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District 8 race offers challenge, rare opportunity (AZ CD8)
Arizona Daily Star ^
| 15 October 2006
| Daniel Scarpinato
Posted on 10/15/2006 9:45:46 AM PDT by axes_of_weezles
District 8 race offers challenge, rare opportunity
By Daniel Scarpinato
arizona daily star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 10.15.2006
As one of a select number of truly competitive congressional districts, the diversity of Southern Arizona's 8th cannot be overstated.
Juxtaposing chi-chi Foothills neighborhoods with high-poverty border towns swallowing in Bohemian artists enclaves and straight-laced family populated suburbs, the district presents a unique political challenge. And with the retirement of Rep. Jim Kolbe, a rare opportunity for the aspiring.
That's precisely why the seat was supposed to be one of the most competitive races in the nation. But since the Sept. 12 primary, which handed Republican Randy Graf and Democrat Gabrielle Giffords their respective party nominations, the Washington elite seem to have lost their original interest.
While early polling showed Graf far behind, his supporters believe the conservative will win over the voters he needs by Election Day. And Giffords' people say they are not underestimating Graf or taking Giffords' perceived lead for granted.
Graf: "principles over politics"
Graf says politics was the furthest thing from his mind until 1994, when some friends persuaded him to run for the school board in Green Valley. Now, he's immersed flying to D.C. for Republican fundraisers, meeting with editorial boards and skillfully working crowds.
Clean-cut, polished, barely a hair out-of-place, Graf is a former golf professional who in 12 years has gone from being a private citizen in Southern Arizona's sleepy Santa Cruz River Valley to one of Tucson's most recognizable public figures.
The comparison may sound strange, but Graf, 47, is much like Hillary Clinton. You love him or you hate him. Either way, many voters seem to have developed an opinion about him before the general election even started.
A former state legislator, Graf staked out his turf as a conservative early in his first term. But so removed from politics was Graf, he says, that he didn't even realize his parents were lifelong Democrats.
"We had some interesting conversations," Graf said. "We never talked politics growing up. To be honest, until I first got into the state Legislature, I was asked by some folks up there if I was moderate or conservative. I said, 'Heck, I don't know.' "
But he soon developed a reputation, advocating scaled-back government and making illegal immigration his signature issue. Graf wants to end the constitutional policy that grants children of illegal immigrants citizenship and cut off hospital benefits to them. And he opposes a path to citizenship for those here illegally.
At the state Capitol, Graf aligned himself with some of the state's most staunch conservatives like Maricopa County legislators Russell Pearce and Karen Johnson, and by running against 20-year incumbent Kolbe in the 2004 Republican primary, he separated himself from the moderates and party establishment he's now courting in the hope of winning a districtwide election.
Graf says he'll be strongest on the war on terrorism and pledges continued support for efforts in Iraq. But he's also been critical of spending, and says Social Security and Medicare will need to be reformed to prevent them from running up massive debts.
Graf is used to being called all kind of things, including suggestions by Democrats that he's a racist for his hard-line approach to illegal immigration.
But when asked directly if he's a bigot if he has a problem with Mexicans Graf, taken aback, says "No."
"I umpired Little League for eight years," he says. "I've been called a lot of things."
For all the talk about his staunchness and extreme views, even his competitor, Giffords, describes him as personally "very likable" though they find little common ground.
Graf almost always wears a smile and regularly carries a cigar in his pocket to smoke every other week or so.
This is his second time to run for Congress. If he loses, his chances of being in this spot again are slim.
That's OK, he says. Armed with his slogan "Principles over politics" Graf says he can just return to life as normal if he loses, with his wife, son and young grandson. But he's not giving up yet, hoping, he says, to bring a "will" back to Washington to reinstitute traditional conservative principles.
Giffords: "Change can't wait"
Early this month, Gabrielle Giffords the 36-year-old darling of local Democrats showed up at a Downtown education rally after spending nearly two hours in a car from Phoenix. It was 4:30 in the afternoon. Her hair was a bit messy, her skin glistening and her suit not so fresh-looking.
It was candid and unrehearsed, but also the image Giffords has built her campaign on: That of a hardworking, no-nonsense regular gal.
Considered a rising star in her party for several years, Giffords talks with crowds in a nonflashy matter, almost always using her family's former tire business, El Campo, to answer a question on health care or a guest-worker plan.
While critics such as the Minutemen accuse her of being too liberal, Giffords is trying to convince voters otherwise.
"People are sick and tired of the partisanship," Giffords says. "They're sick of the bickering, and they want members of Congress to put political affiliation aside and do what's right for the people of Southern Arizona."
Not to be beat on the immigration issue by Graf, Giffords is quick to say "No amnesty." Even so, she supports a path to citizenship for those here illegally, but wants more manpower on the border, she says.
"We need a comprehensive approach," she says. "The reality is if we are going to bring these people out of the shadows, if we are going to be able to document them
we need to incentify them by giving them some kind of status."
Giffords wants Congress to roll back the Bush tax cuts that go to top wage-earning Americans as well as develop a plan to be out of Iraq by the end of 2007.
On the campaign trail, Giffords multitasks, insisting on signing thank-you letters herself. She networks (Giffords was the only Democrat running for the seat to attend an event held for Republican Kolbe just days before the primary). And she stays on message with a nonincendiary approach to issues, even when that means facing criticism for not being specific enough or liberal enough.
With several Democrats running to the left of her on promises of Canadian-style health care and Iraq pullouts, Giffords started running for the general election way before she won the primary. Her first ad focused on her local roots.
