Mark Twain once said that if you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything. In hindsight, that advice really would have benefitted Mark Udall. Last night, the Denver Post reported a bombshell that will most certainly dog Udall for the remainder of this election.
The report says that in the first Senate debate in 2008, the candidates (Mark Udall & Bob Schaffer were asked their plan for healthcare. Udall, then a Democratic Congressman said, “I’m not for a government-sponsored solution. I’m for enhancing and improving the employer-based system that we have.” Udall then went to Washington and voted for ObamaCare.
“Mark Udall was elected on a lie,” Cory Gardner said. “Mark Udall promised he would not support a government-sponsored solution and he broke that promise and voted for Obamacare.” The ad writes itself. Yes, ObamaCare is very unpopular in Colorado, but even more, the revelation shows, quite starkly, that Mark Udall cannot be trusted.
Udall’s lie was compounded when, less than a year after being sworn into office, he expressed support for a government-run public option as part of ObamaCare. The Fort Collins Coloradoan reported in June 2009: “To get to universal coverage, Markey and Udall said they’re willing to consider a so-called ‘public option’ – favored by President Barack Obama – which would be a government-run plan that would compete with private insurers. … Udall said: ‘Generally, I support having an insurance option available to Americans that is not motivated by profit and that competes with profit-driven insurers on a level playing field.’”
It didn’t stop there. In April 2010, after ObamaCare had become law, Udall again said he supported a public option: “Udall said he supports creating a public option, but added, ‘I thought we needed to bring this drawn-out process to an end.’”
The takeaway? 2008 Mark Udall said one thing to get elected and ever since Udall broke his word, he has been deceiving Coloradans and advocating for government-run healthcare.
Coloradans, like folks across the country, are tired of politicians who say one thing to get elected and do another after being elected. Mark Udall has run a stale, tired campaign. His support for ObamaCare is a problem, as is his recording of voting with Obama 99% of the time. The fact that Coloradans can’t take Udall at his word is perhaps his biggest problem of all.
Seize the day,
Brad Dayspring
@BDayspring
Brook Hougesen
@Brook_H
2014 BATTLEGROUND SONAR
(2014) FiveThirtyEight’s Senate Model Is Back And It Gives Republicans The Edge
The FiveThirtyEight Senate model is launching Wednesday. We’ll be rolling it out in stages, with additional features, functionality and further methodological detail. We’ll also be unveiling our new set of pollster ratings and publicly releasing our database of all the polls used to calculate them. So there’s a lot more to come. But if you’re looking for a headline, we have two. First, Republicans are favored to take the Senate, at least in our view; the FiveThirtyEight forecast model gives them a 64 percent chance of doing so.
(2014) Red-state Democrats run from Obama
For red-state Democrats fighting for their political lives this November, the campaign strategy behind lining up powerful Democratic endorsements seems to be A.B.O.: “Anyone but Obama.” It’s not that these endangered Democrats are fleeing the party. Indeed, Senate candidates in Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky and West Virginia are quick to embrace popular Democratic figureheads, including former President Bill Clinton and even progressive darling Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who have stumped alongside them. But when it comes to President Obama – whose approval rating is sputtering in the low 40s, and whose stance on issues like gun control and healthcare remain deeply unpopular in red America – Democratic candidates seem to want to stay away with a 10-foot pole.
(COLORADO) GOP seizes on 2008 statement by Mark Udall on health care reform
The then-congressman, who was running for an open seat in the U.S. Senate, echoed arguments made by conservatives. “I’m not for a government-sponsored solution,” Udall said. “I’m for enhancing and improving the employer-based system that we have.” In a debate overshadowed by other issues — rising energy prices and the war on terror — Udall’s answer that July barely created a ripple. But in the context of Sen. Udall’s vote for the Affordable Care Act in 2010 and his tough re-election bid against Republican Congressman Cory Gardner in November, the statement takes on new meaning.
NEW U.S. Chamber of Commerce Ad: “Mark Udall: Higher Electric Bills”
(LOUISIANA) Mary Landrieu residency lawsuit to be heard in court Sept. 5
The legal challenge to U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu’s residency will be heard in a Baton Rouge state court at 9 a.m. on Sept. 5. State Rep. Paul Hollis, R-Covington, filed a lawsuit against Landrieu Friday alleging that she lives full-time in Washington D.C. and cannot represent Louisiana because she is not a state resident. Landrieu listed her parents house in New Orleans as her Louisiana domicile when she qualified to run for re-election earlier this month. The Senator, her eight siblings and mother own the New Orleans house together, though Landrieu also owns a home with her husband in Washington D.C.
(NORTH CAROLINA) Thom Tillis Clear Winner In First Debate
In between delivering scripted attack lines that have already been flooding the airwaves for months, North Carolina GOP challenger Thom Tillis on Wednesday night tried to inch toward the center in his first debate against Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan. Appearing more confident and prepared than the incumbent, Tillis became the latest Republican Senate candidate to come out in support of expanding access to oral contraceptives. In a race with a wide gender gap, the state House speaker — who has been defending attacks from Democrats on women’s issues — for the first time went on the offense.
NEW U.S. Chamber of Commerce Ad: “Thom Tillis: A Better Way”
(NEW HAMPSHIRE) NEW: Ending Spending Action Fund Ad: “Profits”
(KENTUCKY) CNN Poll: McConnell continues to lead Grimes
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell holds a slim four-point edge over his Democratic challenger Alison Lundergan Grimes in a new CNN/ORC International Poll of one of the most closely watched Senate races of 2014. McConnell’s 4-point advantage, 50%-46%, falls within the survey’s 4-point sampling error, furthering emphasizing how close this Kentucky contest remains 62 days before Election Day. The outcome of this election may help decide control of the Senate, influence President Barack Obama’s final two years in office and determine the political fate of Kentucky’s longest-serving senator.
