Mark Udall participated in 15 debates when he was running for Senate in 2008. But after six years in the Senate and a dismal record to show for it, Udall doesn’t want to debate Gardner on any of Colorado’s major TV stations for Coloradans to see.
Udall talked a big game early this summer when he made a big deal of inviting Gardner to a series of “spirited” debates. At the time, Udall wrote to Gardner:
“I look forward to working together to secure a mutually agreed upon schedule encompassing appearances and/or debates with mainstream media partners and moderators in the major Colorado television markets.”
Now that it’s time to actually debate though Udall isn’t so keen on the idea. In fact, for the first time in history, an incumbent U.S. Senator – Udall – is declining to do the CBS Denver debate, a debate Udall participated in back in 2008.
Coloradans are starting to take notice and are calling out Udall for running from debates.
Eli Stokols, Denver’s Fox31 political correspondent: “After refusing to discuss our request to hold a debate for two months, Mark Udall’s campaign informed us today they don’t have time to do our debate… this from a Senator who’s had the time to climb mountains on his three-week recess.”
CBS Denver’s Shaun Boyd: “Unlike attack ads that cost millions of dollars to air, it was free air time. But incumbent Sen. Mark Udall said, ‘no thanks.’”
Penfield Tate, Colorado Democratic analyst: “I think it will cause many a voter to ask, ‘Why? Why didn’t you go on TV and do the live debate?”