Republican Jesse Kelly, who is battling Democrat Ron Barber in the June 12 special election to complete Gabrielle Giffords’ Congressional District 8 term, has made a startling political transformation.
For his entire political career (which is about three years old), Kelly has insisted that Social Security and Medicare needed to be privatized. In multiple interviews, he said that both programs were examples of government failures—and that government should have little to no role in helping people in their retirement age or with their health-care needs because government assistance made things worse.
But last week, Kelly’s new position emerged on his Web page: “I support preserving, protecting and strengthening Social Security and Medicare. I do not support privatizing, eliminating or phasing out these programs in any way.”
That’s a dramatic change in position—and weirdly enough, Kelly and his supporters refuse to acknowledge that anything has changed.
“What we said in 2010, in 2009, in 2011, and now in 2012 is that we have to protect the benefits that seniors have earned,” Kelly said at a press conference last week. “That’s what we’ve said then, it’s what we’re saying now, it’s what we will always say, because these are not welfare programs, these are programs people have paid into all their lives, and we will honor our commitments.”
Pressed by reporters from Arizona Public Media and the Arizona Daily Star to explain his new position, Kelly said he was out of time and could answer no more questions.
Kelly’s new role as a protector of Medicare and Social Security came, coincidentally enough, as Daniel Scarpinato, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, arrived in Tucson last week.
While no formal changes have been announced by the Kelly campaign, we’re hearing that John Ellinwood, who has been Kelly’s spokesman and one of his chief strategists, has been neutered by NRCC bigwigs. As we understand it, Ellinwood has been told that he’s not to make any statements without the approval of Scarpinato, a former Arizona Daily Star reporter.
We gave Ellinwood a call last week to find out if this was the case, but haven’t yet heard back from him.
Reforming Kelly’s image is a somewhat awkward role for Scarpinato to play, given that two years ago, he was working as a spokesman for former state lawmaker Jonathan Paton’s 2010 congressional campaign. You may recall that Paton lost to Kelly, despite having more experience on the campaign trail and outspending him.
It was in the course of that campaign that Scarpinato first got to know Jesse Kelly. And he didn’t seem all that impressed with Kelly’s honesty and integrity. He told the Weekly that the Kelly campaign “has had about as much accuracy and credibility on things as Countdown With Keith Olbermann.” And he told the Arizona Capitol Times that Paton had lost ground to Kelly in the polls “because no one could have ever imagined that Jesse Kelly would run one of the most negative, slanderous campaigns that we’ve seen in Arizona probably in decades.”
But now that he’s been given the task of getting Kelly across the finish line by running a negative campaign on his behalf, Scarpinato says it’s all “water under the bridge.”
“Since that race, I’ve become friends with Jesse and gotten to know him and the past is the past,” Scarpinato says.
Scarpinato’s first task for his new pal appears to have been finding a way to convince people that Kelly didn’t really mean it when he said he’d “love to privatize” Social Security and get seniors “off the public dole” of Medicare.
Scarpinato correctly points out that Kelly has always said that current recipients should continue to receive their benefits.
But Scarpinato sidestepped questions about how Kelly’s new opposition to “phasing out” the programs fits with his earlier insistence that it was necessary to privatize both programs for future retirees. Instead, he encouraged The Range to call Ellinwood, who declined to return our calls. Maybe he didn’t have Scarpinato’s permission?
An in-depth look at Kelly and Barber here.
This article appears in May 3-9, 2012.
Just another Republicans changing his views to get votes. But this does not keep them from their original views. Romney does the same thing. Talk the talk to get votes. I hope the voters are smart enough to understand what the real mission of the Republicans are. We can see those in the ALEX bills passed in the Republicans controlled states. We are not stupid or dumb like Republicans thinks we are. They tend to fool the Senior citizens who tend to vote for them. Get smart voters, what they say and what they do are entirely different. Vote smart in November and defeat the Republicans.
CD8: Who Is Behind Jesse Kelly’s Makeover? (Posted by Jim Nintzel on Tue, May 8, 2012 at 3:00 PM)
Gosh, Jim Nintzel, do you think it might have something to do with strings attached to RNC and superpac money rolling in to Old Pueblo tv stations to bankroll tiny Elvis puppet Jesse Kelly?
So when Barber “flip-flopped’ we didnt hear SQUAT – but now that a Republican has changed his opinion – its FRONT page news.. huh? I dont hear you Demo-hypocrites squealing about Barber.. so..what gives?? You know we the voters, are NOT stupid..we can read too.
This is good reporting. And it is also a good example of ‘How Politics Work 101.’
Come on Southern Arizona, we’re not this dumb. We can’t let Jesse Kelly bully his way into office. He’s like a mini, more extreme Romney. Say whatever you have to say to get elected.
This is what gives politics and politicians a bad name. And I’m not clear on what Guiseppeknows means about Ron Barber flip-flopping. Refresh my memory please.
A girl’s got a right to change her mind.
So Scarpinato is the new Sgt Carter on “Gomer Pyle, USMC..” I keep waiting for Kelly to say “Golly, gee.” His latest ad with Grandpa really strengthens that characterization for me. The ads would be funny if they were not such a blatant effort to dupe the voters.
Jesse Kelly will save Social Security, and do it his way. His 5 principles: 1, any solution must be bipartisan, but has Jesse ever indicated any interest in working with the other side? 2, he will not vote for any solution that privatizes social security, but wasn’t he saying until very recently that at least partial privatization is a critical element of the solution? 3, he will not vote for any solution that raises taxes, but currently the FICA tax is levied on income up to $106,900, meaning an income of $1,000,000 is taxed at about one tenth the rate imposed on those earning less than $107,000; 4, he will not vote for any solution that cuts benefits, and 5, he will not vote for any solution that raises the retirement age. Given those principles, how does Mr. Kelly propose to negotiate with the other 434 members of the House of Representatives?
I am feeling better and better about this year’s elections in AZ. With the WH making an effort to put/keep the state in play, Carmona for Senator, and Barber running against a goof-ball candidate like Kelly things may turn out OK. People understand that underneath the prepping, its still the same Kelly as last time.I expect this is playing out the same way in more states than just AZ. The US may be center-right, but it is not far-right which is where the GOP is.
Jesse Kelly is a maroon. Sad state of affairs that he is the best the GOP has to offer.
I hope Kelly doesn’t take all of the entertainment value out of his comments just for a few votes. I would miss the old right-wing looniness…
jesse kelly so dumb, he bought a solar-powered flashlight
I’m also curious about Guiseppeknows’s reference to Barber having flip-flopped. If there’s some alleged media cover-up of Barber flip-flopping, surely “Gk” you’ll be able offer some substantiated evidence for your claim. . ..
Hopefully Kelly will learn/ be schooled in this campaign that when you make a point of being a shrill, bombastic ideologue in an earlier campaign, you leave yourself little room for thoughtful voters to believe that you’re even capable of evolution.
Ron Barber has a long track record as a devoted public servant, working for the people of Arizona. Likewise, Barber has admirable experience working in a politically divided congressional district, which is further affirmed by a number of Republicans prominent in Southern Arizona offering him their endorsements. For me, Barber has earned my vote and Jesse Kelly has done an impressive job of proving that he’d never earn my vote. (Both through Kelly’s ill-informed public stances on issues and through his profoundly immature behavior in public forums, like the final Giffords-Kelly debate at U of A, he impresses me as being unfit to hold an office that requires him to serve as a mature, thoughtful, and reasonable representative of a substantial congressional district). I really would like to think that our congressional district deserves a lot better than Jesse Kelly–and indeed, Ron Barber is someone who is infinitely better suited to hold that office.