In a campaign that has been rife with mis-steps and problems from the start, Bob Schaffer--the Republican candidate for Colorado's open senate seat could really have a problem on his hands.
As an executive for Aspect Energy--one of the reasons he cannot scrub off the Big Oil sheen--Bob visited Iraq a couple of years back to line up a lucrative oil contract for his company.
The problem was Bob bypassed the 'legitimate government' of Iraq and cut a deal directly with the Kurds, in violation of the U.S. State Department's direction that energy companies deal with the central government to avoid adding fuel to the fire of an already unstable Iraq.
Follow me for what might be the final nail in Big Oil Bob's crashing chances to be Colorado's last Republican senator...
Dick Wadhams, the man with an unfortunate name, seems destined of late to run failed candidates. Last cycle he oversaw the melt-down of George 'Macaca' Allen, to the delight of millions. Long considered the 'Karl Rove' of Colorado, Dick's last success--and by all indications, his LAST--was the upset of Sen. Daschle.
But now he just can't seem to wash the Republican stink off his hands. The Grand Junction Sentinel is reporting today:
An oil contract Republican U.S. Senate candidate Bob Schaffer helped negotiate in Iraqi Kurdistan is one of several production deals the U.S. State Department has flagged as problematic for Iraq and its attempts to establish a national oil policy.
The oil contract, finalized in November 2007, allows a subsidiary of Schaffer’s former employer, Denver-based Aspect Energy, to produce oil on a nearly 104-square-mile plot in the Dohuk Governate in northern Iraq.
Schaffer confirmed Wednesday he was one of several Aspect Energy executives who visited Kurdistan in November 2006 and laid the groundwork for the company’s oil deal with the Kurds.
Bob's Big Oil inclination--to benefit his own interests at the expenses of others--runs contrary to the direction of the U.S. State Department.
According to a June 23 report from the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office, Aspect Energy’s oil contract and roughly two dozen other similar deals have proven a point of contention between Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government.
"The (Kurdistan Regional Government) has negotiated an estimated 25 contracts with foreign oil firms, which the Iraqi federal government claims are illegal," according to the report.
Schaffer said he was unaware the State Department had warned energy firms not to strike oil deals with the Kurdistan Regional Government at the time of his visit. "We didn’t experience any discouragement," Schaffer said.
John Fleming, a spokesman with the State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, said the U.S. government has always asked that energy firms conduct business with Iraq’s federal government and not other entities in the country.
In addition to aiding the Ukraine Bumbling Bob can now add hindering the Iraqi reconstruction to his foreign policy portfolio.
The campaign of the person-most-likely to be Colorado's next senator, Mark Udall, noted:
"It’s troubling that oil and gas executive Bob Schaffer would strike a deal in the region that risked bringing more instability to Iraq while American troops are in harm’s way," she said.
Udall's a good candidate, but Schaffer is terrible. Dick's strategy has been to keep him under wraps, not letting Big Oil, Bumbling Bob speak for himself. But now the chickens are coming home to their roost, and the question in Colorado this morning: is he done yet?