After repeated calls from the Cory Gardner campaign to pick a side on the ballot initiatives, embattled Sen. Mark Udall finally picked a side, coming out against the fracking initiatives.  At first glance, this might seem to be counterintuitive for a politician, known for being an environmentalist, to come out against the frack ban initiatives, which are thrust upon Colorado by radical environmental groups. But, let’s be clear, Udall is not doing this out of principle, but out of political convenience.  Even Eli Stokols and KDVR acknowledge this fact:

“Hickenlooper was motivated by policy implications, not wanting to enshrine oil and gas regulations that could devastate the state’s $29.5 billion oil and gas industry in the state constitution, as well as political implications, with Democrats worried that the industry’s campaign against the ballot measures could help Republicans this fall.

Udall, regarded as a conservationist, has the most at stake this fall.”

Many Democrats, including Governor John Hickenlooper and, now, Sen. Mark Udall are worried that having fracking initiatives on the ballot would hurt their campaigns.  The truth is that once Coloradans learn that Polis’ fracking bans will crush the state’s economy, there’s no way that they will support it.

Let’s just call a spade a spade – this is purely out of convenience.  Will Udall next support the development of the Keystone XL pipeline after voting no on it 15,014 times (approximate numbers)?