Showdown: The Udall Boys Lead the Democratic Charge for the Senate

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Showdown: The Udall Boys Lead the Democratic Charge for the Senate
By Adam Doster
In These Times

Monday 24 March 2008


Despite being first cousins, Tom and Mark Udall act more like brothers. Their parents were close, so the two spent plenty of time together growing up, sharing dinners with their siblings, cracking jokes and playing under the Arizona sun. As the boys grew older, their friendship matured. Outdoorsmen to the core, they possess a common love of mountain climbing, and together have scaled some of the world's highest peaks.

"We think a lot alike," says Tom, "and we enjoy the outdoors together. We enjoy being around each other."

It's a quintessential family narrative, but the Udalls aren't the quintessential family. Based in the interior West, the Udall clan boasts a lineage that spans four generations and has deep roots in both major political parties. They're the most important political family most Americans have never heard of. But after this election cycle, that could change.

Tom and Mark are progressive U.S. representatives in New Mexico and Colorado, respectively, who have each set their sights on an open, Republican-held Senate seat in their home states. Meanwhile, Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.)-the Udalls' second cousin-is in a tight re-election campaign himself, one that Democrats are targeting heavily. If all goes according to the party's plan, two new Udalls would be in the Senate, one would be out, and a filibuster-proof majority would be within reach.

Enough with Clintons and Bushes. Meet the Udalls.

It's a Family Affair

It's a common joke out in the Mountain states: the Udalls are "the Kennedys of the West." Terry Bracy, chairman of the Morris K. Udall Foundation and a longtime family friend, thinks the comparison is misguided. "They never acquired any wealth and never sought any wealth," he says. "They were interested in the essentials of life. Maybe it came from their heritage."

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http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/032508D.shtml