Home > Political Notebook > Archives > 2008 > May > 13 > Entry
Udall directly confronts Schaffer on the Northern Mariana Islands
For the first time this election cycle, U.S. Senate candidate Mark Udall, D-Colo., directly criticized his opponent, Republican Bob Schaffer, R-Colo., for his work on labor issues in the Northern Mariana Islands.
“I know that from what I read and the people I listened to, it was clear that there were abuses there. … I don’t understand how you could leave the Marianas thinking everything was perfect,” Udall said, according to The Denver Post.
Udall and Congressman George Miller, D-Calif., held a press conference Monday to celebrate President George W. Bush’s decision to sign into law a bill to reform worker and immigration policies for the U.S. commonwealth.
Schaffer’s campaign manager, Dick Wadhams replied that Udall was using the issue as an election-year gimmick, given that the longtime Eldorado Springs congressman had never spoken on the issue before.
“He was so concerned about the labor abuses that he was silent and totally uninvolved … until he thinks he can use it politically in a campaign,” Wadhams told The Post.
Actually, as Coloradopols and the article point out, Udall has been active on the issue for nearly a decade.
* * *
This political sparring is to be expected, given the high stakes of the race to replace outgoing Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo. That said, Udall’s decision to speak directly on the issue and not via his campaign staff shows that Udall plans to hammer on this issue at least for the foreseeable future.
*Udall photo shot by Political Notebook. Wadhams photo from The Daily Sentinel archives.
Comments