Mark Udall

The Fourth of July is about fireworks, barbecuing, parades and -- of course -- politicking.

After the jump, check out where Colorado candidates for U.S. Senate and Congress will be on America's birthday.

Surprise! The Supreme Court picks some winners this week. We just hope they clean under the bench regularly. Wally anoints some whinners of the week too.  So check in with Wally Edge for Weekly Winners & Losers: it's your patriotic duty this whole week long.

Presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has a 5-point lead over likely Republican opponent John McCain in Colorado, according to a new poll released Wednesday.

The survey also shows Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Mark Udall with a 10-point lead over Republican candidate Bob Schaffer, and indicates widespread support for a proposed constitutional amendment banning discrimination or preferential treatment in public employment, contracting or education.

With energy and the environment emerging as hot button topics this election year, two environment-focused advocacy groups are spending heavily in competitive House and Senate races in Colorado.

The League of Conservation Voters is coming out strongly for Democrat Mark Udall in his run for the seat of retiring U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard (R-Loveland). The organization has sunk more than $565,000 into two television advertisements slamming Udall’s Republican opponent, former U.S. Rep. Bob Schaffer.

Earlier this week, Defenders of Wildlife PAC began airing two television advertisements targeting U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, who is engaged in a competitive race with Democrat Betsy Markey. The organization has purchased about $200,000 in television airtime and spent about $12,000 to produce the ads.

A new Democrat-funded poll out today shows Democratic U.S. Rep. Mark Udall leading former U.S. Rep. Bob Schaffer in the race for the seat of retiring U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard.

The poll, conducted by Garin-Hart-Yang Research for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, shows Udall leading Schaffer by a 46 percent to 37 percent margin. In a generic ballot test, Colorado voters say they would vote for a Democrat by a 42 percent to 36 percent margin. The poll has a margin of error of 3.5 percent.

The seat is widely seen as one of the most competitive this fall. While Republicans have been accusing Udall of being too liberal for the state, Democrats have been painting Schaffer as an extreme conservative and an unethical politician, hammering him for his alleged connections to jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

In today's Inside Edge, Wally takes a look at some hypothetical political match-ups. Warning: we won't responsible for the nightmares you have after reading this column.     

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Mark Udall now holds a nine-point lead over his Republican opponent Bob Schaffer, according to a Rasmussen Reports telephone survey. This gain marks the second three-point increase in Udall's lead over Schaffer in the three polls Rasmussen Reports has conducted on the race.

Udall and Schaffer are competing to replace Republican Sen. Wayne Allard, who is retiring this year after two terms in the senate.

Colorado Democrats US Rep Mark Udall and US Rep Ed Perlmutter said on Monday that "America needs to wean itself off its addiction to fossil fuels," according to 7News Denver's web site. Their remarks take on added importance because John McCain today talked about his energy plan, which includes, of course, an extra big helping of fossil fuels.  

In today's Inside Edge, Wally takes a look at a multi-part series penned by Rossputin, the fiscally conservative blogger from Denver.  Also known as Ross Kaminsky, Rossputin takes issue with the Denver Post's stories on Bob Schaffer in two parts of a promised eight part series.  And yes eight parts is a little long. We hope that Rossputin isn't trying to over-compensate for something...like being paid .10 cents per word. Shame on you.