Posted on 07/26/2004 10:23:04 AM PDT by cyncooper
In another sign of Arizona's rising political significance, Republicans announced Saturday that Vice President Dick Cheney will campaign in Tucson next weekend.
About 75 local supporters of President Bush, celebrating the opening of a new GOP office on the Northwest Side, were the first to get word of the trip. They responded with applause, cheers and bold predictions for what the trip could mean come November.
"It will help energize the Republican Party here," Rep. Jim Kolbe said at the reception for the opening of the new office, 5151 N. North Oracle Road. "I'm confident we'll have a good victory, but we can't take anything for granted."
For Democrats, the trip shows that the Bush- Cheney campaign is worried about its prospects in a state that was once reliably Republican.
"It tells me that Republicans are running scared," said Paul Eckerstrom, chairman of the Pima County Democratic Party.
Cheney is expected to be in Tucson Saturday, said Colin McCracken, director of communications for the state Republican Party. An exact time and location will be released later this week.
Sen. John McCain, campaigning with Cheney this month in Michigan, called the vice president the "deputy commander in chief" and Bush's "indispensable partner."
Cheney last visited Arizona in March, and President Bush was also in the state that month. This trip, according to Danny Diaz, a spokesman for Bush- Cheney '04, will highlight the choice Arizona voters face in November.
"He will speak to an economy that is strong and getting stronger," Diaz said, "with more than 60,000 jobs created in Arizona since last year and a 4.7 percent unemployment rate - well below the national average and the average of the 1990s."
News of the Cheney visit follows Friday's announcement that John Kerry and John Edwards, the presumptive Democratic candidates for president and vice president, will bring their campaign to Arizona early next month. They are expected to visit the Grand Canyon.
Kerry was last in Arizona in June. He has tapped two Arizonans - Gov. Janet Napolitano and Rep. Raúl Grijalva of Tucson - for prime-time speaking slots at this week's Democratic National Convention. Napolitano will address the convention on Tuesday, and Grijalva is scheduled to speak on Thursday.
Bush carried Arizona in 2000 by 6 percentage points. But Kerry is hoping for a repeat of 1996, when Bill Clinton became the first Democrat to win the state since Harry Truman in 1948.
Democrats and Republicans agree that the attention the campaigns are lavishing on Arizona - in visits, advertising dollars and the courtship of its political leaders - is a testament to the state's newfound political importance and the anticipated closeness of this year's contest.
"Arizona is very much on the map," said Kolbe, a 10-term lawmaker from Tucson.
Sue Walitsky, a spokeswoman for the Kerry-Edwards campaign in the state, said the Democrats' goal is to force Republicans to spend more time and effort here than they would probably like. But she questioned why Cheney would come to a predominantly Democratic city like Tucson.
"Are there actual Republicans in Tucson?" she asked.
As to the dimbulb Sue at the end of the article asking if there are any Republicans in Tucson, Tucsonans elected a Republican mayor and Linda Ronstadt's cousin is in local government---as an elected Republican. Duh, Suzie-Q.
Dick Cheney coming to Tucson. I think they see our city in play. I'll bet it is, though I have seen Kerry bumper stickers around town. :(
Really! That's the icing on the cake!
Yeah - the GOP is running so scared they are sending one of their top two people into a city that traditionally votes Democrat. When I am scared, that's the sort of thing I always do. (/sarcasm)
I have been struck over the past week just how many 'Vets for Bush' and 'Bush/Cheney 04' stckers I have seen - certainly more than the Kerry stickers. I do live on the East Side though, and that does tend to vote Republican. But I have noticed this even in central Tucson when I have to go there for errands.
The other thing my co-worker pointed out was that a lot of the Kerry stickers are on cars with out-of-state licenses. Again, probably does not mean much since Tucson has such a transient population, but it might be a glimmer of hope for you.
I'm a stay at home mom so don't commute daily or anything. I saw a Kerry sticker at the Target at Ina and Thornydale a few weeks ago, and yesterday we went to the Outback at Grant and Swan and saw one. I do appreciate your eyewitness reports of Bush-Cheney sticker sightings.
We're going up north this weekend, otherwise I'd try to attend the Cheney event on Saturday. I will be sure to spread the word locally, though.
I thought somebody was following me! I took my parents there yesterday afternoon for their 51st Anniversary.
There could be any number of reasons why Republicans Fred Ronstadt and Kathleen Dunbar won Tucson City Council races in a town where voter registration is tilted three to two against them.
There aren't many W stickers around here in Akron, Ohio. Funny thing is, most of the unions left 20 years ago but the brainwashed masses still churn out Dem votes. At least the remining 2/3 of Ohio is conservative...
You're kidding! We were there for my sister-in-law's b'day!
Well, howdy neighbor!
He probably cringes at the thought that people know he's related to Leftie-Linda.
I hear there are concerns with Californians moving to Phoenix making it more liberal, but the governor's race was VERY close, so while there was that, there are other signs we're retaining an over-all conservative majority.
BTW, our governor gets to address the demcon this week...
The Californians moving into Nevada (more specifically Las Vegas) seem to have a conservative tilt, and I figured that was the same for those moving to Arizona. Interesting to hear that might be otherwise. Still, I've got to believe Arizona is clearly in the Republican category.
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