(- promoted by Rocky Mountain Right - )

Perhaps feeling nervous about hinging his own political career on Senator Who and the soured deal with Andrew Romanoff,  Bill Ritter has decided to drag Mark Udall and Bernie Buescher into his suicide pact with Michael Bennet on the eve of Andrew Romanoff's entry into the Democratic primary. The Ritter for Governor campaign blasted out a fundraising email on behalf of Bennet (is it even legal for a state committee to plug a federal candidate?) that reads in part:

Michael has only served for a short time, but he has already earned a reputation in Colorado and in Washington as a serious, thoughtful and straightforward public servant.

This is not surprising because no matter what the context -- business, government, or public education -- Michael has built a long record of success, of doing big things, of not shrinking from hard choices or entrenched interests. We don't need to tell you that we need more of that in Washington.

Please stand with us as we stand with Michael. We fully support Michael's campaign for election in 2010, and are asking you to join us in this effort.

The email was signed by Ritter, Udall, and Buescher.

( - promoted by Rocky Mountain Right - )

Remember that political ad from last year, I believe. The visual included a wind mill of sorts followed by an announcer asking about a candidate’s position on various issues. After each question, the wind would kick up and the image would spin frantically.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. The Denver Post reports:

As the Associated Press Reports: Federal prosecutors are investigating PMA Group’s founder and president, Paul Magliochetti, who is a former top aide to Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee that funds defense programs.

Magliochetti is being investigated amid allegations that he funneled money through donors who are listed in campaign documents as PMA Group employees but are not tied to the company. His lobbying firm is in the process of disbanding and plans to close its doors at the end of next month.

Congressional Quarterly includes former-Rep. Mark Udall, D-Eldorado Springs (and elected to the Senate last fall), and Reps. Ed Perlmutter, D-Golden, and Doug Lamborn, R-Colorado Springs, on the list of those who secured earmarks -- either individually or with others --and also received campaign contributions from the PMA group's political action committee or its employees.

The MSM will stall calling either of the statewide races in Colorado on election night until the last minute. Partly because many counties are slow to report and they want to avoid any embarassing errors and partly to maintain suspense as long as possible.

There are a few key counties to watch that historically begin reporting very quickly after the polls close. Keep an eye on these four counties and you will get a good idea of who will carry Colorado by comparing the 2008 returns to the 2004 returns. Watch to see if the Republican (McCain or Schaffer) is meeting or within a few points of Bush's 2004 margin or if there is a shift of five or more points towards the Democrat on election night.

El Paso County
67% Bush
32% Kerry

Colorado Springs is among the most conservative cities in the country. Keep an eye on the results as they role in to see if John McCain is underperforming Bush's 2004 returns. If McCain is struggling among the base, this is where it is going to show.

Mesa County
Bush 67%
Kerry 32%

The ticket-splitting nature of the Western Slope has turned the 3rd Congressional District into a kind of kingmaker in statewide races, much like Ohio or Florida at the national level. Mesa County will be among the first to report on the Western Slope and a swing towards either party here will be a bellwether for the entire region.

Boulder County
32% Bush
66% Kerry

Boulder County is a liberal foil to El Paso County's conservatism. It's worth watching to see if Obama or Udall can improve upon John Kerry's 2004 margin. If they can, it shows that excitement surrounding the Obama campaign can squeeze out even more voters in traditionally blue areas. If not, it shows that even if enthusiasm surrounding John Kerry was lacking he still was able to tap out the Democratic vote in these areas.

Jefferson County
52% Bush
47% Kerry

The margins in Jefferson County closely matched the statewide margin in 2004. This time around, polling shows McCain and Obama tied in the county. JeffCo will be a bellwether for the suburban vote in the Denver Metro area and will reflect any movement towards either candidate statewide.

From the Rocky Mountain News:

"Green is the new red, white and blue," Udall said. "We need new leadership in this country."

No commentary necessary.

Only a day after the Rocky Mountain News reported on Mark Udall early voting in Boulder, the Grand Junction Free Press followed up with this headline:

Udall casts vote in Grand Junction

Of course the article skips over the fact that Udall had already voted and presumably is smart enough not to try doing so again.

