Another tough day of media coverage for Schaffer, and Dems rejoice

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Bob Schaffer is getting a second consecutive day of tough press coverage from the Denver Post. At issue, once again, is Schaffer’s relationship with jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Today the paper reports that Schaeffer – on two separate occasions – endorsed Benigno Fitial, the governor of the Northern Mariana Islands and an ally of Abramoff’s.

The stories are providing fodder for national Democrats who see the race as a pickup opportunity. Today, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee blasted the story out to political reporters with the subject line, “Bob Schaffer’s Growing Abramoff Problem.”

On Thursday, the Post reported on Schaffer’s 1999 fact-finding trip to the Mariana Islands – a trip that was partly arranged by Abramoff, who at the time was fighting congressional attempts to clean up the island’s labor practices.

Schaffer is facing off against Democrat Mark Udall this fall for the seat of departing Senator Ken Allard.