October 14, 2008 10:08 AM UTC

A Prelude To An Endorsement?

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• by: Go Blue

( – promoted by Colorado Pols)

From the Rocky Mountain News, Udall makes his case

Mark Udall dropped by our offices the other day to talk about his campaign for the U.S. Senate, and his visit reminded us of one of the Democrat’s most attractive qualifications: his relaxed, good-natured and optimistic temperament.

Is this a back-handed compliment? Not at all. A good temperament is important in politics. Richard Nixon dug his political grave because of his suspicious, bitter mentality. By contrast, Ronald Reagan sometimes was able to disarm even opponents with his even-keeled sincerity.

As Udall himself says regarding his opposition to the Iraq war, “Have I spent a lot of time saying, ‘I told you so,’ and riling people up about it and encouraging the divisive emotions that people have? No, I’ve said, ‘How do we find a way forward here.'”

He’s right: Mean-spirited gloating does not seem to be part of his nature.

Keep reading the Rocky Mountain News editorial and you’ll notice some similar themes in this editorial as written in the Denver Post and the Aspen Times endorsements of Udall. All three papers recognize that Mark is a moderate pragmatist who has a proven track record of bipartisan accomplishments, but also one who will buck conventional wisdom to do what he believes is right.