Team Giffords lays out its frame for the CD8 race:
To: Interested Parties
From: Rodd McLeod, Campaign Manager, Giffords for Congress
Date: August 25th, 2010
In Re: State of the AZ08 RaceWith the defeat of lobbyist/insider Jonathan Paton in yesterday’s Republican primary, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords’ prospects for re-election have brightened significantly. The Arizona Democratic Party’s effort to defeat Mr. Paton over the summer was motivated by a desire to face Mr. Kelly in the fall. Here’s why.
Mr. Kelly makes 2006 nominee Randy Graf appear moderate. As Mr. Kelly’s own words will demonstrate, he is an ideologue with no interest in governing; he is hostile to moderate voters, to the middle class, and to the poor; he has embraced radical positions at every turn; he is not running for Congress to improve life for the people of Southern Arizona; he is running to eliminate Social Security, Medicare and the minimum wage. Below are a dozen reasons that Jesse Kelly cannot win in AZ08.
1. Kelly’s plan for Social Security: “eliminate the program.” Asked about the possibility of “eliminating” Social Security, Mr. Kelly responded: “If you have any ideas on that, I’m all ears. I would love to eliminate the program.” Tucson Weekly, December 2, 2009.
2. Kelly’s hostility to Medicare, which he calls “the public dole.” Also in the Tucson Weekly
on December 2, 2009, Mr. Kelly spoke of wanting to “privatize” Medicare, contending that, “when individuals can start owning their own insurance, then they’re in less need of Medicare in the future, thus getting off the public dole … It’s one of the biggest problems that not enough people talk about right now.”
3. Kelly’s plan for Wall Street: whatever Wall Street wants. At the Douglas, Arizona tea party on July 17, 2010, Mr. Kelly explained that Wall Street should not have to abide by rules or regulations. Of the Wall Street reform bill, he said, “It has to be repealed. Too much government got us into this fiscal mess. More government is not going to get us out of it.”
4. Kelly’s radical tax plan, Part 1. Mr. Kelly believes that corporations pay too much in taxes, and that the cost of government must be entirely borne by individuals. At the Saddlebrooke candidate forum on January 6, 2010, Mr. Kelly said, “The corporate tax rate should be zero. … We must get the corporate tax rate to zero.”
5. Kelly’s radical tax plan, Part 2. Mr. Kelly believes that tax policy should be determined by religion. At the Green Valley tea party debate on June 14, 2010, Mr. Kelly said, “We need to get to a 10% flat tax in this country … If 10% is good enough for Jesus, it’s good enough for the federal government.”
6. Kelly’s radical tax plan, Part 3. Mr. Kelly’s plan to balance the budget includes creating a national sales tax of 23% that would apply to everything a middle class family buys, from food to medicine. Supporters of this proposal have labeled it ‘the Fair Tax.” At the U of A Republican Club debate on April 8, 2010, Mr. Kelly said, “It’s time to cut that completely back – fair tax, flat-tax, I support them both. They’re both fantastic and a lot better than what we have now.”
7. Kelly’s war on the middle class. Mr. Kelly believes that middle-class Americans are “unproductive” people who take advantage of the rich. At the U of A Republican Club debate on April 8, 2010, Mr. Kelly said, “The top 10% of this country pays 70% of the tax bill. We continue to squeeze the productive in favor of the unproductive.”
8. Kelly’s hostility toward moderates. Mr. Kelly believes that moderates must be “told” what they believe. At a Tucson meet and greet on August 17, 2010, Mr. Kelly said, “This middle you talk about — it doesn’t exist. This is a conservative country. Many people don’t label themselves as that, but they are, ask anybody. […] That middle doesn’t exist. They’re just conservatives who haven’t been told they’re conservatives yet.”
9. Kelly’s plan to expand poverty. Mr. Kelly has called for eliminating the minimum wage. At the Saddlebrooke candidate forum on January 6, 2010, Kelly said, “ We must take steps to lower and eventually eliminate the minimum wage.”
10. Kelly’s hostility toward his opponent. Mr. Kelly uses disgusting words and images to humiliate his opponents. At the Green Valley tea party debate on June 14, 2010, Mr. Kelly said, “The land of the free is where we’re supposed to be living here, and these people want to control your toilets … Stay out of my toilet, Gabrielle Giffords, alright?”
11. Kelly’s hostility toward government employees. With a US Army intelligence post at Ft. Huachuca, the Davis-Monthan Air Force base, the Coronado National Forest, and the Saguaro National Park, AZ-08 is home to tens of thousands of federal workers, who are described by Mr. Kelly in a June 30, 2010 radio interview as parasites. “What is a government worker? A government worker is a person who lives and sucks off of the taxpayer. They don’t put anything into the system. They suck off of the system.”
12. Kelly’s “basically simple” explanation for everything wrong with the world. During a discussion of energy issues, Mr. Kelly explained that U.S. dependence on foreign oil was due to liberals. At a debate at Desert Christian High School on July 21, 2010, he said, “We’re tied to Middle East oil because we elect too many liberals to our government. It’s basically that simple.”
Each of Mr. Kelly’s statements (besides the two that appeared in the Tucson Weekly) quoted above are available to the public via the popular website YouTube.com.
For anyone who is interested in our lengthy Q&A with Kelly, you can find it here.
This article appears in Aug 26 – Sep 1, 2010.
Jim,
Wow,
we have a choice between Jesse Kelly or Gabriel Giffords:
and John McCain or Rodney Glassman.
