It's not so much the substance of this well-worn Democratic attack that makes it noteworthy, but the incandescent hypocrisy of the man who's attempting to benefit from it. You may have noticed that I've been devoting disproportionate attention to Colorado's US Senate race lately. Guilty as charged, and for good reason: It's one of the
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Team Udall has shot back with another 'war on women' ad, trying to justify their obsessive focus on so-called women's issues (while intentionally glossing over Udall's own extremism):
One 30-second spot, “Succeed”, answers the latest ad from Gardner’s campaign criticizing him for focusing so relentlessly on women’s reproductive health issues. “There’s a reason women and families are front and center in this campaign,” Udall says in the ad, in which he attempts to pivot to other issues of importance to women. “It’s not just about respecting every woman’s fundamental rights and freedoms. It’s that everyone deserves a fair shot at success…with affordable student loans, equal pay for women in the workforce and equal treatment when it comes to what men and women pay for their health care.”
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You bet "there's a reason" Udall is relentlessly targeting women: If his gender gap advantage erodes, it's lights out for his candidacy. So he's saying whatever needs to be said, regardless of veracity, to frighten women about his opponent. One of the poll-tested items Udall raises in this commercial is "equal pay for women in the workforce." See, ladies? Mark Udall's on your side when it comes to fairness and equality, and all the other buzz words to which he expects you'll nod along. But actions speak louder than pandering. Over to you, public records -- via the Free Beacon:
The Free Beacon first reported on Udall’s gender pay discrepancy in April, noting that men on his staff receive an average of $9,783 more than women. A Watchdog.org analysis of salaries additionally found that on Gardner’s staff women make more money than men. There are also more full-time women staffers in his office than there are men.
Not only does Mark Udall pay women on his Senate staff nearly $10,000 less on average than men, Cory Gardner pays women more than men, and employs more women to boot. Indeed, Rep. Gardner's Chief of Staff, Communications Director and legal counsel are all female. As we've discussed on several occasions, the 'pay gap' issue is mostly manufactured, manipulative nonsense -- which the White House has
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Text appears on the screen touting Udall’s support for the current U.S. campaign of air strikes against ISIS in Iraq and Syria. The “b-roll”, or stock footage, used in the ad showing Udall meeting with veterans groups, appears to be the same as that used in another Udall TV ad from his campaign six years ago.
Oops. Udall could use free airtime to respond to any and all of these critiques during a statewide televised debate -- if only he'd abandon his historic refusal to do so.
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