http://blogs.denverpost.com/...
You can click here to take the quiz:This just out: a new game called “Buck or Gardner” from U.S. Sen. Mark Udall’s campaign, which claims that Congressman Cory Gardner’s views are “straight out of the Ken Buck playbook.”“Think you can tell the difference between Buck and Gardner? We bet you can’t,” is the premise of the game.
Linking Buck to Gardner is a strategy you can expect Democrats to make on the campaign trail — ProgressNow has already done it. Buck was the GOP nominee for Senate in 2010, but narrowly lost to Democrat Michael Bennet after some self-inflicted wounds that helped turn off women voters. Buck jumped out of the 2014 Senate race after Gardner decided to jump in.
Those who take the quiz are asked questions on a variety of topics, from abortion to immigration to climate change to equal pay to Medicare.
“No matter how closely you look or how hard you squint, there’s no distinguishing Ken Buck’s ideas from Cory Gardner’s record,” Udall campaign spokesman Chris Harris said. “If Ken Buck believes it, the odds are that Cory Gardner has voted for it.” - Denver Post, 3/13/14
Udall is aiming to define Gardner early in the race as a Tea Party extremist, which he is:
http://www.coloradoindependent.com/...
This is actually a great strategy because Colorado voters have overwhelmingly objected Personhood initiatives. Voters rejected the Personhood initiative at the polls in 2008 and second attempt in 2012 failed to get enough signatures to get on the ballot. Udall will have a number of issues like immigration and climate change to prove Gardner's out of touch with Colorado voters. And Udall is going to need our support because the Kochs are going to spend big to defeat him:A release from Udall’s campaign Wednesday afternoon barbs Gardner for the role he has played – both under the gold dome in Denver and on Capitol Hill in Washington — as a lead advocate for hardline anti-abortion proposals that some of the top women political figures in the state say would infringe on women’s rights and put their health at risk.Speaking in support of Udall, U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette — the state’s First-District Democrat and co-chair of the congressional Pro-Choice Caucus — puts Gardner among the staunchest anti-abortion members of the House.
“In Congress, [he] voted to allow hospitals to refuse to save a woman’s life if doing so would require her to terminate her pregnancy. He cosponsored a bill to make abortion a felony even in cases of rape and incest, and he supported the radical Personhood Amendment that would ban some common forms of birth control,” she said in her own release.
State Rep. Crisanta Duran, a Democrat from Denver, characterized Gardner’s abortion laws as government overreach.
“Udall understands that women know best when it comes to our health and family,” she said.
State Sen. Irene Aguilar, another Denver Democrat, celebrated Udall’s support for legislation aimed at ending gender-based pay discrimination.
“Mark understands that women getting equal pay for equal work isn’t a women’s issue, it’s an economic and family issue, ” she said. “He cosponsored the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the Paycheck Fairness Act because he agrees it’s a disgrace that the average woman makes 20 percent less than a man doing the same job.”
Grand Junction community leader Martelle Davis described Udall as the kind of fighter women need in Washington after decades-long tacit agreements and truces over abortion-rights have fallen apart.
“Mark Udall has been an unflinching advocate for Colorado women in the Senate. I know I can count on him to stand up to those like Cory Gardner who seek to criminalize abortion and restrict access to contraception.”
Gardner is an affable figure on the stump and comes across as well on TV as in person. Republicans around the state have been inspired by his surprise candidacy. They hope he can bring momentum to a political landscape in which former GOP officeholders have been retreading old ground and fighting what can seem like ancient battles at a time when the public is moving with lightning speed toward acceptance on issues like gay rights, the morning-after pill and immigration reform.
Udall clearly is set on forcing Gardner to reckon with the fact that the Tea Party policy positions he embraced, that fired up his rural constituencies over the last decade and that fueled his way to Washington are out of step with the views held by the statewide majority electorate today.
As the media has detailed in the last week — and as Udall’s campaign is eager to point out — Gardner as a state legislator in 2007 sponsored a bill to outlaw abortion, including in cases of rape and incest. He also supported a bill in Washington that made headlines across the nation for attempting to redefine rape to include only “forcible” instances of the crime — presumably a way to reduce the number of rape pregnancies in which public money could be used to pay for an abortion.
Gardner has also supported numerous failed attempts to pass a so-called personhood constitutional amendment that would grant fertilized human eggs full legal recognition, outlaw abortion in all cases and threaten fertility research and treatment. YouTube video of Gardner on the stump in 2010 has him saying he not only supported the measure but passed around personhood petitions at his church. - The Colorado Independent, 3/5/14
If you want to donate or get involved with Udall's re-election campaign, you can do so here:Americans for Prosperity has reserved nearly $850,000 in airtime for TV ads that will begin Monday.A source tracking media buys told POLITICO that about $500,000 in time has been reserved in Denver and $340,000 has been reserved in Colorado Springs. The money is spread over three weeks.
The Koch brothers-backed group is making the buy in the wake of Republican Rep. Cory Gardner’s decision to challenge Democratic Sen. Mark Udall. - Politico, 3/14/14
