Senate Candidates Spar in Greeley

With just two weeks to go until Election Day, the two candidates for Colorado’s open Senate seat sparred Monday in their penultimate debate, discussing their own records, their thoughts on the economy, their feelings about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the campaign’s negative tones.

They even had 60 seconds each to say something nice about each other.

And as the campaign season winds down—early voting started Monday, and Coloradans have begun mailing in ballots—both candidates said they were still jazzed.

“It’s exciting to be in a campaign. The pace is picking up, and we’ve got a lot more people who are interested and engaged in the election, trying to decide who they’re going to vote for and so on,” said former congressman Bob Schaffer.

Rep. Mark Udall said he is glad for any opportunity to talk to people about his ideas.

“Given the changes in the financial markets and the need for real leadership, and the fact that what’s happening underlines what I want to do in the Senate, I actually relish the chance, even though the campaign has been long and sustained, to let the people of Greeley hear what I have to say. And eventually, let’s vote,” he said.

The first question of the debate — sponsored by the Colorado Young Democrats, Young Republicans, The Tribune and its sister papers, and KFKA and KUNC radio — was somewhat less serious, however.

A young man in Denver was filmed asking both candidates to compare how much they’d spent on charitable giving versus spending on their suits.

Udall quoted Alexis de Tocqueville, who studied America’s fledgling democracy and admired Americans’ spirit of charity, and he talked about his own experience rising to the rank of chief executive officer at Outward Bound, a nonprofit adventure education program.

He said he and his wife, Maggie Fox, donate $5,000 to $6,000 a year to charitable causes, and he hasn’t bought a new suit in several years.

Schaffer, a devout Catholic, said he and his wife, Maureen, give 10 percent of their income to charity, and the suit he wore Monday was 5 years old.

“In every way possible, private charity is better than government-run charity,” he said, adding that government should “support but not supplant” private efforts.

Each man sat on a stool and had a bottle of water; Schaffer also had an accordion file full of papers.

The debate, which was the 15th in the race to replace retiring Sen. Wayne Allard, was delayed several minutes because Schaffer arrived late.

Moderator Troy Coverdale, a radio host on KFKA-AM radio in Greeley, made use of his open-air experience and ad-libbed, reminding the audience at the Union Colony Civic Center and on the radio that Monday was the first day of early voting in Colorado.

When both candidates took the stage shortly after 7:10 p.m., Coverdale started things off with a lightning round about several statewide ballot issues.

Energy and the economy dominated much of the candidates’ time, with Schaffer trying to tie Udall to high gasoline and oil prices and Udall trying to tie Schaffer to the oil industry.

Schaffer said Congress needed to wean America off oil imported from unfriendly nations and talked about his experience at Aspect Energy, a Denver firm that specializes in oil production and exploration but which Schaffer said also seeks to use wind and natural gas.

“We have to do it all, and allow these different kinds of energy producers to have a race to the marketplace,” he said.

Udall said he wanted grassroots energy solutions spurred by investment and that he prefers pumping federal resources into new technologies.

“I want to see a bottom-up approach, a thousand garages, like we had in Silicon Valley,” he said. “ET, environmental technology, will be the economic engine of our country if we make the right investments for the next 25 years.”

Despite being told not to voice their opinions, supporters of both candidates quietly clapped, hissed or giggled at some junctures.

The candidates were both asked about the campaign’s negativity, and people in the Democratic section laughed when Schaffer said his campaign was in fact positive.

“We have great objectives that we’re proud of with respect to tax relief,” he said. “I’m for low energy prices, and the congressman has fought hard in Washington to restrict America’s ability to produce energy. When I state those kinds of things, it’s not a criticism at all. I’m not critical of those who share the congressman’s viewpoint. It is a difference, however.”

Udall — who said he supports responsible drilling in the United States but prefers investment in renewable energy — said his campaign ads have focused on ideas.

“You will see me, as this campaign continues and finishes, talk about what I want to do, why I want you to loan me your power, why I want you to send me to the U.S. Senate on your behalf,” he said. “...I’m looking for the best Colorado and American ideas.”

The campaign has been marked by nasty television ads; Republican ads seek to paint Udall as a scary-looking Boulder liberal, and Democratic ads taunt Schaffer for saying his work in the energy industry was “the fun part.”

Afterward, both campaigns said they feel well positioned to win in two weeks, but both acknowledged it would be a tough fight.

“It’s always been a competitive state,” Schaffer said. “This is a state that elected (Republican) Bill Armstrong at the same time (Democrat) Gary Hart was there. (Former Sen.) Ben Campbell, when he was a Democrat, got elected at the same time we had (Republican) Hank Brown, so this is a state that’s always been competitive.”

Udall’s spokeswoman, Taylor West, said the campaign wasn’t taking anything for granted.

“We always knew this would be a very competitive race, but there’s no question that this is a state where the independent Western Democratic message is really appealing to folks,” she said.