May 30, 2007 04:31 PM UTC

Udall Takes Heat Gladly, Strategically

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• by: Colorado Pols

As the Denver Post’s Karen Crummy reports:

Colorado congressman Mark Udall has infuriated anti-war Democrats for backing a bill that gives more money to the war in Iraq but rejecting an amendment that gave 180 days for complete troop withdrawal from Iraq…

Udall, who is being slammed by left-wing blogs and is receiving complaining calls at his office, said Tuesday that he voted for additional war funding – without the withdrawal timelines that President Bush vetoed earlier – because military leaders said U.S. troops would be at a disadvantage without it.

“I’m not going to play chicken when it comes to the needs of soldiers on the ground,” said the fifth-term congressman, who voted in opposition to the war in 2002.

Udall said he rejected the withdrawal amendment proposed by U.S. Rep. James McGovern, D-Mass., because a specific date was unrealistic and could possibly render areas of the world unstable.

“We rushed into this war, and we need to withdraw in a phased fashion so we don’t leave the Middle East aflame,” he said.

Only 59 Democrats voted against the amendment, which failed by a vote of 255-171…

But in a state like Colorado, where Republicans and unaffiliated voters respectively outnumber Democrats, Udall’s more moderate stance may pay off politically in the Senate race.

To be attacked by the left wing of the party is a plus for Udall, said Denver pollster Floyd Ciruli. [Pols emphasis]

“His biggest challenge is to demonstrate that he is a moderate, and there is no more important issue this election cycle than the war,” Ciruli said.

As we said before, we understand why the left is angry at Mark Udall. So does Udall. So does the Republican plurality (combined with independents, a supermajority) of Colorado voters Udall must win over next year. Liberal activists who ignore this reality do so at their peril. Yes, the war is unpopular with conservatives and independents as well, but not at the cost of an “irresponsible” end to it. It’s the difficult position Democrats nationally find themselves in, up against a President who while discredited in many circles is still in power, attempting to plot a reasonable course through a bad situation.

It is a source of ongoing frustration for us that some people believe they are the only ones a Colorado statewide candidate should answer to. Udall obviously knows better.