I will cast my vote for Goddard, even though he can’t possibly win.
Deschene is a lone bright spot.
Thank God Steve Farley is going back to our legislature; how he maintains his sanity, while avoiding incarceration on death row, is beyond my comprehension.
Just freakin’ shoot me in the head now.
I despair for the lost promise of this society, my beloved state of Arizona, and the hope that my country will achieve its potential.
Just caught your conversation with John C. Scott. The spot that KJLL is currently running for Bruce Ash is unabashed racial hate speach. Incendiary at the very least. Whatever the amount of money that John is collecting from the RNC for these spots, he should be ashamed of himself for allowing it on the air. You are one of the few who could call him out on this and expect to be heard. It is not just business.
God help us.
This is not going to end well.
The middle class is going to eventually awaken; and then become enraged at what has occurred while it slumbered: secure in the knowledge that as American citizens, it was safe to sleep.
Robert Alexander Dumas
Nice job, guys — instead of nominating the very electable Paton, you nominated an unelectable college dropout. Some people never learn. But we were warned, and we threw away a great opportunity to defeat Giffords. Gabby is already celebrating.
Jesse Kelly the epitome of what is wrong in Washington today. Imagine wanting to eliminate social security and meanhile calling seniors on medicate “on the dole”.
Holy crap, no wonder Gabby wanted to run against this guy. Kelley makes Randy Graf look like a flaming liberal, and even intelligent. He wants zero tax on corporations, and the middle glass to pay a national sales tax of 23% on food and medicine? Where do they find these idiots?
This is the problem “CD8: Team Giffords Calls Jesse Kelly “An Ideologue With No Interest in Governing””.
The word “govern” comes from the Latin word “gubernare” meaning “to steer, rule”. I would just as soon she “represent” us, not “rule” us.
Giffords wants to “govern” instead of” represent” her constituents. She serves in the people’s house, the House of Representatives. They were given only two year terms for a reason.
This is the problem “CD8: Team Giffords Calls Jesse Kelly “An Ideologue With No Interest in Governing””.
The word “govern” comes from the Latin word “gubernare” meaning “to steer, rule”. I would just as soon she “represent” us, not “rule” us.
Giffords wants to “govern” (read to mean “rule”) instead of” represent” her constituents. She serves in the people’s house, the House of Representatives. They were given only two year terms for a reason.
I like now-Independent Ted Downing’s suggestion we create a system of primaries without party … the two top vote-getters would run off in the general. This would require the debate be about FIXING the problems we clearly have, it would tend to reward good ideas instead of moving to the political extremes. I am a yellow-dog Democrat, but the negativity, ideological fear-mongering and whispered slander in both parties primary elections distract from creative solutions to the real issues we face.
Every time Jesse Kelly makes a statement he reminds me of the immortal Marine Gomer Pyle and I expect to hear “Gaaawwwleee mister reporter, I thought that was really simple!!!!”
This is not meant to show disrespect to Marines, but the character really fits.
I find it interesting that people are only taking parts of Kelly’s speech. When you listen to the whole speech, it sounds different. For example he said that he was for keeping Social Security for older citizens who have paid into the system for years. Everyone knows the money will be gone for the young, because the Govt sneakily used it for other things. No, he would not suggest investing in the “Stock Market”.
Of Course, since Gabby follows Nancy Pelosi there definitely won”t be money for the elderly, since Gabby believes in Comprehensive Immigration Reform (“ammesty ) and would be taking money from all those people who paid into Social Security and give it to to the ILLEGALS, who have been here. I WONDER HOW MANY SENIORS WOULD GO ALONG WITH THAT, when they see their Social Security check dwindle. She has stated at several Democrat meetings that she is for “ammesty. She says she listens to all her “constituents”, but voted with Nancy and not the majority of her Constituents
Why would people think that Jonathan could beat Gabby?. Just to name a few:. PAYDAY LOANS. He should have been HONORABLE and removed himself from such a discusting practice. (390% interest) I think it is called “usuary” and that’s shocking. That is what the Mafia used to do. Gabby would have had a “field day with that one.
Have you heard Gabby speak? Well, that explains why he lost to her in High School and 2000? What kind of engaging personality does he have?. Many individuals who heard him speak, said he was “boring”. That does well at a debate with “cute bouncy Gabby”
I am sure he is a nice and pleasant person, but he should remain a lobbist or perhaps teach school. I don’t know what a degree in German prepares you for. Maybe take groups to Germany . Better yet, he would make a great Ambassador to Germany. I bet he has not considered that. He might to take that suggestion seriously.
The trouble with Gabby is she promises one thing and votes the other or opposite. Not acceptable.
No wonder why the Gifford’s camp was cheering when they heard the news, Jesse Kelly won’t even come close to beating Giffords in November. People fell for the oldest tricks on the books and now there is only one man that can beat her and he is a Libertarian. I guess real Republicans, Conservatives and Libertarians will have to vote for Steve Stoltz.
With Jesse Kelly, if you liked Jim Kolbe you’re gonna like Gabby Giffords.
I generally don’t read items such as this but found it while doing some research on sales taxes. Congratulations – you’ve done an excellent job of distorting sound bites from a candidate in order to suit your own agenda. If anyone cared to read the full text from which Mr. Kelly’s excerpted comments were taken, his position would be quite different from your misrepresentations.
This brings to mind the saying that you can fool some of the people all the time and all the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time. Maybe the time is coming when more of the people will figure out that they’re being fooled by press such as your. I hope so.