Between party hopping and standing in the endless security line at INVESCO Field, anyone attending the Democratic National Convention in Denver who turned on a television was treated to a barrage of ads on both sides of the Colorado Senate race between Democratic Rep. Mark Udall and former GOP Rep. Bob Schaffer.
The intensity of the ads is surprising on two counts. First, most of the spots are paid for by third-party groups and a majority are aimed at Udall, belying the conventional wisdom that there wouldn’t be any money from Republican friendly 527 and 501(c)(4) groups dedicated to Senate races this cycle. In fact, according to the Denver Post, third-party groups and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee are spending $8 million on advertising through the end of August, nearly $6 million of it on television spots attacking Udall.
The second bit of surprising news is that this race is still as close as it is. Early in the cycle, many Democratic strategists believed that Udall would put this contest away early, or at least open up a decisive lead.
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