Her message has been clear since she jumped in the race: Giffords is running against the Washington establishment or as she's fond of saying, "Change can't wait."
And Republicans have handed her opportunity after opportunity to make her case, whether it's their divide over immigration or the Mark Foley fallout.
When she was in her early 30s, Giffords, a former Republican, become the youngest woman ever elected to the state Senate. Since then she's never lost an election, even against a popular, well-known former TV anchorwoman.
An avid reader, horsewoman and motorcycle rider, Giffords organized a campaign staff and political organization that reflect her personality: persistent and ambitious. While in the Republican-dominated Legislature, Giffords had mixed results with passing legislation she sponsored. Still, she attempted repeatedly to increase spending for public health and education, something she has said will be a "priority" if she's elected to Congress.
The outsiders
From David Nolan's office on the 16th floor at 5151 E. Broadway, the Libertarian has a sweeping view looking north over Tucson.
It's an unusual locale for a campaign headquarters, typically someplace accessible and no frills. But then, Nolan is not a typical candidate.
At a time when Democrats and Republicans have favored growing government, the 62-year-old Nolan wants to scale back.
A founder of the Libertarian Party in 1971 and a member of Mensa, Nolan sees both parties as moving in the wrong direction.
On immigration, he says sending people home isn't going to work: "It's not going to work because it's not practical."
And he describes himself as the anti-war candidate, calling for a pullout of Iraq.
Independent Jay Quick's headquarters is equally unusual though in a much different way. It's tucked back off North Romero Road, down a dirt road in an industrial complex inside Quick's custom metal shop. The 69-year-old idealist is hoping to provide voters with an additional choice.
"I'm too liberal to be a Republican, and I'm too conservative to be a Democrat," he said in an interview at his office recently, surrounded by viny indoor plants.
Gentle in the way he talks, Quick has some positions that put him to the left of Giffords, the Democrat. And on others he admits he doesn't have the answers, an honest approach that he says is missing in modern politics.
● Contact reporter Daniel Scarpinato at 807-7789 or dscarpinato@azstarnet.com.
TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Government; Politics/Elections; US: Arizona
KEYWORDS: aliens; cd8; elections; graf; tucson
After reading this article, I am sure about it, Randy Graf is by far the best candidate. Giffords is all façade and no substance. Randy is a well-centered conservative who is unashamed of who he is and has taken the time to put together a very clear vision for the District. Graf better understands what the priorities of Congress should be: lower taxes on families and small business owners, a smaller, more efficient government, winning the War on Terror, and securing our borders against potential terrorists, drug dealers & other criminals, and illegal immigration.
Randy has stated that one of the committees that he will work hardest to get on is the Transportation Committee in the House. That is something that Southern Arizona desperately needs and not only Southern AZ but our whole state. Out of 10 members of our Congressional Delegation, none is currently a member of either the Senate or House Transportation Committees. This is unacceptable. We have major problems with our roads, and part of that problem is that we are not getting enough return back on our tax investment when in comes to federal dollars for road construction.
Debates between the candidates will begin soon, and it will be interesting to see if Gabby continues her attempt to reconstruct her image from being very liberal to a so-called "moderate." Other people have painted Randy as too conservative or extreme, but this view is far from accurate. Yet, it would not be a stretch to point out that Gabby is too liberal and extreme. Gabby sits on the board of the Southern Arizona ACLU. Gabby talks about supporting teachers, but she voted against tax credits to reimburse teachers who buy school supplies with their own money. She also talks about supporting the environment and alternative energies like solar power, yet she voted against Randy Grafs bill to continue a tax credit on solar energy. What both of these votes show is that Gabby supports taxes more than teachers or the environment. For Gabby, government is not the problem; it is the solution to everything. Randy believes in bringing government back to the people. The choice is clear. Randy Graf is the best choice.
To: axes_of_weezles
Giffords continues to avoid any joint meetings with Randy Graf until now. Hopefully the upcoming series of debates will give Graf the opportunity to pierce her cute 'moderate' image.
To: axes_of_weezles
Good grief! Any AZ conservative who stays home and doesn't support Randy Graf deserves an ACLU board member representing them in Congress. Just because the feckless luke-warmers at the RNC don't support him doesn't mean that AZ can't elect him anyway. Ask the OK conservatives who put Tom Coburn into the Senate without their blessing.
To: axes_of_weezles
almost always using her family's former tire business, El Campo,
Which she fails to mention that she took into bankruptcy due to poor managment after inheriting a sucessful company.
4
posted on
10/15/2006 10:20:50 AM PDT
by
Don Corleone
(Leave the gun..take the cannoli)
To: Don Corleone
That's why the Tucson Chamber of Commerce is going for Graf, and other Moonbat Democrats on the State ticket.
I did not know she was an ACLU board member.
To: axes_of_weezles
6
posted on
10/15/2006 11:32:02 AM PDT
by
CPT Clay
(Drill ANWR, Personal Accounts NOW.)
To: CPT Clay
"Truly competitive?" Why, just last week some Freepers (and I use that term generously) were trumpeting a
THIRTY ONE POINT LEAD for the Dem. Now, it's "competitive."
Hmmm. Either the pollsters were lying then, or it never was 31.
7
posted on
10/15/2006 1:33:10 PM PDT
by
LS
To: LS
All the polls they were citing were from the DNC or their local representatives here in Tucson, or from the Giffords campaign verbatim.
Pollsters cant vote in CD8, Graf will win.
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