Democratic Senate candidate Mark Udall missed a critical vote today that might have kept Congress from going into summer recess until it passed an energy bill, breaking a vow he made in a recent debate.
Udall spokeswoman Taylor West said the Boulder County lawmaker was on his way back to Washington at the time and that the vote was called with only ten minutes notice. Udall asked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to delay the vote but without success, and the resolution passed by one vote, 213-212.
With gas prices the number one worry of voters, promising to try to keep lawmakers in session until they took action was a bold stroke, but missing that vote could be an equally costly political mistake by the five-term congressman.
Udall’s staff said the Democrat stayed in Colorado to attend several campaign-related events, including a meeting with Hispanic leaders and a fund-raising event – a circumstance that Udall’s Republican opponent quickly jumped on.
“While Coloradans are paying $4 a gallon for gasoline, I guess it wasn’t important enough for (Udall) to show up for work this week,” said Dick Wadhams, the campaign manager for Republican Senate candidate Bob Schaffer. “He made a commitment Monday, he didn’t even show up for work Tuesday, and then he missed the vote today.”
West said that her boss will send a letter to Pelosi today objecting to the fact that the vote wasn’t delayed long enough from him to make it from the Washington airport to the capitol.
