in Colorado that building and plaque might be will be disappointed to see that a trianglur shaped haze with two embedded rectangles has been produced by the animator to make it unreadable. It is funny to see how clear and sharp the photo is to the left of Schaffer's image and how fuzzy it is where the plaque is located.

The triangle shaped haze is a simple white triangle and two rectangles made translucent by the animator and placed in front of the building image. You can see where both rectangles extend outside the hypotenuse of the triangle. This part is very sloppy and cheaply done animation.

The Washington based producers of this deceptive piece of animation couldn't be troubled to find a photo of a Colorado building and weren't honest enough to let the viewer see that. Going out on a limb, we would go so far as to suggest that this building might be located in Alexandria, Virginia, given the unusually large size of the brick and the round object at the top of the photo. In Colorado, brick buildings are relatively scarce due to the easy availability of quarried building materials. We've never seen a building built with oversized brick.

All in all, we think this commercial is so poorly thought out and executed that it will do Mark Udall much more damage than it will ever do to Bob Schaffer. We actually think Bob Schaffer's campaign should be promoting it!

Production Values Hide Udall's Lack of Values

The Rocky Mountain News is reporting that the DSCC has created a new "disappearing Act" YouTube ad.

The cost of producing things like this is so low that given the proper software, one person could do this in an afternoon, though it might take longer to render. It appears to have been done on something like Lightwave 9. There isn't even all that much animation in it, mostly making the camera move. It is a matter of plopping in a background, creating two foreground objects and making one disappear. They did that three times in 15 seconds. The intro is the reverse.

It's impressive for anyone who doesn't understand what is going on. The hard part is getting the photography. We're a bit suspicious of the photography, but who knows?

Expect to see a lot of this kind of thing from now on in this election and all the ones to come.

As to its political value, we would ask just one question: So?

This ad is more a reflection of Mark Udall's willingness to pander to special interests when it comes to national security issues (oil and gas production / military readiness) and his willingness to buy votes with SCHIP than it is a reflection on Schaffer. Schaffer doesn't need to go public on the issues for months.

This ad could be parodied in a way that would make Mark Udall look bad. It isn't well thought out.

How Serious is Brenner?

We should know shortly. DailyKos is promising:

On Monday, we'll examine how a primary challenge may affect DSCC/coordinated campaign money to Udall's camp and the effect of the left wing piling on Udall's already lackluster defense against attacks from the right.

Bob Schaffer "On The Issues" Parody Site Emerges

Note to liberals--aren't parody sites supposed to be funny? Just askin'. (Bob Schaffer's official campaign site).

Another thing--does the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee really think that voters are so unintelligent that they will fail to figure out that the site is meant to be a parody, what with all the links going directly to the DSCC site?

Of course, moonbattery and condescension do go hand-in-hand.

Cross posted at Slapstick Politics.