On Sunday’s This Week w/ George Stephanopoulos, the usually reliable Cokie Roberts had some surprisingly harsh words for Senator Mark Udall (D-CO) and his reelection campaign against Congressman Cory Gardner (R-CO).
Speaking during a panel on the midterms, the NPR correspondent maintained that “Mark Udall has run a terrible campaign…Going after women on abortion and birth control and all of these things is pandering in a way that women start to just resent.”
While many liberals have defended the Colorado Democrat’s decision to make birth control the focal point of his reelection campaign, Cokie Roberts added a surprisingly refreshing take on Udall’s obsession with reproductive issues.
Bill Kristol, editor of the conservative Weekly Standard, followed up and criticized Udall even further:
Udall’s just obsessed with this. He's a moderate Democrat senator. He could have run as someone who had been a pretty decent senator, presumably. And instead he looked like a crazy person. Cory Gardner’s going to take away access to contraception. Do people really believe that some Republican senator is going to do that?
Kristol then pointed out that Udall underestimated Gardner’s appeal and argued that "everyone thinks that moderates, independents, they’re pro-choice. They’re unhappy with the Republican conservatives on the social issues. There are pro-life Democrats in the country."
The segment concluded with the conservative commentator expanding on Cokie Roberts’ condemnation of Udall one final time:
It’s kind important to hold those votes if you’re in a swing state. Now, you can hold them if you say I'm pro-choice, I respect you, you're pro life, we just differ on it. If you stigmatize anyone who doesn't have the most extreme pro-abortion views you start losing some of your own voters.
See relevant transcript below.
ABC’s This Week w/ George Stephanopoulos
November 2, 2014
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Cokie how about the worst campaign?
COKIE ROBERTS: Well, the one I did name was -- the worst candidate was this Democrat in Ohio, Fitzgerald. But the worst -- I think Mark Udall has run a terrible campaign. I think that this business of going—
STEPHANOPOULOS: Colorado.
ROBERTS: Colorado. Going after women on abortion and birth control and all of these things is pandering in a way that women start to just resent.
STEPHANOPOULOS: You agree with that?
BILL KRISTOL: Yeah, Udall’s just obsessed with this. He's a moderate Democrat senator. He could have run as someone who had been a pretty decent senator, presumably. And instead he looked like a crazy person. Cory Gardner’s going to take away access to contraception. Do people really believe that some Republican senator is going to do that?
DONNA BRAZILE: Cory Gardner has changed his position on personhood. I guess the Republican haves found their voice in the middle and not on the extreme right that the Democrats position themselves to fight extremists . And these guys have turned -- and women have turned out to be moderates.
KRISTOL: But Udall should have anticipated that.
BRAZILE: Yeah, of course.
KRISTOL: Everyone thinks that moderates, independents, they’re pro-choice. They’re unhappy with the Republican conservatives on the social issues. There are pro-life Democrats in the country.
ROBERTS: Yes, absolutely.
KRISTOL: It’s kind important to hold those votes if you’re in a swing state. Now, you can hold them if you say I'm pro-choice, I respect you, you're pro life, we just differ on it. If you stigmatize anyone who doesn't have the most extreme pro-abortion views you start losing some of your own voters.
