“I pose this way because Ken’s posing this way. That’s how you do it, right?”
When Rep. Cory Gardner confronted Sen. Mark Udall at their most recent debate with Udall’s own words, Udall was so shell-shocked that an awkward silence fell over him for an uncomfortably long time, before he fumbled through an answer in which he ended up accusing Gardner of flat-out lying. Gardner wasn’t, and there is audio to prove it.
But, such is Udall’s life, where he has gone to great lengths to try to hide his Boulder, bleeding-heart, tree-hugging, liberal ways that he isn’t even quite sure where he officially stands anymore. It must be hard for him to remember his official stance when it is so far from what he believes in his heart. His now standard, what-does-that-even-mean platitude of a “best of all of the above” leaves us scratching our heads, he told The Wall Street Journal in May that he respects the views of Rep. Jared Polis, a man dead set on taking down energy resources that power more than 80% of our homes, jobs, and economy. As The WSJ reported:
Mr. Udall said in a recent interview in Denver. “I respect Congressman Polis’s point of view.”
Unfortunately for Udall, Polis has not been so vague about where he stands on energy issues in Colorado. Polis has gone out of his way to sponsor legislation and hold press conferences with two of the most prominent faces of the ban all fracking movement, actor Mark Ruffalo, and director of the notoriously faux-documentary Gasland, Josh Fox. In case anyone was wondering where Fox stands on fracking here’s one notable YouTube video Fox made for the group Americans Against Fracking, it even has a Colorado twist:
Which brings us back to Udall; given the fact that Udall believes fracking keeps us “locked into the old system,” and that he respects the views of Polis, even though Polis’ energy bed-fellows are notorious fractivists determined to see fracking banned everywhere in America, what exactly does Udall mean when he spouts off such empty platitudes as being for a “best of all of the above” strategy?
Our guess—judging from how speechless Udall is when confronted by his own words—is that Udall doesn’t even know anymore. He firmly believes and stands with people like Ruffalo, Fox, and Polis, but knows he has to utter what he feels must certainly be bullshit, so he can get back to Washington for six more years and not have Colorado notice he is working against a Colorado industry that provides thousands of good-paying and $29 billion to our economy every year. If Udall is re-elected we can expect six more years of scenes like this one we posted on back in April:
Tom McAdam, who visited with Robinson in early April. Sen. Udall was not available to meet with McAdam. Here’s his notes from the meeting, exclusively obtained by the Peak:
“Senator Mark Udall. Met with the Senator’s Energy LA Carly Robinson. Meeting was not very productive as Ms. Robinson stated that the Senator was an environmentalist and his views were incongruent with support of the Keystone XL. Ms. Robinson said that she was aware of the Heitkamp letter but would most likely not inform the Senator.” [the Peak‘s emphasis]
Can someone get Udall to explain what he means by a “best of all of the above” strategy? Or, will we just have to cobble it together from piecing multiple private meetings with his staffers?