Washington – Former U.S. Rep. Bob Schaffer will run for the U.S. Senate seat that Sen. Wayne Allard is vacating in 2008, a race expected to be one of the nation’s most expensive and competitive.
Schaffer, 44, said today that he wants to rebuild the Republican Party.
“I am convinced that the Republican Party lost badly in the last two election cycles for lack of message & and because it has temporarily lost its credibility.”
That credibility loss, he said, is partly because Republicans have become “indistinguishable,” from Democrats on spending.
Schaffer, of Fort Collins, announced his intention to run Saturday night at the Boulder County Republican Lincoln Dinner, near the Eldorado Springs hometown of Democratic U.S. Rep. Mark Udall, who also plans to run for Allard’s seat.
“It’s like standing in his living room,” Schaffer said of the location. His appearance at the dinner had been long scheduled, he said, adding: “I just took advantage of that opportunity.”
Colorado Democratic Party chairwoman Pat Waak welcomed Schaffer to the race, saying, “There’s no question whose values are mirrored by which candidate.”
Schaffer, she said, has previously opposed abortion rights and gay marriage, which she called “wedge issues.”
“Those aren’t the most important issues in Colorado, but that’s where he’s been,” Waak said.
Schaffer, vice-president of Denver-based energy investment fund CHx Capital, said that he filed paperwork last week with the Federal Election Commission stating that he is raising money for the race, the only open Senate seat in the country.
In addition to fiscal issues, Schaffer said he wants to look at education and the need for reform, such as examining how much money the federal government pays toward mandated programs.
Asked about taking on Udall, an incumbent congressman with a head start in campaigning, Schaffer said: “My first objective is to suggest dramatic reform within the Republican Party and win the Republican nomination.”
Schaffer, who lost the 2004 Republican U.S. Senate primary to Pete Coors, said he is unaware of any competitors.
Colorado Republican Party chairman Dick Wadhams called the Udall-Schaffer race “a great matchup between a Boulder liberal and a mainstream conservative.”
Udall campaign manager Mike Melanson countered that his candidate is “an independent Western voice.”
