Environmental groups announced yesterday they will back Mark Udall and come in with all the PR resources at their disposal.
The coalition's campaign will target "persuadable voters" who are skeptical and turn to outside organizations for information to back up their choices, said Cathy Duvall of the Sierra Club, one of the organizations in the coalition.
She said oil companies have come to symbolize what's wrong with Washington, and it's easy to make that link when oil companies report record profits at the same time taxpayers are subsidizing those companies and paying increasing prices at the gas pump.
Even when voters list the economy as the most important issue, they talk about the price of gas or heating and cooling their home, said Gene Karpinski of the League of Conservation Voters. And, he said, candidates frame the argument in terms of a clean energy policy being good for the economy.
Environmental groups don't like Big Oil Bob Schaeffer.
Mark Udall is beating Big Oil Bob in fundraising as well.
In Colorado and New Mexico, where Republican senators are retiring, Democratic candidates are outraising the Republicans they are likely to face. Colorado Rep. Mark Udall brought in $1.5 million for his campaign against former Rep. Bob Schaffer, who raised $1 million.
But wait, there's MORE: Udall leads in a Rasmussen poll as well. For Fox.
Udall leads Schaeffer 45% to 42%. Last month it was 46% to 43%, a month before that it was a dead heat.
Udall is Very Favorable among 20% of Colorado voters and 14% view him Very Unfavorably. Schaeffer is Very Favorable among 12% and Very Unfavorable among 15%.
Both candidates saw a slide in favorability over the past month with Udall dropping 4 points to 48% and Schaeffer dropping 6 points to 47%.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again, Obama's coattails makes this a much easier race than Hillary.
Thirty-eight percent (38%) of Colorado voters say the economy is the most important voting issue of Election 2008. Twenty percent (20%) say it’s the War on Terror while 12% name immigration.
Anti-immigration voters:
But the Abramoff scandal hasn't budged the numbers. If you want more on the "Abramoff Scandal," you'll have to go to Colorado Pols or Squarestate, where they get worked up about it. To be honest, I think it's a laugher, and the Udall camp evidently tends to agree with me because they've been silent on the whole thing. Deported jobs, blah blah blah, forced abortions, blah blah blah...
Udall is, evidently, spending these months raising money.
As this race develops, watch for two things to happen: Udall will paint Schaeffer as a tool of big oil. Schaeffer will paint Udall as a Boulder liberal. Udall is, technically, from Eldorado Springs, not Boulder, but don't expect the truth to stand in the Republicans way.