Singer: What did you see in the last two cycles? You were very involved, I'm sure, in helping the successes of the Democrats, not only in the region but specifically in Colorado, with Ken Salazar winning, with the Democrats retaking the legislature in 2004, picking up House seats in 2004 and 2006, the Governorship by a quite wide margin as it turned out. What did you see in the last couple cycles - maybe Colorado trending to what it was 20, 30 years ago when maybe it was a slightly bluer state - that can help you in this race?

Udall: There are three elements that stand out for me, and they wouldn't be a secret to your readers and to you.

One is the live and let live sensibilities of Rocky Mountain Westerners have resurfaced on the social issue front. We respect people's privacy. Your decisions and the way you live your life are yours alone, as long as they don't interfere with what I'm doing. And that applies to frankly who you sleep with, whether you own a gun or not, where you worship, what sorts of reproductive choices are important to your family. That tolerance and acceptance I think has reemerged, particularly as the right wing has gone way overboard in the West trying to manage people's personal lives.

Second is this exciting coalition that Governor Schweitzer best symbolizes between the environmental community, the sportsmen, the ranchers and farmers, those who know although you can't eat the scenery in the West it's still an important part of what keeps our economy strong, whether it's tourism or drawing the new economy to the West. Those groups have formed to say, "We're not real happy with what the Bush administration has been doing and the Republican Party. We were told for years we were going to have our guns taken away from us. We still have our firearms, but we have no place to hunt with our children anymore. There's not a place to go fish and draw up those memories of going out with my grandfather." And those constituencies have learned to work together and talk with each other. It harkens back I think to the early days in the West, which was of course part of my heritage.

Third is we're the party of fiscal responsibility and the right kinds of investments. Colorado is a great example of that where a constitutional amendment was passed that was strangling our higher education institutions. We were finding it difficult to invest in our transportation systems. And Democrats led the way in Colorado to pass a common sense ballot initiative to adjust those formulas so that we could remain a great place to live. And that's been happening in other parts of the West. And the moderate business community joined the Democrats to make the case to the people of Colorado.

And then finally the important thing is when Democrats have been given the chance to govern, we want to govern - we want to solve problems and create opportunity. A great example of that in Colorado is Amendment 37, which was the renewable energy standard that we passed by bringing it to the ballot in 2004. I chaired that campaign along with the Republican Speaker of the House in Colorado. It was a lot of fun to travel the state that campaign. The two of us together in a pretty bitterly fought campaign at the federal and say, "This is right for Colorado. It's right for Ag. Colorado, it's right for energy independence, it's patriotic. In some ways the most patriotic thing we can do is to drive a much more self-sufficient energy policy.

So those all add up to the people saying, "You know the Democrats, they're making my life better." Because I think all politics are not only local anymore, they're all personal. This isn't about me running for the Senate, it's about what am I going to do to help make folks' lives better. And Democrats have responded. I'm biased. I'm a partisan. But I really think that's the formula. You can look at it through that lense at New Mexico, at Arizona and just on up to the North along the spine of the Rocky Mountains.

Singer: Speaking specifically about energy independence, I know that's an important issue in Colorado. Some people take it in a different tack. They talk about using the coal, shales, strip mining Colorado. What do you see as the answer? Is it tapping into that resource? Or is there another path? What could you do in the Senate to achieve either?

Udall: This will be a real focus of mine in the Senate. It's been one in the House. I've been a leader since I was elected to the House, picking up the reins of the House renewable energy caucus, for example, where we have over 230 members in that group across the spectrum politically. You understand this is of national security importance, there are jobs we can create, we respond to the environmental concerns that people have.

And it just adds up to what we're best at as Americans. It appeals to our sense of ingenuity, pushing the envelope. I'll build on that in the Senate. When you're elected to the Senate, you're one of a hundred most influential people in the country, and you have a platform. You've been loaned the power by the people in your state to lead.

And the idea that you go to the Senate and sit back, trim and cut and wait just doesn't appeal to me. I'm going to go to the Senate and put my mark into four or five policy areas, lay out what I think we ought to do. And then you work the politics to get those policies implemented instead of the reverse, which happens I think a little to often, which is people think about the politics and then, okay, what policy will fit into the politics. You put that screen in first, and then what are the right policies.

I get excited about this. This is, as I've said, the most patriotic thing we can do. And the benefits not only to the country but to the world when we get this right are going to be manifold. It's just inconceivable all of the important things that will happen when we get this right.

In Colorado, this is an interesting tension, because we're doing our part on fossil fuel development. But that's a bridge to the new energy economy. That bridge may well have to be 20 or 25 years, because you can't on a dime turn. But there are areas in Colorado that are too sacred, too important to the way we look at ourselves as Coloradans, too important to our economy to be drilling there like the Roan Plateau. Congressman Salazar and I led on the energy bill on putting provision in the bill that would prevent drilling in these really unique, pristine places on the Roan Plateau. We're not going to let Colorado be turned into a national sacrifice.

