Posted on 10/23/2006 5:59:53 PM PDT by SandRat
BISBEE — Being a congressional representative is not a job title, it’s a job description, Gabrielle Giffords told about 50 people Sunday afternoon.
Saying retiring Republican U.S. Rep. Jim Kolbe is the person who made that comment, Democrat Giffords promised she would more than carry a title by working hard to be a representative. She made her comments to an audience at Bob and Estellean Wick’s Bisbee home, outlining what she wants to achieve, not if, but when she is elected on Nov. 7.
Saying her Republican opponent, Randy Graf, is out of touch of the needs facing the district — to include his main issue of border security — she remarked what is needed to address the multiple woes of the country “is representative leadership.”
There is too much partisanship, where arguments become so heated nothing is accomplished.
“We’ve got to separate the wheat from the chaff to get the job done,” Giffords said.
Listening to her were a number of Republicans, who plan to vote for Giffords.
None wanted to be identified, although one said she knows of a number of Republicans who will not vote for Graf because of his extreme conservatism.
Graf was not endorsed by Kolbe. The two men faced off in the Republican primary in 2004, which many political watchers considered to have been one of the most bitter party primaries.
However, Graf has received the endorsement of Arizona Republican U.S. Sen. John McCain, even though they differ on ways to correct the illegal immigration problem, with the senator favoring a guest worker program and Graf not.
Giffords noted that she even likes President George W. Bush’s approach on handling the immigration issue, which includes a guest worker program.
“That’s one area I agree with him (Bush) on,” Giffords said.
But, there was a however, with Giffords calling for more employers to be reviewed for illegally hiring unauthorized immigrants in the country.
She noted in 1999 there were 200 employers investigated, but in 2003 only four were.
The United States cannot keep absorbing people but the illegal immigration problem will continue unless there is a clear program to ensure nations like Mexico build a stronger economy, Giffords said.
As for the war in Iraq, the Democratic candidate said the president’s and her opponent’s stay-the-course message, meaning keeping American forces in that nation, “is not the way.”
The downward spiral in Iraq is costing more lives and not only do the American people, but Iraqis too, want the United States to leave that war-torn nation.
“We cannot get bogged down in a religious war, a civil war,” Giffords said.
Two former Republican secretaries of state — James Baker and Gen. Colin Powell — have expressed concerns that the United States is being sucked into an Iraqi quagmire, she said.
There were other issues, she spoke about, which are diametrically opposite of the Republican administration.
The current administration is ignoring science by denying global warming is happening, the Democrat said.
Not enough is being done to establish a renewable energy program, as increased growth in the United States continues, Giffords said.
In the last decade, Arizona grew by 40 percent, and there are indications the state will grow another 40 percent in the next couple of decades, she said.
“Growth is coming,” she said, adding Arizona and other places in the United States are ill-prepared to ensure the needed infrastructure is ready, Giffords said.
In the past, when the nation faced problems, like war, or going into space, the citizens of the country willingly sacrificed, she said.
But today, except for those serving in the armed forces, the citizens are not being asked to sacrifice, Giffords said.
She took another swipe at Graf, saying he wants to privatize Social Security, which she does not support, because it is a promised federal program to help people in their retirement years.
With 16 days before the general election, Giffords said she wants the voters in Congressional District 8 to have a clear understanding of the difference she and Graf have.
Even though Kolbe is a Republican, she said he is a moderate who was able to work with Democrats. During his 11 elections Kolbe received large support from the district’s Democrats.
Saying she will reach out to Republicans once she is in Congress, Giffords remarked, “I will continue in his (Kolbe’s) footsteps.”
herald/Review senior reporter Bill Hess can be reached at 515-4615 or by e-mail at bill.hess@svherald.com.
So she's going to be gay, go after pages, take money from Soros, not accomplish diddly squat, hamstring the Border Patrol, advocate gays in the military, advocate gay weddings, arrange land swaps for developers, advocate for NAFTA.
That's all Kolbe did in 22 years.
Arizona CD8 needs better than Giffords. This is 2006, not 1984.
LOL...When I read the headline I was thinking Kathie Lee and a BB player...
She wants to pack fudge, too ?
"Giffords aims to follow Kolbe's footsteps"
So, she wants to go white water rafting with teenage boys and get touchy-feely affectionate with them?
EXTREME liberal who wants amnesty; will most likely fly a Mexican flag in her office; not be around for her constituents; and already spreading Kolbe's lies during the debates? Yup, sounds pretty close to Kolbe to me. I sure hope we are spared another two years of THAT.
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