Hillary Clinton Swings By Colorado To Help Udall
DENVER (AP) - Hillary Clinton swung by Colorado to help out embattled Democratic Sen. Mark Udall on Monday during a western swing in which she also spoke of being a new grandmother.
Clinton held a closed-door fundraiser for Udall, who is facing a tough challenge from Rep. Cory Gardner. They ordered coffee at Denver's refurbished Union Station, and she paused to shake hands, posed for photos and lent her political celebrity to the incumbent a day before ballots are mailed to voters.
The former secretary of state was quick to beckon 10-year-old Macy Friday out of the crowd of onlookers to pose for photos with her, her brother and her father Derek, who introduced his mother Elaine, who had just arrived from Ohio.
"Most important, she's the grandmother," Clinton said.
"You're a grandmother," Elaine Friday said.
"I know," said Clinton, whose daughter Chelsea gave birth to her first child on Sept. 26. "Isn't it the best?"
As they grabbed coffees at a shop inside the station, Clinton and Udall chatted about the next stop on her schedule - a Monday evening event for Nevada Democrats in Las Vegas. The two discussed Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
"He's a good leader," Clinton said of Reid, who has been used by Republicans to attack Democrats this year, including Udall.
Clinton also marveled at the barista's ability to draw a pattern in the foam atop their beverages - she got a smiling pig in honor of the shop's name and Udall, a well-known environmentalist, a leaf.
"Is that a marijuana plant?" Clinton asked, laughing, a reference to Colorado's newly legalized recreational marijuana industry.
Clinton is in the middle of a trip to support Democrats in key races, with stops in Kentucky, Iowa, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
Udall can use her help. He's been deadlocked in the polls with Gardner since the congressman hopped into the race more than six months ago.
Bill Clinton had been scheduled to headline a fundraiser for Udall on Sept. 27, but ended up appearing by speakerphone after the birth of his granddaughter the night before.
- By Nicholas Riccardi, AP Writer
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