Not for the first time, either. The Denver Post, in its surprise endorsement of Cory Gardner, slammed Udall for running the dumbest, most obnoxious, insulting “war on women” campaign yet.
Here’s a little enticement to get you to spend your election night with us at Hot Air. I’ll be covering the Gardner/Udall race, and if Udall ends up eking out a win, I’m going to have the most awesome, five-alarm “abandon all hope” RINO despair meltdown here on the site you’ve ever seen. If we can’t win in an ostensibly purple state, in a wave-y year, with a candidate whom even his opponent’s staff thinks might be the cream of the 2014 crop, against a moron who mumbles about uteruses the way Hodor mumbles about Hodor, I’m going to snap. Right before your eyes.
What does it look like when the big A goes full eeyore? And can the Internet handle it? Even I don’t know.
Then, finally, came the only reference to policy in Udall’s speech. “And by the way, I’m proud to stand with Colorado’s women,” he said, almost as an aside. “I’m proud to stand for reproductive freedom.”
An angry voice from the crowd jeered: “That’s not the only thing you stand for! Jesus Christ!”…
Minutes after interrupting the senator’s speech, [Leo Beserra] vented, once again, to the Guardian. “I’m trying to figure out who in the hell decided this was how the campaign was supposed to go.”…
“Who is running the worst campaign? Him. Because fucking abortion is all he talks about. He should not talk about it any more whatsoever. There are so many other issues.”
Referring to the 2012 election strategy, Beserra added: “Two years ago it might have made sense. But didn’t they get an inkling that it wasn’t working [this year]?”
Beserra’s a millionaire who’s given thousands to Colorado Democrats but he’s had all he can stands and can’t stands no more. You would think that’s a sign that Udall’s goose is cooked — but is it? Until last week Gardner was out to a comfortable lead in the polls, with several showing him ahead by as much as six or seven points. The last few polls have seen that lead shrink; lately he’s up by just one or two. That’s probably enough — even a one-point lead in the polls at this stage of the race almost always means victory — but the fact that the race has gotten tighter lately makes me nervous. What if the traditional Democratic GOTV advantage holds tomorrow too? Dude:
Gardner heading into election with 2.5-point lead in RCP average. http://t.co/SZVRbArUo9 In 2010, Buck had 3.0-point lead; he lost by 0.9.
— John McCormack (@McCormackJohn) November 3, 2014
It’ll take something stronger than the melting bunny video to capture the horror and grief if Gardner loses. On the other hand, via the Corner, maybe we’ve got this after all:
In a few hours, we may have a solid idea of whether or not Udall even has a chance to keep his seat in Colorado. Democrats said over the weekend that they were starting to see the GOP advantage in ballot returns (well over 1.1 million have already been cast in the state) shrink at a faster rate, and Udall can’t win unless that trend remains. Republican returns outpaced Democratic ones by 9 percentage points last Friday; if today’s report from the secretary of state’s office doesn’t show a big decline toward 5 or 6, Dems’ eventual goal, it’s hard to foresee anything but a Gardner win.
Even if Gardner holds on, no one really believes that Udall’s loss is waterloo for the “war on women” nonsense, right? Hillary’s candidacy guarantees a reprise in 2016, and even if she’s not running, the higher Democratic turnout in a presidential election year means there’ll be many more single women at the polls. That’s what makes Gardner’s victory especially significant potentially, though: If turnout is high in Colorado and he wins anyway, it’ll be proof that Republicans — or at least, a very polished Republican — can win in a battleground state even when lefties have the numbers and the demagoguery on reproductive issues turned up to 11.
Actually, I think this video properly captures the damage to my soul if Udall wins.
Russell Brand at the 2012 Closing Ceremonies from Rikki Sixx on Vimeo.
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