More good news for Mark Udall: NRSC leaving Colorado?

Rep. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) at a taping of NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sept. 28, 2008 (Alex Wong -- Getty Images for Meet The Press).

 This morning, Marc Ambinder (over at the Atlantic) reported:

Republican sources in Colorado and Washington say that the National Republican Senatorial Committee plans to pull out of the state by next week, an acknowledgment that its independent expenditure resources would be better spent on defense elsewhere.

Then, later this morning, PolitickerCO expanded on these rumors saying:

Dick Wadhams, Republican U.S. Senate nominee Bob Schaffer's manager and Colorado GOP chair, said he couldn't confirm that the NRSC would be leaving Colorado next week.

Matthew Miller, communications director for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said in an email that the news meant that the NRSC was "abandoning" Schaffer and "essentially conceding the seat to Democrat Mark Udall."

Udall spokeswoman Tara Trujillo said in an email that "These outside special interest groups are finding out the hard way that their millions of dollars in dishonest, mean-spirited attack ads didn't sway our independent-minded voters or stop Mark Udall from standing up for Coloradans."

Over at WaPo's The Fix, Chris Cillizza updated his Friday Senate Line to reflect "the current state of affairs" given the NRSC's decision to pull down it's ads in Louisiana (and hopefully Colorado soon). He says:

To our eye, the most likely scenario is a Democratic pickup of either seven or eight seats -- a result that would put them within a scintilla of 60 seats with another favorable cycle (by the numbers) coming up in 2010.

As always, the number one ranked race is the most likely to switch party control in November.

You can read his post to see how he ranks the other Senate races, but check out the #3 race: Colorado:

3. Colorado (R): A recent poll conducted by Quinnipiac University for washingtonpost.com pegged Rep. Mark Udall's (D) lead over former Rep. Bob Schaffer (R) at 14. That seems too high but it's clear that Udall is ahead and there are no obvious signs of a Schaffer comeback. (Previous ranking: 3)

Again - all of this is fantastic news/speculation/analysis in favor of the Mark Udall campaign, but we must remain vigilant. Let's not get comfortable for a second. Instead, remember to visit the Mark Udall webpage, volunteer, donate, attend an event, do whatever you can to make sure Mark, and the entire slate of pro-choice candidates (including Barack Obama!), are elected to office on November 4!

Oh Dear... that concludes Mark Udall week on Blog for Choice. I hope you've enjoyed it! Check out NARAL Pro-Choice America's endorsements page to see who else we've endorsed, and stay tuned for next week when we choose another race to focus on!

For more ways to get involved with choice in Colorado, please visit our fantastic affiliate NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado.

(Photo source.)