NSA Critic Udall is Sent Packing

[JI7]

For all the nsa posts here this race did not get much attention at all on here but I'm not surprised.


"Sen. Mark Udall (D-CO) was one of just a few US Senators decrying widespread surveillance even before the Snowden leaks. Udall has been a sharp critic of intelligence agencies since then as well,asking for CIA Director John Brennan to resign after allegations emerged that the intelligence agency gained access to Senate files."


Http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/11/nsa-critic-udall-is-sent-packing-as-republicans-grab-senate/

[Autumn]

1. Such a problem he was.

[Blue_Tires]

2. Guess it wasn't the big campaign issue some people were predicting it would be...

As funny as it sounds, Udall will probably have the freedom to be more effective OUTSIDE of the Senate...

[DisgustipatedinCA]

6. I disagree.

I think it was a campaign issue for many. I know it's still an ongoing problem for me. I suspect there were many who didn't show up to vote, at least in part because of our growing domestic spying program.

[JI7]

8. so they didn't vote for udall because they think they are being spied on ?

[DisgustipatedinCA]

9. Your words, not mine

i do think that spying was one of the issues that depressed voter turnout on the left. I know it's still a huge problem with me. I held my nose and voted a straight ticket, but I wasn't real enthusiastic about it.

[JI7]

11. But udall is one of the nsa critics

[Luminous Animal]

14. So is Gardner.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

15. Understood.

I'm speaking in more general terms. And I don't have numbers to back my claim, but I can well imagine would-be voters, especially young people, deciding they're not voting based on NSA spying, among other reasons. And some subset of that group probably exists in Colorado and may have no idea that their erstwhile Senator was a critic of NSA abuses. Admittedly, it would be a better point had Feinstein just been defeated, but I personally believe that sentiment is out there. Thanks.

[Blue_Tires]

22. Well, hanging their #1 ally in the senate out to dry

sure taught everyone a lesson!

This isn't any surprise; pundits were predicting a difficult race for Udall months ago...Where was silicon valley? Where were Greenwald and Omidyar?

Edit: I see Udall's opponent was also for NSA reform, so maybe that bunch saw the writing on the wall and backed the opponent instead...

[JI7]

7. not even on du

Complaints about emails was a much bigger issue than support for udall

[Raine1967]

21. Sadly that is true.

I had not thought about it like that until now.

damn.

[Octafish]

3. Stood up to NSA and CIA and who knows who else?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=5745190

[LeftInTX]

4. I'm not a Snowden fan at all, but I don't know what went wrong

Colorado has a bit of a libertarian streak and Mark Udall's anti-NSA stance should have motivated voters.

I don't know what went wrong with his campaign. Low information?

[LordGlenconner]

10. He's been accused of running a one note campaign

Centered almost entirely on attempting to paint his opponent as out of touch on women's issues. I believe the nickname Mark Uterus was bestowed on him at some point.

I don't live in Colorado so have no on the ground impression of it but that certainly seems to be the primary criticism.

I'm not sure why he would shy away from the NSA stuff in a state with a libertarian streak. Then again I'm not sure why any of these candidates decided to run away from 5.9 unemployment, gas under $3, more people insured than ever before and so on.

[Luminous Animal]

13. Udall's opponent is also for NSA reform..

http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2014/10/24/nsa-reform-has-2-backers-in-close-colorado-senate-race

Colorado Senate Candidates Both Back NSA Reform
The GOP challenger says Sen. Mark Udall's loss wouldn't doom reform.

The two-term congressman voted in July 2013 for the narrowly defeated Amash amendment, which sought to end the National Security Agency’s mass collection of U.S. phone records, and in June voted for the Lofgren-Massie amendment, which would end “backdoor” NSA data collection on Americans.

In May, Gardner joined many other privacy-minded congressmen in voting against the NSA-reforming USA Freedom Act after initially co-sponsoring it. The bill would end the automatic collection of all U.S. phone records, but was weakened at the behest of the Obama administration and NSA allies.

“I felt House leadership had stripped it down and watered it down and Sen. Udall actually sent out a tweet agreeing with my vote,” he says.

