Bob Schaffer

A Colorado U.S. Senate poll released by the Bob Schaffer campaign Thursday shows the Republican nominee and Democrat Mark Udall in a dead heat.

The poll, conducted by Hill Research Consultants - Schaffer's regular pollster - among 553 likely Colorado voters Aug. 23 and 24, shows Udall leading Schaffer 41 percent to 38 percent. That's within the survey's +/- 4.2 percent margin of error.

Most polls of the Senate race up until now have given Udall a slightly larger margin, though Schaffer has closed the gap in the past month.

Schaffer manager Dick Wadhams said the poll results are another indication that "it'll be a close race to the finish."

A spokesperson for Udall was not immediately available for comment.

According to a Suffolk University poll released today, U.S. Rep. Mark Udall (D-Eldorado Springs) leads former U.S. Rep. Bob Schaffer (R-Fort Collins) in the race for U.S. Senate. Schaffer holds a 39 to 31 percent lead among likely voters in the survey, while 22 percent remain undecided.

U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) would have had a good week thanks to some good polling news, but he stumbled hard by calling for a renegotiation of the Colorado River Compact. The governor is still polling well, but took a hit compared to last year, and they're both among this week's Winners & Losers. | CLICK HERE

WASHINGTON - An environmental issues advocacy organization is wading into the world of congressional elections, opening up fronts in some of the nation’s most competitive U.S. House and Senate races.

Environment America, a 501 (c)4 group, is launching a ground organization in the Rocky Mountain State supporting House candidate Betsy Markey and Senate candidate Mark Udall. The organization is also preparing to set up shop in Connecticut, New Mexico, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Illinois, California, and Pennsylvania.

Environment America political director Ivan Frishberg, praising Markey and Udall’s record on green issues, said the organization aimed to go to bat for open seat and challenger candidates who would bring strong environmental resumes to Washington.

Mark Udall's U.S. Senate campaign will continue to campaign during the next two weeks, even as Republican opponent Bob Schaffer will suspend campaigning for 7-10 days as his wife recovers from surgery.

Udall spokesperson Tara Trujillo told PolitickerCO.com that the Democratic U.S. Senate nominee will continue his normal campaigning schedule during Maureen Schaffer's convalescence following surgery in Phoenix to remove a benign tumor on her auditory nerve.  

Schaffer manager Dick Wadhams said though Schaffer himself will be off the campaign trail for "seven to 10 days" starting Tuesday until his wife recovers, his campaign will "continue to do what we were already going to do organizationally and financially.

"Bob honestly needs to be with Maureen, but other than that the campaign will go forward," Wadhams said. "And I would not expect either Udall or his campaign to somehow suspend operations. I don't think there's anything inappropriate with that."

Maureen Schaffer, the wife of Republican U.S. Senate nominee Bob Schaffer, will undergo surgery next week to remove a benign tumor on her auditory nerve.

Bob Schaffer will travel with his wife to Phoenix Aug. 26 for an Aug. 28 operation, his campaign said in a statement Thursday morning. A full and complete recovery is expected, according to the statement.

Schaffer will remain with his wife for 7-14 days after the surgery, according to the statement.

The Republican-leaning blog The Colorado Index, thinks they caught a campaign staffer for U.S. Rep. Mark Udall (D-Eldorado Springs) modifying the wikipedia entry for his opponent, Bob Schaffer (R-Fort Collins). They write: "Unsurprisingly, he doesn't want Wikipedia readers to know about the close connection between Maggie Fox, Mark Udall's wife, and the League of Conservation Voters.  He has eliminated references to that connection twice."

Wikipedia has in the past investigated abuses by Congressional staffers.

The 501(c)4 group VoteVets.org unveiled a new television ad today criticizing Republican U.S. Senate nominee Bob Schaffer for not doing enough to help military veterans.

The ad will start airing Thursday in Denver and Colorado Springs on broadcast TV, and run through next week, VoteVets.org stated in a press release.

Three Colorado military veterans, including Colorado Veterans Alliance President Rick Duncan, blast Schaffer in the ad for his Kurdistan oil deal and for voting against some veterans' benefits funding bills while in Congress.

Former Congressman and onetime U.S. Senate candidate Scott McInnis said he expects liberal 527s to dump major amounts of money into the U.S. Senate race after Labor Day, according to the Grand Junction Sentinel's Political Notebook.

"My guess is the 527 in Colorado, if you could track it, on each side will spend a minimum of $5 million or more. ... I think Colorado's going to have a U.S. Senate race somewhere in the $15 (million) to $20 million range," McInnis said to told Political Notebook's Mike Saccone

"They'll spend millions," McInnis continued. "It's very unfortunate. That's money that doesn't have to be disclosed. Basically they can get away with very generous contributions (and) very limited disclosure."

McInnis offered the recent contests in state House District 55 - held by state Rep. Bernie Buescher's (D-Grand Junction) - as an example of how influential 527 ads can be. In 2006, Saccone pointed out, 527 ads crowded out ads by the campaigns themselves.

Two new television ads attacking Republican U.S. Senate candidate Bob Schaffer are hitting the airwaves in Colorado this week.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee began airing broadcast a TV ad Tuesday blasting “Big Oil Bob” for the Kurdistan oil deal and voting for tax breaks for energy companies.

The 30-second spot is the DSCC's first TV ad in the 2008 Colorado U.S. Senate campaign.

Wednesday, the VoteVets.org political action committee will release an ad that, according to a press release from the group, “will focus on Schaffer’s record on the war in Iraq, and how that has not served American troops well.”

The group will unveil the ad during press conferences in Denver and Colorado Springs, the release stated.