Candidates clash over Iraq, economy

PUEBLO • U.S. Senate candidates Mark Udall and Bob Schaffer clashed repeatedly over Iraq and economic policy in a debate here Monday night.

The debate, sponsored by The Pueblo Chieftain and moderated by a member of its editorial board, was in a one-question-two-answers format, eliminating direct exchanges between the candidates, who are vying for the seat being vacated by Sen. Wayne Allard.

Perhaps for that reason, Monday night's event was less confrontational than some earlier debates. But each candidate took time from his response to other questions to make an additional point or two, especially on Iraq.

Udall, a five-term Democratic congressman from Eldorado Springs, noted his longtime opposition to the Iraq invasion and held out the prospect of thousands of alternative-energy jobs in Colorado that could be funded with a slice of the $2.5 billion a week being spent in Iraq.

Schaffer, a Ft. Collins Republican who served three terms in the House but has been out of Congress since 2002, said, "I am convinced that our country did the right thing" by toppling Saddam Hussein, and accused Udall of supporting "surrender" in Iraq.

"Nobody's talking about surrender here," Udall countered. "We already won the war. It's now time for the Iraqis to win the peace."

Udall accused Schaffer, who was vice president of an energy company until the end of 2007, of negotiating an oil deal with regional authorities in the Kurdish zone in Iraq, defying the Bush administration's insistence that oil exports be negotiated by all the principal factions in Iraq.

"I went to Iraq twice to visit our troops and learn what we could do to move the conflict forward and honorably and responsibly exit Iraq," Udall said. "Congressman Schaffer went there to cut an oil deal for his oil company."

Schaffer accused Udall of "intentionally misrepresenting" his activity in Iraq. "I regret that in a campaign for the United States Senate that that becomes a part of the strategy one would use to try to try to propel oneself into the United States Congress," he said.

Udall did not back down. "We can quibble over the details, but Congressman Schaffer's energy company did conclude a deal with the Kurds," he said. "The record is the record."

On the economy, Schaffer accused Congress of encouraging private banks and the semi-governmental lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to make loans to unqualified borrowers.

"When the votes came to make tough decisions about cracking down on these institutions, too many in Congress looked the other way," he said. "That's part of the reason we have the problem we're in."

Udall said the underlying problem was a combination of inadequate regulation of financial markets, huge federal budget deficits, "irresponsible" tax cuts and the Bush administration's "day late, dollar short" response when the finance industry began to spiral downward.

Udall said he wanted tax breaks for working people and small businesses, while Schaffer supported tax breaks for corporations. Schaffer accused Udall of being the biggest-spending member of the Colorado congressional delegation and criticized Udall's proposal to spend $8 billion on a new Department of Peace.

The two candidates did agree on two points, both of them with serious implications for Colorado Springs.

Neither said they want to see the expansion of the Piñon Canyon training area east of Trinidad, a move the Army says is crucial for proper training of the 4th Infantry Division based at Fort Carson. The removal of the 4th Infantry from Fort Carson, the region's biggest employer, would devastate the Springs economy.

And both favored additional studies of the Southern Delivery System, a proposed pipeline to bring water to Colorado Springs from Pueblo Reservoir. Schaffer went further, calling on Colorado Springs to come up with additional "tens of millions" to reduce the impact of additional water flow in Fountain Creek, which carries Colorado Springs' effluent into downtown Pueblo.

Colorado Springs says the pipeline is crucial to its economic health and wants to complete the project by 2012, but more studies would jeopardize that deadline.

Judging by their applause, and occasional boos, the audience of several hundred in an auditorium on the campus of Colorado State University-Pueblo was about evenly divided between the rival camps.

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Contact the writer: 476-1654 or dean.toda@gazette.com