Gardner is co-sponsoring legislation to require law enforcement to get warrants for emails stored longer than 180 days and hopes to vote for greater oversight of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

[Ykcutnek]

5. And absolutely zero races were lost because no one stood up to them enough. nt

[Luminous Animal]

12. Gardner, Udall's opponent is also a privacy advocate...

Colorado Senate Candidates Both Back NSA Reform
The GOP challenger says Sen. Mark Udall's loss wouldn't doom reform

http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2014/10/24/nsa-reform-has-2-backers-in-close-colorado-senate-race.

The two-term congressman voted in July 2013 for the narrowly defeated Amash amendment, which sought to end the National Security Agency’s mass collection of U.S. phone records, and in June voted for the Lofgren-Massie amendment, which would end “backdoor” NSA data collection on Americans.

In May, Gardner joined many other privacy-minded congressmen in voting against the NSA-reforming USA Freedom Act after initially co-sponsoring it. The bill would end the automatic collection of all U.S. phone records, but was weakened at the behest of the Obama administration and NSA allies.

“I felt House leadership had stripped it down and watered it down and Sen. Udall actually sent out a tweet agreeing with my vote,” he says.

Gardner is co-sponsoring legislation to require law enforcement to get warrants for emails stored longer than 180 days and hopes to vote for greater oversight of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

[MH1]

18. Mr "PERSONHOOD AMENDMENT" *** is not *** A "PRIVACY ADVOCATE"

What the hell?

You can't have it both ways.

Oh, unless you think women don't have a right to privacy because they aren't actually people. That the only "person" that matters is the zygote.

Sorry for shouting but PLEASE stop calling anyone who would take privacy away from woman, a "privacy advocate". Because they aren't.

[Luminous Animal]

19. IN REGARDS TO THE NSA. YOU KNOW... THE TOPIC WE ARE TALKING ABOUT.

[MH1]

20. That's like saying someone who's okay with killing children but not adults is against murder. nt

[Nuclear Unicorn]

16. Maybe if he stood with Obama more.

Oh. Wait.

[Tarheel_Dem]

17. Isn't this what historically happens to the party holding the WH, especially in a 2nd term?

Of course, every "group" is....engaging in a lot of Monday morning quarterbacking today. The uber-liberals are blaming the "Turd Way", and reasonable Dems are blaming the ubers. Remember the Clinton revolt of '94? And the Democratic President before Clinton couldn't even win a second term. So, I think this is much ado about nothing. Modern day politics swing wildly from left to right, and throw in $4 billion to scare the hell out of on an older, whiter demo, you're bound to have some effect.

If the ubers were honest people, they would acknowledge that most of these battles were fought on Republican turf this go-round, but tomorrow's another day. But, of course, they never pass up an opportunity to piss on Dems. It may be worth finally taking stock of who the real enemies are, ALL OF THEM.

If we're honest with ourselves, not much was getting done in DC before the election, and I don't see much getting done as a result. Except for a lot of preening and positioning for the 2016 presidential election, and lots of ink devoted to "Why Democrats Lost", not a lot has actually changed about the way Washington will be run. With Republicans back in control, certain liberal bloggers have hit paydirt again, which probably explains why they've worked so hard to diminish Democrats, while making Rep's look like a "not so bad" alternative. :sigh:

Let's face it, we're Democrats, and for better or worse, that has a certain "barrel of crabs" aspect to it.

[JI7]

23. yes, but there are some who always want to view any results of any election as proof of them

being right.

the way they claim Obama ran as something different than how he governed .

i know what you mean about the liberal bloggers but i think they would need a Republican presidency to really make money and i'm sure they will work at it for the next 2 years.

[Tarheel_Dem]

24. "I'm sure they will work at it for the next 2 years."

And there's the cynicism we said we hated six years ago, but it sadly has the ring of truth. AFAIC, way too much is being extrapolated about the fate of Dems in the future. Low turnout, in off year elections, is nothing new among Democratic constituencies. So their being loud is a far cry from "being right".

Rachel Maddow did a great segment from Hoover to the present day, and the ubers were making some of the same prognostications they're making today, and yet the party survives. Go figure.