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Dems rip Schaffer campaign manager's language

By Lynn Bartels, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published August 4, 2008 at 6:40 p.m.
Updated August 4, 2008 at 6:41 p.m.

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Dick Wadhams

Dick Wadhams

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Two Democratic groups ripped Republican Senate candidate Bob Schaffer's campaign manager Monday for using foul language when talking about Democratic opponent Mark Udall.

But campaign manager Dick Wadhams said he has nothing to apologize for.

Wadhams was quoted in a Saturday Rocky Mountain News story about Udall, a congressman from Eldorado Springs, missing the initial vote in Congress on whether to adjourn for the summer.

"We're going to shove a bunch of 30-second ads up his a** on this issue over the course of the campaign," Wadhams said.

The Colorado Democratic Party called on Schaffer to "clean up the sleaze in his campaign."

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which helps elect Democratic candidates, described Wadhams' comment as a "bizarre, vulgar outburst."

"We can only assume that Bob Schaffer's friends on the far right will be disappointed with his campaign's sleazy comments," the DSCC said in a release.

Wadhams laughed today when heard that Democrats criticized his potty mouth.

"I embrace what I said Friday. I have no apologies. I won't back down at all," he said. "If Democrats want to embrace Boulder liberal Udall who missed votes in Washington so he could fund raise in Colorado, let's have that debate."

Udall had promised during a debate with Schaffer to vote against the adjournment until Congress considered energy legislation. He missed the initial vote, but voted "no" during the official vote two days later.

Udall also skipped a day of work in Washington to handle meetings in his district and attend a fund-raiser.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee on Monday released a blistering Web video called "Udall's Day Off." The backdrop shows a gas tank and gas prices increasing.

Udall's campaign, for its part, released a column by David Broder in Sunday's Washington Post.

Broder identified Udall as one of five Senate candidates who are "centrists who have been tested in real-world politics and have little tolerance for ideological extremes."

Broder also identified Schaffer as "more conservative than the retiring" U.S. senator, Wayne Allard, R-Loveland.

Comments

  • August 4, 2008

    3:27 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    WestminsterJ writes:

    As if we needed any more evidence that Republican candidates have no class.

  • August 4, 2008

    3:31 p.m.

    SPUD writes:

    (This comment was removed by the site staff.)

  • August 4, 2008

    3:34 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    temurlan writes:

    I think it's funny. Any Senator that voted to adjourn or missed the vote needs something shoved up there. Something more tangible than an ad though.

  • August 4, 2008

    3:48 p.m.

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    mikeyg writes:

    Hey - Udall's from Boulder, he actually may enjoy the sensation!

  • August 4, 2008

    3:58 p.m.

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    RockyMtnMac writes:

    Udall's camp reminds me of a little kid who pinches their brother and then screams for Mommy's (Voter's) attention when brother punches them. Watch for the passive aggressive BS to be pulled out by Udall, he's famous for it. And Shaffer? Yeah that jerk said he would only serve two terms, and he only served two terms. I know he did it just to make Udall look bad!

  • August 4, 2008

    4:42 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    mytwosense writes:

    Wadhams wouldn't apologize if he accidentally ran over his own mother. And he also wouldn't apologize for this incident even if it meant Sweatshop Schaffer loses the election.

    How he ran Senator George Allen's campaign into the ground is an instructive example: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/...

    This is the man whom Sweatshop Schaffer has chosen to run his own campaign. And that decision speaks volumes about his own character, or lack thereof.

  • August 4, 2008

    4:43 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    DenverDan writes:

    That is how all republicans work. Say or do anything for a vote.

    ezekiel777- You seem a lit Anal, did you go to Haggards church, or do you hang out at airport bathrooms?

    Obama 08

  • August 4, 2008

    4:49 p.m.

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    Newenergycommie writes:

    It is about time the republicans get serious. Udall got a pass for his stupid "wind power will free us from foreign oil ads” then he misses a key vote on energy legislation. He needs to put a windmill where the sun doesn't shine. Wadham’s comment and the energy protest in the house made Friday a pretty good day for republicans. Keep it up, we’ve got a government to take back.

  • August 4, 2008

    4:54 p.m.

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    ecoscience writes:

    So Udall gets a liberal "journalist", David Broder, to say Udall is a centrist and Schaffer is more conservative than Allard. I don't want any more out-of-staters trying to influence my vote. Whether or not Wadhams has a potty-mouth.

    NO MORE TAXES. You government people aren't doing that well with what we are already paying you. Udall = Higher Taxes. Schaffer does not. All the smear campaigns in the world can't change my mind. Sorry.

    And I must correct you, mikeyg. Udall is not from Boulder. He's from Eldorado Springs. He's too elitist even for Boulder!

  • August 4, 2008

    5:05 p.m.

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    mytwosense writes:

    ecoscience, refusing to cut taxes for the rich is not the same as raising taxes. Surely you have a small enough understanding of basic math to process this.

  • August 4, 2008

    5:06 p.m.

