Roll Call takes a look at where federal races stand in Arizona.
The U.S. Senate race:
A year ago, Republican Rep. Jeff Flake was considered to have all but a total lock on this seat. But it has been a long year.
First, Flake was sucked into a quagmire of a primary with a self-funded rival from the right. The race went negative and drained his funds and attention until nearly September.
Democrats recruited former Surgeon General Richard Carmona. He has an Indiana Jones-esque background of intellectual and heroic achievements. So much so that even Arizona Republicans will concede his was an attractive get. As of press time, Flake’s lead in this race was close and narrowing.
The Congressional District 1 race:
Former Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick (D) has had the momentum since the state’s nonpartisan redistricting commission made this district more Democrat-friendly. She has had strong fundraising and is backed by EMILY’s List, and hungry Democrats from across the state are rooting hard for her. It was enough to push Gosar into the safe Republican 4th district, even though he defeated Kirkpatrick by 6 points in 2010. Even conservative operatives will concede that Kirkpatrick’s early start and early fundraising efforts have given her a slight advantage over her GOP rival, former state Sen. Jonathan Paton.
Paton has run a competent campaign, and more importantly, the National Republican Congressional Committee and outside groups are placing big bets on this race. Early on, the committee blocked off nearly $1 million for television ads. Democrats were quick to point out that the money could be easily shifted in the Phoenix market to the 9th district, but the NRCC followed through on the buy and has shown no signs of backing down.
The CD2 race:
What Republicans have going for them is their candidate. Retired Air Force Col. Martha McSally has charm, smarts and a fascinating military record. Generally, McSally has run with a positive tone — something that would work well for a district that has suffered the trauma that has faced Tucson residents since the Safeway shootings.
But given Barber’s larger-than-expected 7-point margin in the June special and the fact that the new 2nd district is more favorable territory for the Democrats, it is hard to see how Republicans have a better shot in the fall.
This article appears in Oct 4-10, 2012.
For an “alternative” publication, you guys seem to ignore the libertarians and other real alternatives to the parties that have screwed this country with as much diligence as your mainstream counterparts. Why do you consistently work to keep your readers in the dark?
“RJFletcher”: Frankly, if the Libertarians and Greens put up better candidates, with more realistic plans, we’d happily give them a closer look.
@RJFletcher…Good question! A lot of it is inertia, habit and herd instinct. In other words, all those come down to same thing. Much political reporting (eek, “political journalism”) amounts to poll frenzy, scandal frenzy, gaffe frenzy, and sadly, candidate push polls. How easily the journalists are played.
Beware the “better candidates” argument from the local 4th Estate. It involves sly, disingenuous and nebulous phrasing and is circular.
As an aside, monomaniacs such as Ross Perot, Ralph Nader, Ron Paul, etc., at least distract and in some instances (Nader), profoundly damage the nation. Thousands of local candidacies is the better way to grow if you’re into that.
Nader “profoundly damage(d)” the nation? You’re kidding, right? That comment has no basis in fact or reality.
Al Gore frittered away a commanding position and practically handed the 2000 race to W on a silver platter with one of the most inept, uninspiring campaigns in modern history. Then the Republicans stole the election six ways from Sunday to seal the deal. Despite all that, Prince Albert still had a chance to win it if he had just been willing to play some hardball during the post-election legal scrum, but he didn’t. For whatever pansy-ass, self-serving reason, he put his “legacy” first by playing Mr. Nice Guy and backing off. He was beaten soundly in the end game, plain and simple.
There were a hundred different reasons W won that race (massive fraud by the Rs, kicking tens of thousands of black voters off the Florida rolls, a stacked Supreme Court, etc etc etc) and yet self-defeaters insist on blaming Nader while completely obliterating his long record of public service, including his leading role in advancing a legion of consumer protection and public health initiatives that PROFOUNDLY BENEFIT this nation to this day. This mentality is absolutely unfathomable to me. It’s akin to blaming European WWII resistance movements for Hitler’s rampage–in a word, ridiculous.
ONCE MORE FOR THE RECORD: George W. Bush, who stole the 2000 election from the Democrats fair and square (it is a long-standing American tradition, after all), is the one who did profound damage to the nation, much of which will never be undone.
If the Democrats put up better candidates (or even if they just acted like Democrats instead of Republicans) maybe they wouldn’t have to look to the Left to come up with pathetic excuses when they get their asses kicked by the Right.
@skinnyman: no, not kidding.
Your rambling presentation isn’t internally logical or even beer-gut consistent. Figure out whether it was Bush, “Prince Albert,” the “Democrats” or what.
Red Star is suggesting that third parties, minor parties, fringe parties whatever you want to call them, build locally from the ground up and patiently; not mess with national monomaniacs who, by definition, lack patience.
Whether the Senior Writer or the Editor will pay attention is anyone’s guess…we’ll just have to wait and see.
“Frankly, if the Libertarians and Greens put up better candidates, with more realistic plans, we’d happily give them a closer look.”
Frankly, Mr. Boegle, I’m far less concerned with what you and other reporters consider “better” or “realistic” than I am with the concept of equal time for alternatives to the Ds and Rs. Your supercilious shirking of your duty as a member of the media should disgust anyone with a sense of fair play and illustrates quite clearly how our nation has arrived at its current political impasse.