McConnell hits 50 percent against Grimes
Rasmussen: McConnell (R) 46%, Grimes (D) 41%
(ARKANSAS) NEW Tom Cotton Ads:
“Indoor Plumbing”
“Social Security for Illegal Immigrants”
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Editorial: Fever chart
(ALASKA) Pants On Fire: Sen. Begich wrongly ties Republican opponent to horrific crime in inflammatory ad
Begich said Sullivan approved a “light sentence” to a sex offender who is now charged with “murdering a senior couple and sexually assaulting their two-year-old granddaughter.” Active, who is awaiting trial, received a shorter sentence than he was supposed to, but the mistake that led to this sentence happened before Sullivan became attorney general. So to pin the error on Sullivan is wrong, and to suggest that he actively approved the sentence is a fabrication. The ad is not only inaccurate, it makes an inflammatory accusation. We rate this claim Pants on Fire.
NEW Dan Sullivan Ad: “Alaska’s Teachers”
Sen. Mark Begich’s ad draws scorn, is pulled off the air
Why Mark Begich’s attack ad did plenty of damage — to Begich
(OREGON) WATCH: Monica Wehby Ad: “Small Business”
(IOWA) New ad again raises Braley’s absence from vets hearings
A million-dollar TV ad campaign that begins Friday slams U.S. Senate candidate Bruce Braley, a congressman, for missing meetings of the House Veterans Affairs while lauding his opponent, Joni Ernst. The 30-second spot was created by Freedom Partners Action Fund, a campaign group backed by the billionaire political activists Charles and David Koch. The first half of the ad hits Braley, a Democrat, on an issue Republicans have raised repeatedly in recent weeks: his absence from 15 out of 19 meetings of the House Veterans Affairs Committee between 2011 and 2013.
Watch the ad here
(GEORGIA) Michelle Nunn Still Silent on ISIS
Two American journalists have been beheaded, and countless innocent Iraqis and Syrians remain in fear for their lives. The threat of ISIS terrorism is growing daily, and Michelle Nunn, who hopes to win the open senate seat to replace Senator Saxby Chambliss, still won’t take a stand. Nunn has infamously declared that she will “defer to the President’s judgment” while Obama naively admitted that he “doesn’t have a strategy yet” to address the ongoing ISIS crisis, and went further today by saying that he wants to make ISIS “a manageable problem.” From what we at zpolitics can tell, like Obama, Nunn doesn’t have a solution, or even an opinion.
(WEST VIRGINIA) Capito says she’ll push for jobs legislation in Senate
Capito, the Republican nominee for a U.S. Senate seat soon to be vacated by retiring Sen. Jay Rockefeller, released a jobs plan last week highlighting the need to capitalize on the state’s natural energy resources, rethink the way future employees are educated, and support for veterans and small business owners. As part of the plan’s rollout, Capito continued a tour of the state where she met with business leaders and constituents and toured a natural gas facility in Northern West Virginia. “What I want to do is get West Virginians back to work,” she said. “I’ve been on a West Virginia Works tour where I’ve been in every region of the state, from agriculture to manufacturing, coal mining, natural gas, restaurants, you name it.”
(VIRGINIA) Senate hopeful Ed Gillespie campaigns with Sen. John McCain at VFW post in Norfolk
The Hampton Roads region serves as a home to every branch of the military and has a large veteran population base as a result. In making an appeal to that segment of the population, Gillespie said he would fight to bring veterans care facilities to Hampton Roads and northern Virginia if he’s elected. Both Gillespie and McCain criticized President Barack Obama’s foreign policy and said that automatic spending cuts known as sequestration need to come to an end. “When I see this world and the turmoil it’s in because of the failure of this president to lead, I regret more than ever that I lost,” McCain said. “After I lost a slept like a baby – sleep two hours, wake up and cry.”
POLLING BRIEF
Rasmussen Reports - August 30-31, 2014
Sixty-seven percent of Likely U.S. Voters consider the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) a serious threat to this country. Just 13% disagree, while another 20% are not sure.
Seventy-three percent (73%) of voters are concerned that the United States does not have a strategy for dealing with this military group, with 47% who are Very Concerned. Twenty-five percent (25%) are not concerned by this lack of a strategy, but that includes only four percent (4%) who are Not At All Concerned.
Twenty-nine percent (29%) rate the Obama administration’s response to ISIS as good or excellent, while 42% say it’s done a poor job.
ON THE TWITTERS
@jameshohmann - Thom Tillis appeared “more confident and prepared” than Kay Hagan in their 1st debate, @tparti writes: politico.com/story/2014/09/l ….
@lynn_bartels - “I’m not for a government-sponsored solution” to health care, @MarkUdall says in 2008 debate. http://dpo.st/1vPyCWR #copolitics
@phillipmbailey - The @CNN poll is the most troubling one yet for @AlisonForKY. First where @Team_Mitch touches the magic 50 percent mark. #KYSen
@JamesPindell - @JustinBarasky I mean @JeanneShaheen last yr “it’s business not government that creates jobs.” http://bit.ly/YcgUz7 #nhpolitics #nhsen
@ellencarmichael - Scanned copy of Sen Landrieu’s voter registration form where she accidentally wrote DC as residence, scratched it out pic.twitter.com/6xGn2eKIyA
@Nat_Herz - “The ad is not only inaccurate, it makes an inflammatory accusation. We rate this claim Pants on Fire.” #AKsen politifact.com/truth-o-meter/ …