My friend, Tom Udall, is running for the US Senate seat being vacated by Pete Domenici. He is unopposed in the primary, but will face either Heather Wilson or Steve Pearce in the general. Tom is polling well ahead of either of the republicans at this point.
I first met Tom in 1988. Rather, I first met Amanda, his daughter, while out canvassing for a state senate race while Tom was running for CD-1. We were paired up to walk a precinct and she would hand out the lit at the door, saying, "and don't forget to vote for my dad, he's a great guy!" Well, those who meet Amanda are guaranteed to be immediately smitten with her. She has a warm, friendly smile, and eyes that sparkle with intellect, humor and quite a bit of mischief. From then on, we were inseparable. More after the jump...
So I started volunteering down at the Udall Headquarters from time to time, and got to know Amanda, and Tom and his wife Jill, too. Though Tom lost the election it is notable that he got a significant number of votes over Dukakis in the district, so the top of the ticket dragged him down. I was pretty new to NM, and they helped make me feel like a local.
(This is a bit of a digression, but I want to share a personal note. The next year my father was diagnosed with colon cancer, and only had a few months to live. Amanda was at his bedside every day, telling him stories and rubbing his back to make him feel better, and threatening to unleash violence on abusive VA orderlies. The day he died we bought an enormous amount of candy at Circle K and cried for hours together. This is just an example of how wonderful these people are. I love the Udalls, and my first born daughter's name is Amanda.)
So back to the Senate Race...
The DSCC has a video series,"The Road to Victory" and they have done two on Tom. The first is here...
And the second here...
This is the Tom I know, quietly funny, gentle and laid back. I hope you like the videos, I am sure there will be more and I will post them as I get them.
If you are in New Mexico, join our campaign. Tom is a great guy for sure.
If you are not, you can still help us win this all important seat by going to
Udall for Us All and donating.