Udall, Guns and Elk

I just wanted to expand a little on what I mentioned in my last post about the positive effects of Udall's appearance as a wholly Western candidate for Senate. I mentioned that he just "came off" that way which isn't particularly substantive blogging, but I think that the point is incredibly important to appreciate.

I think that the Udall family name, and its corresponding association with the West, is thoroughly entrenched in voting Coloradans political psyche. Mark in particular has consistently demonstrated his Western credentials on a number of important issues. His advocating for the preservation of the Roan Plateau is certainly an example of this. The Roan is the example par excellence of the sort of natural resource that Coloradans cherish and yet many in the GOP are advocates of spoiling. A press release from Save Roan Plateau explains that,

Citizens are protesting the leasing because drilling will have permanent impacts on the area’s important wildlife habitat, watersheds, and the region’s air quality [...] Drilling the Roan Plateau could also have serious consequences for water quality and trout streams [...] Energy development will threaten the quality of the plateau’s watersheds, potentially contaminating the Colorado River and harming the drinking water supplies of municipalities that rely on the river.

If the bipartisan outcry over McCain's comments about the Colorado River Pact are any indication, if theres one thing to take seriously about Colorado, its that we are damn serious about protecting our water. In unswaveringly advocating drilling the plateua, Schaffer associates himself with a tradition of Washington politicians alienated from the concerns of those our West.

Further, Mark has been a staunch advocate of hunting rights, and of appropriations that would help develop shooting ranges to compensate for shrinking hunting grounds. This sort of support resonates with voters. In a telling editorial in the Summit Daily News, John Smeltzer writes,

As a retired Colorado Division of Wildlife (CDOW) senior manager and an Endowment Life member of the National Rifle Association (NRA), I understand the relationship between protecting wildlife and their habitat here in Colorado and the protection of our firearm rights under the Second Amendment. Both issues are extremely important to me and sportsmen and sportswomen across this great state. Many Colorado citizens, myself included, chose to live in this state because of our abundant wildlife populations, breathtaking habitat and our great outdoor recreational opportunities, including hunting, fishing and shooting sports — three activities near and dear to my heart. [...]

Even though I am voting for John McCain, I joined more than 75 other CDOW retirees, including two former CDOW directors, in endorsing Congressman Mark Udall as the “Sportsman’s Candidate” for the U.S. Senate.

This exemplifies Colorado's independent streak, and so long as Schaffer doesn't realise that he has to account for the unique priorities of our state, his campaing will continue to squander. Needless to say, Schaffer's GOP cronnies' running ads attacking Udall's (and, incidently, sitting Republican Senator Wayne Allard's) support for an earmark to build a bridge to protect drivers on I-70 from elk crossings (a danger alien to most out-of-staters) won't gain him much ground.