Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009...1:02 pm
Smackdown! Okay, Not Really
We political junkies have been watching the Democratic Primary for Secretary of State, which features one announced candidate and one “exploring” candidate. There’s been a bit of trash talking from the penumbras of the campaigns. As usual, this seems to have more to do with the motives of the talkers than it does the candidates or their campigns. An unfortunate development, but folks, to their credit, have put the lid on it. This means that the true smack will only be delivered should Air Force and Navy play each other in a bowl game this year.
Sam Wercinski’s campaign has put out a more extensive list of endorsers. They brag that this list includes people from every county. And it sure does…even including three, yes three, from La Paz County and one from Greenlee County.
Of note is Jack Jackson Jr., probably one of the better known Navajo elected officials in the state. A quote from Jackson is featured in Wercinski’s press release. This is an important endorsement given one of the selling points of Chris Deschene’s campaign is his strength in our tribal communities.
Deschene’s campaign will be releasing a list of endorsers next month.
13 Comments
December 2nd, 2009 at 7:01 pm
It’s going to be uncomfortable in the caucus meetings with 14 legislators having endorsed Sam. I still don’t understand why Chris is wanting to do this. He would be a State Senator in the next term and probably a Congressman in the term after that in one of the new open districts.
I’m not getting this. This will hurt the Party.
Anyway, they’re both great men and I wish them both the best but Sam has one hell of a head start.
December 2nd, 2009 at 9:41 pm
I am really impressed with all the endorsements. As Beavis said, they’re both good men, but it is going to be hard to play catch-up. Sam has been working on establishing a network for months.
December 2nd, 2009 at 11:56 pm
A primary contest of ideas does not hurt the party.
December 3rd, 2009 at 8:19 am
With all do respect Kenny, that is naive and unrealistic. This will require people (Dems) to pick sides, slug it out and expend limited resources that could be otherwise used to defeat Republicans. This should be decided between the two of them at some Starbuck’s or Denny’s somewhere.
This stinks!
December 3rd, 2009 at 8:37 am
Starbuck’s and not one of our fine locally owned coffee houses? For shame, Beavis. For shame.
December 3rd, 2009 at 9:37 am
Pardon me, you’re absolutely right Tedski. Please recommend one of the fine local Coffee establishments in Tucson and we should collectively make every effort to get them there to hash this out between the two of them.
I’ll do my best to assuage my shame for such an inappropriate statement.
December 3rd, 2009 at 10:30 am
Settle down, Beavis. Primaries CAN BE great! We have amazing candidates running for AG, SoS and SPI. If they all play nice and make the primary a six month tryout to see who can launch the best attacks against their Republican opponents, we’ll be better off for it.
Of course, I think all of these people should be running “clean” so as not to take away donor dollars that could be used to attack the Rs, but that’s largely going to depend largely on the current legal battle being waged.
And Beavis, if you really don’t see why having Chris Deschene on the ticket helps the Democratic Party, if you’re really “not getting this” than you really DON’T get it.
Of course, both are tremendous candidates and we’re a stronger party because of them!
December 3rd, 2009 at 10:44 am
A primary that is contentious with both sides having supporters who hate each other is not good for the party. A spirited debate between the two sides with their supporters not hating each other makes for interesting copy and higher than average attention by the media which can only help in the general.
December 3rd, 2009 at 12:02 pm
Good points by all. However Butthead, “Primaries can be great”? Name one that was.
Appleblossom, when did the press ever pay extra attention to an amicable race? They only show up and give interest to copy to races that are contentious fist fights anymore.
As far as getting it? I get that Chris is a freshman Legislator from a rural district, with less than a year in office, with little or no name ID for a state wide race. I get that he has a brilliant career in front of him but that he can wreck it by jumping the gun and by being to ambitious to quickly. I get that he helps the Democrats by focusing on the job he currently has and by keeping people like Sylvia Laughter from getting back into the legislature. I do get that.
We have to look at the big picture and the ancillary impacts.
December 3rd, 2009 at 2:07 pm
Primaries are usually best if both sides are having them, otherwise it they can be rather divisive.
December 3rd, 2009 at 3:34 pm
A primer in a Democratic SoS spirited debate:
Sam: we need to respect voters!
Chris: we need voting transparency!
Chris: we need someone who can face redistricting, deal with disenfranchisement, and a state on brink of collapse!
Sam: we need someone who is not about “left versus right” but about “leaning” forward.
Democrats: We need someone who can win!
SoS is hardly a place for policy–neither is the State Treasurer. This will come down to name ID and electability. What we should do is change job title from SoS to Lt. Gov.
I also agree with Paul.
R!
December 3rd, 2009 at 10:23 pm
Chris is a veteran. Sam is toast!
December 3rd, 2009 at 11:13 pm
So is Sam. An Air Force Academy Graduate. Did you not bother to read Ted’s post? Both of them are active in the Veterans Caucus of the Arizona Democratic Party.