May 15, 2014 01:22 PM UTC

Talk All The Smack You Want, Udall's Buzzfeed List Is Cool

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• by: Colorado Pols

The Denver Post's Lynn Bartels reported yesterday evening, and it rates a mention from us too:

U.S Sen. Mark Udall today showcased his previous life climbing 14s with a 14-point list on BuzzFeed that mixes summits and senatorial life — and might even be more interesting than any ad his campaign is planning…

“For Mark Udall, standing up for Colorado in the U.S. Senate and summiting the world’s tallest peaks are one and the same — well, except for the uniform,” a headline reads.

Conservatives are straining to find something to complain about with Udall's Buzzfeed list, but there's just not much you can say negatively about a guy climbing a real rock (no blue screen fakery here) and smiling. This is great example of a campaign reaching out to where young voters already are, a popular forum like Buzzfeed, and giving them content that's actually fun to look at along with your campaign pitch.

Instead of grousing, we would suggest Cory Gardner's campaign come up with a Buzzfeed list of their own! Maybe there's something from that CBS investigation of Gardner's Florida fundraising junket that would look neat animated? Like a donor writing a big check or something? What does Gardner do for fun? Reread his Obamacare "cancellation letter" and circulate Personhood petitions at church? There's just not been enough life breathed into Gardner's carefully-manicured persona to identify with him. Not so with Mark Udall.

Above all, voters back candidates they like. And Udall has a edge in that regard you can't fake.