Coal is abundant in Colorado, not as abundant as it is in Wyoming and some other parts of the country. But it's relatively abundant. Oil shale is also in Colorado. But there are way too many questions to be answered about developing synth fuels from those sources to just rapidly move in that direction. Jonathan, interestingly enough the drought we're experiencing in the West. Water becomes a key factor in these fossil fuel technologies because you need a lot of water to drive the kinds of fuels that we're talking about.

And overhanging all of this, the carbon emissions of this society and the world have to be stabilized, and then they have to be reduced. Until we have in place that technology to capture and then sequester the carbon, we can't in good faith just continue on this wide open approach to more and more coal-fired power plants, for example. We have to find other alternatives.

And Colorado is uniquely positioned. We've got abundant sun, abundant wind, we've got intellectual firepower, we have the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. This excites me. This is the right thing to do.

Singer: So what does the campaign look like? We basically have a candidate on both sides, which doesn't usually happen this far out. What does the campaign look like?

Udall: Going back to your first question, this is a tossup. If I didn't say that earlier, I'll say it again. The largest winning margin of a federal statewide candidate in Colorado since 1974, whether a presidential nominee or a candidate for the Senate, is Senator Salazar's 51.8 percent in 2004. So I would have one message for your readers and for you, which is that this will be a close race based on the history in the state.

To your question more specifically, we have our team in place, including our field director. We are already working on finding the votes. We've had a lot of fun. We're traveling the state raising ideas. We borrowed that idea from some other campaigns, notably Governor Dean's. We're holding listening sessions all over the state. I've been able to participate by phone, I'm going to participate in person in some of those gatherings. When I was a state legislator, the best ideas I had for legislation came from people calling me, Larry [one of his staffers sitting at the table with us], and saying, "Look, have you thought about this? This law doesn't work. It's misapplied. There's an unintended consequence. Or there's a hole here." And that's an idea that we carried over to the campaign. Because we've got to get the votes, obviously.

Fundraising is going well. We ended the last quarter with $3 million. Congressman Schaffer had $1 million. I'm continuing to, when I can, travel the country to raise the money, travel the state to raise the votes, and then continue to be there for the people who hired me to serve there in the House. There's not enough hours in the day to do that. What else can I tell you?

Singer: A couple quick questions. The Democratic National Convention is in Denver.

Udall: You coming?

Singer: I'm coming.

Udall: Great. We'll promise you cool nights. You know Colorado in the summer, low humidity. Maybe the Rockies will be in town. My friend Tony Weiner suggested to me we're not the second best baseball team, cause he thinks the Mets still are. He said that to me last night in New York.

Singer: We may see another Senator running away from his party's convention in his home state. Are you going to run away from the Democratic convention or are you going to embrace it?

Udall: You know why I'll be there? Because the important opportunity here is highlighting what we were just talking about - why have Democrats been successful in the Rocky Mountain West? We've got a real story to tell. And I've talked to Governor Dean. I've talked to many of the potential nominees about my firm conviction for highlighting what's going on in the West. There's plenty of stories to tell about what happens in other parts of the country for Democrats. But we're holding the Convention in Denver for a reason, which is to say, "Look, things are changing here and here's why."

And I think, without sounding arrogant hopefully, presumptuous, some of the lessons we've learned in the West can be applied elsewhere, in places where we already have a pretty good foothold but in places where perhaps there are some opportunities. The South comes to mind. I've been traveling in Texas recently, and there are Democrats in Texas who point to Colorado as an example of what could unfold in Texas over the next two or three cycles. And it's not that farfetched, if you think about what's been happening in a place like Montana, for Texans to regain the progressive mantle by being pragmatic and appealing to people's better angels. The progressive angels that I think are in all of us, to have a compassionate society, one that doesn't leave anybody behind.

Now the other team will try to cast us in a light that is unfavorable. Don't you think, Larry? I have no doubt that they will try and lure us in to what they will try to paint as excesses. But there's a discipline, at least in my opinion, in the party that I haven't seen in some of the previous cycles because we know this is so important to win and get the country back on track and that the people are with us if we're smart about how we tell them we want to govern.

Singer: Last final question. If there's one specific message you want to sent out to the netroots, to the progressive blogosphere, what would that message be?

Udall: I need your support. This is a very important race. The importance of this can be underlined in this way. I have a wonderful, stimulating, rewarding House district. I could hold my seat for 10 more years. But I'm putting it all on the line in a tossup Senate race because I believe the Senate is where we need additional votes to take the country in this new direction. And I hope people will join me. People are ready to make this country... Jefferson said, "A true patriot loves this country not for what it is but for what it could be." I need all of the patriots out there to join me in this campaign.

Singer: Terrific. Well thank you so much for your time.

Udall: Thank you.

[THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.