According to the Rocky Mountain News, Boulder liberal Mark Udall turned in his absentee ballot.... in Boulder:

This just in: Mark Udall voted - for himself. The Democratic U.S. Senate candidate turned in his absentee ballot Monday at an early voting site at the University of Colorado.

Are we still supposed to pretend he's not from Boulder?

Despite the wishes of ColoradoPols (also known as the Mark Udall for Senate/ ProgressNow Press Office), the NRSC is going to continue to play a role in the state on behalf of Bob Schaffer and will be running this ad starting next week:

Sorry, Jason Bane. Maybe ColoradoPols can take a break from spreading misinformation about the Senate race and go back to promoting posts from "anonymous" users attacking JeffCo Republicans for a while.

But Mark, that was one of the only good things you've said this election. PolitickerCO reports:

“My quotes were misreported,” Udall said in a brief interview outside the Capitol Friday morning, where he was to cast his vote on the financial rescue package coming before the House. “I said, in effect, that if I were in Mr. Rangel’s shoes I might step aside. But it’s up to Mr. Rangel. He’s an American hero, he’s an enormous asset to the Congress...”

As we enter the final stretch of the election, polling from Rasmussen Reports is showing a move in Colorado towards the Republican candidates in the presidential and U.S. Senate races:

President
McCain: 47%
Obama: 50%

Senate
Schaffer: 44%
Udall: 46%

Polling has also shown that over the last few days the presidential contest in New Hampshire and Pennsylvania has narrowed to a virtual dead-heat and that Obama's lead in Michigan has almost evaporated. Unless Obama makes a good showing in the debates, he may be faced with a steady erosion of support between now and election day.

The same people who branded General Petraeus a traitor are now raising money for Mark Udall, saying he would be a Senator in the mold of Al Franken:

Dear MoveOn member,

Elections matter. We have a lot of work to do to get our country back on track. I'm personally focused on what I think is the greatest threat and greatest opportunity—averting the climate crisis and "repowering America" using clean, cheap energy sources. That's why I'm supporting Barack Obama. He's the sort of transformational leader who could move us through such deep, structural change.

But trust me, Barack can only succeed if we also elect more champions in the Senate to stand up to the incredibly powerful oil lobby.

Those leaders are emerging—and three of them are in close Senate races. Kay Hagan in North Carolina, Mark Udall in Colorado, and Al Franken in Minnesota are all real, clean-energy heroes who need our help to win. And they're fighting against Republicans who have taken hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions from the oil industry.

This should be a hint to any voters on the fence what sort of Senator the far-left expects Udall to be.

The NRSC is hitting Udall's anti-middle class record in a new commercial:

Club for Growth is running this ad in the Denver metro area. It's sure to be a sore spot in light of the alleged abuses occurring around the Light Rail extensions.

The Tarrance Group released new polling data showing the Colorado Senate race and presidential race in dead-heats.

U.S. Senate
Udall: 40%
Schaffer: 39%

President
McCain: 47%
Obama 45%

There's still a lot of undecideds in the Senate race. The media barrage from both sides might be turning people off to both candidates rather than giving one of them a real advantage.

Did someone at the left-wing "news" outlet Colorado Independent slip up this evening and post something less-than-glowing about Mark Udall? It certainly looks that way. Google's blogsearch feature caught the teaser of this article from the RSS feed of the site before it went away:

Udall booed by some at Club 20 debate in Grand Junction 7 hours ago by David O. Williams  
Political fireworks punctuated a meeting of the Western Slope advocacy group Club 20 in Grand Junction over the weekend, with Democratic US Senate candidate Mark Udall being booed by some audience members who were clearly more ...
The Colorado Independent - http://www.coloradoindependent.com

That certainly doesn't sound too promising for Udall, who has not exactly been known for stellar debate performances. Of course if you wanted to read their account of it you would be greeted by this:

Come on now, Udall couldn't have done any worse at the Club 20 Debate than he did at the 9 News massacre in July, could he?

Update: And now it's back.

But don't you dare call Mark Udall or any of his supporters "liberals"...

August 24th, outside the Pepsi Center.

July 14th, outside the first Schaffer/Udall debate.