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    DenverDan writes:

    ezekiel777

    Cant have change with the same people doing the same things.
    Are you for McCain or against Obama?

  • August 4, 2008

    5:06 p.m.

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    jay writes:

    big oil bob is getting desperate.

  • August 4, 2008

    6 p.m.

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    Mike846 writes:

    Udall votes lock-step with Pelosi and the other radicals in Congress. Now its coming back to haunt him. As for "big oil", oil companies do what they do, which is find, recover, refine and ship petroleum products. Forget gasoline. Look around your house. Besides energy, a lot of the synthetic (plastic and the like) products you have come from oil. Living without oil products, especially energy products, and going to "alternatives" ain't gonna happen. The Dems don't want to drill, don't want to dig, don't want to use nukes and DO want to drain our stategic petroleum reserve to get a quick fix on a much larger issue to make them maybe look good. But consumers are catching on, and realize that wind and the sun aren't efficient and can't produce the amounts needed to support 300 million people. Hold your nose if you must, but vote Republican. Mike

  • August 4, 2008

    6:25 p.m.

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    HopiMedicineMan writes:

    I'm voting for the oil guy. We need his expertise and the will to drill. Udall is out of the game on energy. And no one, NO ONE, cares that Wadhams used the word "#$%%^."

  • August 4, 2008

    8:21 p.m.

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    mikeyg writes:

    Don't correct me "ecoscience". Just 'cause Udall moved from Boulder city limits a few years ago when he decided to run for Senate and knew hailing from the city of Boulder would hurt him statewide doesn't mean he's not from Boulder. He represented Boulder in the state legislature. He still represents the city of Boulder in congress and, most importantly still lives in Boulder county. Mark Udall, is in fact, from Boulder.

    And being from Boulder, my earlier comment still stands: he'll probably still enjoy the sensation of what Wadhams speaks to.

  • August 4, 2008

    8:35 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    mrfxx writes:

    Vote for the oil guy - after all, what with high gas prices being the fault of Dems and all...

    If you don't realize that big oil will sell to the highest bidder, whether that bidder is US or foreign (thus maintaining both profits and the price at the pump), you don't understand supply and demand. That's if they get crude out of the ground where they say it is - and to the pumps in say 10 years. As far as shale oil, so far, only Shell is investing in a R&D project (which they say will probably last another 5 years) to see if they can make it cost effective (in the 80's, when the oil companies found out how pricey and what hard work it was, they deserted Grand County - after making a big mess for the county to clean up). Shell thinks IF they can make it cost effective, it would 10-15 years before the first drop hits the first gas tank. If the oil companies find "regular crude" it would still be 10 years from building out infrastructure (you do realize that all the pipes for pipelines have to be imported) to the first drop hitting the first gas tank.

    By the way - the best example of supply and demand is PUC getting the Colorado citizenry to pay for the pipelines that Xcel is using to pump Colorado natural gas to other states, then raising Colorado rates 38%. Anyone who thinks big oil wouldn't do the same to any crude found here is either in big oil or a shill for big oil - or a fool who believes what big oil says.

  • August 4, 2008

    9:46 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    jbowen43 writes:

    McCain has missed over 100 votes and hasn't been in the senate in over three months. That's not an issue the Rocky will cover that's for sure.

  • August 4, 2008

    10:22 p.m.

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    JJ writes:

    It is just interesting how hypocritical some people are. Wadhams and others like him such as Rove have no conscience. Dividing the country is more important to them than solutions to the problems that leaders in their party have created over the last 7 years. Truly, they are desperate. McCain's adds are a case in point, they are hysterically funny and pathetic. There is an article today in the New York Times, check it out, about how the R's are losing registered voters in many states. The tide is turning. It has already been documented that Schaeffer is corrupt. The voters today are not falling for the politics of fear and smear. They are tired of it. The R's are so weak on solutions they have to resort to dirty tricks and now, foul language. But the jinx is up. The R's are out. The voters want solutions, not fear. We want out of Iraq, we want an energy policy that goes beyond short term solutions, an immigration plan that protects American workers, secure borders, I could go on. We want healthcare for everyone, and an end to tax cuts for the rich. But above all, we want a nation we can be proud of again. Look at the cover story of THE ECONOMIST. Who can pull us up out of this mess? Not the R's, they got us into this. Don't forget that when you mark your ballot in the Fall.

  • August 5, 2008

    3:25 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    ksells writes:

    There is only on group that the Republican party demands family values - Democrats. It is strange that a very high ranked candidate for the Speaker of the House, who ran on a family values stand would have a mistress set up in a condo and be defended by the rank and file of the party as unfairly attacking his position while saying that anyone in the Democratic party who fooled around should be impeached. And of course if a Republican elected official wanted to play around with underage boys, accepted huge amounts of bribes, told incredible lies to his religious right supporters with no intent to follow thru, it was done because the dumb rubes didn't have enough sense to come in from the rain. So is it strange that excuses are made for being "potty mouthed"? I'm sure he uses the same language in front of his family on Sunday diner. And of course, he'll apologize and blame it on the Democrats.