The middle ground is prized territory in the state of Colorado this year, with both candidates in the '08 Senate race attempting to woo independent voters by positioning themselves as centrists. An analysis by the Denver Post shows that Democratic candidate Mark Udall has a much better claim to that contested ground.

One analysis of [Republican candidate Bob] Schaffer's three-term congressional record places him as the 14th most conservative out of more than 3,400 lawmakers to go to Washington since 1937.

To provide some context on that number, Schaffer's 14 spot is to the right of xenophobe Tom Tancredo, global warming denier Jim Inhofe, and the war mongering junta of George Bush, Dick Cheney, and Donald Rumsfeld.
Udall, on the other hand, ranks 509th. Though the Post uses this number to suggest that neither candidate has a legitimate claim to the middle, the conclusion is apparent; Schaffer is an extreme conservative, Udall a much more moderate version of a liberal.
In a state that's well positioned to be among the vanguard in the promotion of alternative energy sources, an issue championed by Udall, we can't afford a Senator who's to the right of the disaster known as W. Bush.
Let's hope that as Colorado's independent voters search for their candidate, they take note that Udall's much closer to home.
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