Udall will 'leave it to the pundits' if McInnis would have been stronger foe

GOLDEN--Again by double-digits in the latest Colorado U.S. Senate polls, Democratic nominee Mark Udall isn't joining in the debate about whether former U.S. Rep. Scott McInnis (R-Grand Junction) would have fared better against Udall than Republican nominee Bob Schaffer.

Asked by PolitickerCO.com if he agreed with comments made by McInnis last week that McInnis would have been a stronger candidate against Udall than Schaffer, Udall paused about 10 seconds before answering.

"I went into this race knowing that the voters of Colorado they saw me as an independent pragmatic, Western Democrat -- I had a very good chance of winning regardless of who I faced," Udall said.

"I have the utmost respect for Congressman McInnis. I worked with him on a number of issues important to Colorado," Udall continued. "I'll leave it to the pundits and those who like to prognosticate who would've been a tougher opponent."

"The odds are I'm going to win, but in conclusion, I'll leave it to others to comment," he said.

McInnis announced his candidacy to succeed U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard (R-Loveland) In January 2007, soon after Allard said he would not seek re-election. McInnis then dropped out of the race in March 2007 in part, he said, because of pressure and warnings from GOP leaders such as National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair John Ensign (R-Nev.). The NRSC has denied McInnis' allegations.