By Ed Sealover

Rocky Mountain News

July 30, 2008

Rep. Mark Udall learned Wednesday there are some political promises he shouldn’t make.

Like pledging to oppose sending Congress on its summer break - and then missing the vote altogether.

Wednesday, the House voted 213-212 to adjourn this week.

The vote came two days after Udall vowed, in a televised debate, to oppose recessing unless the House first took up a crucial energy bill.

Udall, who spent Tuesday campaigning in Colorado, had just landed in Washington on Wednesday afternoon when he got word that the adjournment vote was imminent.

He phoned House leaders, asking them to delay the vote, but they didn’t.

Udall was racing up the Capitol steps when voting closed. He was one of 10 members absent for the tally.

Tara Trujillo, press secretary for Udall’s Senate campaign, said that the Eldorado Springs Democrat was “extremely upset” that he was not allowed to cast a ballot.

But Dick Wadhams, campaign manager for Republican Senate nominee Bob Schaffer, said that Udall not only broke a promise, but that his non-vote was worse than had he voted in favor of the adjournment resolution.

“It’s one thing to vote wrong, but to not even show up for the vote? Even by ‘U-turn Udall’s’ standards, that’s extraordinary,” Wadhams said.

The adjournment resolution became an issue Monday when Udall and Schaffer, a former congressman from Fort Collins, argued over the solution for rising gas prices. Schaffer said that House Republicans are backing a bill that calls for more domestic drilling and renewable fuels but that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi would not let it come up for a vote.

Schaffer challenged Udall to vote against sending Congress off to its monthlong summer break unless the bill were brought to the floor, and Udall agreed.

On Wednesday, the five-term congressman expressed great frustration that he could not cast his vote - presumably the swing vote in the 213-212 tally that would have postponed the recess. He wrote a letter to Pelosi calling the decision to ignore his delay request “disturbing.”

“There’s no question that Mark Udall is angry on how this was handled because he knows that our country is worse off under our current energy policy written by President Bush and Bob Schaffer,” Trujillo said.

Udall also missed three votes on successful bills Tuesday while he was in Colorado. He did return in time to vote for a bill that would have cut down on the manipulation of oil prices by increasing oversight of commodities markets. That measure failed when only 61 Republicans supported it.