Monday, March 20th, 2006...6:25 am
…And He Also Invented the Internet
District 8 congressional candidate Alex Rodriguez is having a fundraiser this week. He sent an announcement to his supporters which contained this startling message:
We are proud to see the first Hispanic run for Congress. This is a big stride for the Hispanic population, and will hopefully be the beginning of great hope and accomplishments for our children, grandchildren and our future politicians.
Yes, isn’t it about time that this country put a Hispanic in congress? Arizona ought to take a lead in this endeavor.
Just so Rodriguez’s folks know, the first Hispanic to successfully run for congress was Joseph Marion Hernández, who was a Whig elected as the territorial Delegate from Florida in 1822. The first voting Hispanic member was Ramualdo Pacheco, a Republican from California who served several non-consecutive terms in the 1870’s and even served as Governor for a short time. A quick look at our current delegation should tell his folks that he isn’t even the first Hispanic to run in Arizona, but, if my memory serves, he would be the first to run in CD 8 (or the old CD5).
This is nearly as silly as when Rodriguez claimed to be the only veteran to run, which led to some pointed words from the supporters of Air Force veteran Jeff Latas. Come on, how could y’all not know that Latas is a veteran? Both candidates came to their senses on this one before it became an amusing enough “whose is bigger?” contest for folks like me to comment on. Of course, that didn’t stop one supporter of Frank Antenori from trumping both of them on Arizona Congress Watch by claiming that his man has actually killed more terrorists. Okay, you have them beat there, I guess.
6 Comments
March 20th, 2006 at 12:19 pm
I think there was a Spanish surnamed fellow from Douglas who ran in the old CD-5 in the late 1980s.
March 20th, 2006 at 1:03 pm
Personally, I find Alex to be a very likable guy. BUT, there is always a but in there, he simply has not done a lick of research when he decided to enter this race.
I would think with your ass on the line, you do a little more background research before you make some claims like that.
March 20th, 2006 at 6:41 pm
Just to be fair for a second, do you think he meant the first Hispanic to run in this district? I can’t imagine that he would believe that he is the first Hispanic to run for Congress?
As to the veteran part, not much excuse there.
March 20th, 2006 at 11:10 pm
First he claimed he was entering the race because there were no veterans running. Um, no.
Then he claimed that he was the only one with Pentagon experience. Wrong again.
Then he said that he was the only candidate who had lived on the border. Wrong yet again.
Now he’s saying that he’s the first Hispanic to run for Congress in Southern Arizona? Sheesh. I think the guy has problems that go deeper than lack of research.
The only thing that distinguishes Alex Rodriguez is that he’s the only male Democratic candidate who doesn’t actually live in CD 8.
But he has yet to come up with a credible reason for entering this race.
March 21st, 2006 at 11:33 am
Nicely put, Blue, so who is the only female candidate not to live in the district…Patty Weiss.
March 21st, 2006 at 6:40 pm
Patty doesn’t hide from the hard questions. You can find them on her website.
She has integrity and will answer to the people.
http://patty2006.com/faqs.html