PrintCO Senator asked state to mislead the public about insurance cancellations
Desperate people do desperate things. In this case, Senator Mark Udall asked the state's insurance commission to downplay the number of policy cancellations by changing the definition of "cancelled."
CompleteColorado.com reports that emails show U.S. Senator Mark Udall's (D-CO) office pressured the Colorado Division of Insurance to downplay the number of insurance cancellations caused by the rollout of ObamaCare. A full 249,199 Colorado citizens were victimized by ObamaCare's cancellations. According to the emails, Udall's office hoped to change the definition of a "cancellation" as a way to lower the number. All of this occurred late last year as the storm around cancellations was engulfing Democrats and the president.
From an email inside the Colorado Division of Insurance (DOI), Director of External Affairs Jo Donlin bluntly stated to her colleagues:
Sen. Udall says our numbers were wrong. They are not wrong. Cancellation notices affected 249,199 people. They want to trash our numbers. I'm holding strong while we get more details. Many have already done early renewals. Regardless, they received cancellation notices.
Donlin's email was sent November 14.
Udall won his Senate seat with only 53% of the vote in 2008, a wave year for Democrats. The Senator is up for what many believe will be a tough re-election bid in 2014, and in a purple state that everyday feels more red than blue.
A poll released just a few days after the November 14 email showed that Udall is well under 50% against his likely Republican opponents and only a couple of points ahead in a head-to-head match-up.
Moreover a plurality of 47% do not believe Udall deserves reelection.
Major leage backfire. Just what was it that Udall hoped to accomplish? Cancellation is cancellation and it would be very difficult to hide the vast numbers of people who lost their insurance.
Udall has plenty of money, but is tanking in personal popularity and is polling poorly against possible challenger Ken Buck who ran against incumbent Senator Michael Bennet and lost. A surprise GOP victory in Colorado may put the GOP over the top and grab the Senate next November.
