Vote 2002
Udall wants declaration of war
Olsen would repeal Patriot Act
- - - - - - - - - - - -
by Staff (Editorial@boulderweekly.com)

Rep. Mark Udall, (D), considers Saddam Hussein "a ruthless dictator," but he voted against President Bush's carte blanche war resolution, preferring instead that the president seek a declaration of war from Congress before invading Iraq. Udall seeks re-election, among a field of three other candidates, to represent Colorado's Congressional District 2.

"I believe that the president needs to use every tool in his tool box before we resort to the use of force," Udall told Boulder Weekly before his appearance Oct. 21 at a NARAL rally on the CU campus.

Udall also called for a multilateral approach to ridding Iraq of weapons of mass destruction, as opposed to the President's willingness to invade with only British support.

The war issue has created some tension between Udall and the Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center, who accuse the congressman of being inaccessible on the issue. They even offered breakfast on Udall's lawn, but he wouldn't bite.

"I'm frustrated myself with the Peace and Justice Center and their representatives because I've met with them on numerous occasions. I go out of my way to be accessible to my constituents," an exasperated Udall said. "Just two days previous to the activists' showing up on my lawn on a Sunday morning at 8 a.m., they had spent two hours with my chief of staff in my district office."

Udall said he is home every weekend and walks his neighborhood frequently, offering more access than any of his predecessors.

Colorado's District 2 is considered a safe congressional district not just for Udall, but for Democrats in general. He faces three under-funded opponents, including Boulder County Treasurer Sandy Hume. But Udall is spending almost as much money as he did to win victories in 1998 and 2000, mostly because the district has expanded into Broomfield and some mountainous areas.

"You have to have some resources to get your message out. I haven't taken (victory) for granted. I'm out campaigning actively," the undefeated campaigner said.

Udall is sensitive to accusations of being an out-of-state political carpetbagger riding on the coattails of his family name (he's son of the late Sen. Mo Udall, D-Ariz.) The congressman points out that his mother was a University of Colorado graduate and that his grandfather was granted the first concession in Rocky Mountain National Park and started a Denver taxi company.

"But he loved the out of doors," Udall said. "And my mother had spent her summers in Estes Park, hiking, riding, fishing, so I actually have very deep roots in Colorado."

In the 1970s, Udall moved to Colorado from Arizona to climb mountains, ski and teach young people the value of outdoor activities as an instructor at Colorado Outward Bound school. Udall says he is proud to continue the tradition of his father, "serving as a western traditional voice."

Udall says he also wants to continue his father's record of bipartisan cooperation to achieve environmental conservation. He is proud of his James Peak set-aside, a cooperative effort with Rep. Scott McInnis (R), and the Rocky Flats clean-up he sponsored with Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, R-Colo.

Sandy Hume (R), proudly carries the GOP banner in a congressional district that has been all but abandoned by the national party. Today, Hume serves as Boulder County Treasurer.

"The party has written it off, but I personally haven't," Hume said of his election bid. "Unless you're in a targeted race, you don't get much money from the national party."

Hume is using grass roots methods, such as door-to-door campaigning and web pages, to spread his platform of economic recovery, regime change in Iraq, environmental preservation and terrorism insurance.

Terrorism has had a "a chilling effect" on the national and local economies, Hume said, and increases the need for "sound fiscal discipline" as well as for national terrorism insurance that would put the nation back to work.

"The airline industry is still flat on its back," Hume said. "It's hard to believe that United Airlines is talking about bankruptcy."

Hume says he supports the Bush Administration's policy "of holding out the prospect of force to influence a regime change in Baghdad," but he cautioned against an "unappealing" bilateral invasion. "I think we need to make sure we have support from allies in the United Nations and the free world."

Although western society is facing trouble from Muslim extremists, there are actually "promising" signs in the Arab world, such as increasing democratization in Egypt and Turkey, and a legislature in Iran that is 40 percent women.

Hume claims a "solid record" of supporting open space as a former county commissioner and says that Udall's James Peak set-aside "was a great accomplishment."

But Americans have been "loving our forests to death for a long time," Hume said, and now the forests are full of flammable fuels for which there are no federal funds to remove. The private sector is going to have to "harvest specific trees in a setting that is not clear cutting," he added. "Taxpayers funds can only do showcase projects."

If elected to Congress, Hume will seek an appointment to the House Transportation Committee to become involved in solving District 2's traffic problems. The Boulder Turnpike is a "hot prospect" for the addition of HOV/HOT lanes, Hume said. "It's probably the only thing you'd be allowed to do under the Clean Air Act," he added.

Hume wants to see "some kind of light rail" along the I-70 corridor. "Both corridors need thorough and immediate attention."

Norm Olsen (L) is running for Congress because he wants to repeal the USA Patriot Act and the new campaign finance law, "both being pretty much unconstitutional."

Olsen also says he would improve the treatment of the nation's veterans.

"We treat illegal aliens better than we treat our honored veterans," the self-employed GIS software programmer said.

Veterans don't vote together "as a block" so politicians ignore their cries for help, Olsen says. "It should tell a lot of people, 'Don't sign up,' but people are still patriotic enough to sign up. That says a lot about Americans."

Another of Olsen's congressional priorities would be ending the drug war. "It doesn't help anybody. It doesn't help the drug addict and or the prospective drug addict." Forty percent of the people in federal prisons are there on drug convictions, Olsen notes.

Olsen sees the District 2 incumbent, Mark Udall, as representing a national aristocracy. "The country's being ruled by elitists, families like the Udalls, the Bushes, the Gores and the Kennedys."

Olsen grew up in Brooklyn and attended New York Union College, earning a bachelor's degree in physics. After moving to Colorado, he became involved in CAD/CAM programming and then founded his own GIS company, Mentor Software, providing map projection services to oil companies and government agencies.

Olsen has represented the Libertarian Party as a lineholder in three other Colorado elections and senses success in the air. "We're going to have a very good year," he says.

Erik Brauer, (ACP), the District 2 nominee of the American Constitution Party, says socialism is enslaving Americans.

"People have been goaded into believing they're mean and cruel for not supporting government social programs," Brauer comments. "They are presuming to have the authority to force one person to work for another."

Redistribution of wealth is forbidden by the anti-slavery 13th Amendment "because money is nothing more than labor in stored form," Brauer preaches. Taking a person's labor is slavery, he says.

Restoring prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools is one of the goals of the American Constitution Party, but Brauer actually talks more like a Libertarian, calling for an end to the drug war and income taxes.

"I think the two parties ought to be Libertarian and the American Constitution Party," Brauer said. "The War on Drugs is definitely a violation of part of the Declaration of Independence, the part that says we're guaranteed 'life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.' It's ridiculous that anybody wouldn't think it would cause the same problems Prohibition did."

Brauer hasn't filed an income tax return since 1997. "I am a 'Give me liberty or give me death' kind of guy." Although he's raising no campaign funds and spending none of his own money, Brauer says he's running to repeal seat belt, proof of insurance and motorcycle helmet laws.

He also thinks legislators who write and pass unconstitutional laws should be held personally accountable. "In 1983, the Supreme Court said they can't claim good faith and ignorance of the law. Ignorance of the law is no excuse, legally. They can't claim they didn't know it was a violation."

Respond: letters@boulderweekly.com