Udall’s focus on only one issue has boomeranged

The “war on women” just hit Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) in the face. The Denver Post‘s endorsement’s of Rep. Cory Gardner (R) in the Colorado Senate race, published this afternoon, makes it clear Udall has used women’s reproductive health at the expense of more important policy questions and it is imperiling his campaign for reelection. “Rather than run on his record, Udall’s campaign has devoted a shocking amount of energy and money trying to convince voters that Gardner seeks to outlaw birth control despite the congressman’s call for over-the-counter sales of contraceptives. Udall is trying to frighten voters rather than inspire them with a hopeful vision. His obnoxious one-issue campaign is an insult to those he seeks to convince,” states the endorsement.

The Denver Post‘s stinging criticism confirms what pollsters have heard from voters in focus groups for weeks now — that Udall took a reasonable, and even politically powerful issue, and turned Coloradans off by speaking of little else. Now it has boomeranged. Is there enough time left to get them listening again?

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