I had some time today to tear myself away from work to attend the GOTV rally here in Tempe. I have to say, just a few days ago Bill Clinton made a surprise stop and I was out of town. So if you were there, and have photos, please post them.
Anyhow, today's rally was supposed to be at ASU, but when I arrived at the location, there was a sign saying it was moved to a park a little outside of campus. This was last minute, and I'm not certain why.
On a wonderfully nice afternoon (full sun, mid-80s .. which is typical, sorry rest of the country) in early fall the AZ Dem. candidates for House, Senate and Govenor, along with the state seats arrived. Here are some photos from before, during and after the event.
In the first photo, people have gathered waiting for the candidates to take the stage. The number of people there was a little small, maybe about 100 .. certainly smaller than when Barak Obama came to town the other week. But remember, it is Sunday and the event location was moved at the last minute. Take note of the people on the left side, they are fans of people like Munsil and Hayworth (and maybe Kyl, they didn't have signs for him!). I think it is State Rep. Candidate Ed Ableser who called them out and said they were there for an education! While those giant signs are quite annoying because they make a better door than a window, they carriers were certainly getting people heated up and at least 2 times there was a heated arguement going on in the back.
The man at the podium is David Schapira, Dem candidate for state rep. in LD17. Standing to the right of him is Ed Ableser, also running for state rep in LD17. I will get to those in the background a little later on.
Med Burton-Cahill gives a few words. She is running for State Senate in LD17. Her shirt reads "My son is a navy seal." and I think she is happy to show it!
Our congressional candidate, Harry Mitchell shares a few words. He was a teacher for like 28 years, worked in the state senate and now is beating the bully known as J.D. Hayworth. Mitchell has climbed from nearly 20 points behind back in September to 2 points up just a few days ago. And by Tuesday night/Wednesday morning he will be our congressman.
And this is our candidate for senate, Jim Pederson. If you didn't know it, he is catching up on Kyl. Pederson has climbed from more than 20 points to now just reaching the margin of error. It has been a bit of a sleeper race, but Pederson in the last two weeks has been closing the gaps. He leads in Pima county (Tucson) and even getting a lot of votes in the rural areas of Arizona which tend to be the reddest part of the state. And recently, exit polls from early voters show Pederson ahead by 4 points. While Kyl has always enjoyed a lead in the polls, he is constantly near or below 50%. There is a log going in Pederson's favor and there is a chance he could pull it off. I think a lot of people realize this now and are watching AZ a little closer now.
And this is our beloved govenor, Janet Napolitano. She has turned around a republican deficit in her first term, and has a high approval rating. She is going to walk into her second term very easily. Munsil, her opponent is running 1 or 2 weak attack ads against Janet, but she refused to be negative. Which is a really good because you can't go one ad on TV without an attack ad from Kyl or Hayworth.
After the rally each of the candidates got out to shake a few hands and talk with their supporters. It was woderful. Harry Mitchell up close.
Jim Pederson talks with a supporter.
Janet Napolitano take a photo with a voter.
Finally, the groud war. Yes, there really is one! After the rally, they gather people up and hand out addresses of houses for people to go knock on.
Now I'm ready to vote!!