AZ-1 Poll Due on April 13th

The 1st congressional district in Arizona is one that we should all be watching closely this election year. The seat is help by a one-term republican in a district that has more Democrats then republicans. The challenger is a popular figure in the district and will not have to suffer through a damaging primary. (Read my diaries for more information about the campaign.)

According to the Arizona Daily Sun (go halfway down page), the first poll on this race is being conducted by NAU and the results of that poll will be released on April 13th. I hope to attend the announcement and bring the results to this space.

I expect at this point that the incumbent republican will have about a 5% lead. Even though he is not popular, his name is well known throughout the district. The district is huge with an area about the size of Illinois. So we greatly need contributions to the campaign to help the campaign get the message out throughout this large district. Please contribute before the end of the quarter and remember to add 3 cents so that they know the contribution is coming from blogs.

•  I read very recently

  that Arizona has had a 35% increase in illegal aliens coming in (since Bush announced his 'amnesty/worker program-)-- how is that issue playing in your politics??

  by PhillyFilly on Mon Mar 29, 2004 at 03:45:12 AM PDT

  •  Illegal Aliens

    Let me first say that I am not part of the official campaign. I volunteer for it and am also building their blog.

    But based on my observations, the state is becoming more hispanic and very important to that group are immigration issues. Stories relating to the tragedies of aliens crossing the border through the desert make big news.

    But our congressional district is less affected by this issue than the state as a whole because we are located north of the border and largely in the northern part of the state.

    by GregFromFlagstaff on Mon Mar 29, 2004 at 04:08:07 AM PDT

    •  Speaking of blogs...

      ...I'm going to be helping build a blog for Brett Wagner (Dem candidate for CA-24), and I'm curious if there are any organized groups for Democratic campaign bloggers to help each other with design, content, and logistical blog matters.

      I contribute to dKos regularly, but I'm a bit cowed about setting one up from scratch for the first time. Is there some kind of blogger support group out there?

      by Devin on Mon Mar 29, 2004 at 01:55:40 PM PDT

      •  What I Did

        I don't know of any specific sites that can help you out but I write ASP for a living and used that. I kept it pretty simple. I have just three pages. One for the main blog page, the second for the archive and a third called thread that shows comments and allows new commnets. The DB behind it all is SQL Server. I created two tables with only a total of about 10 fields. So, very simple. Watch my diary for a link to the blog, once it is live.
        

        by GregFromFlagstaff on Mon Mar 29, 2004 at 09:20:15 PM PDT

•  I was in Flagstaff...

  ...to canvass for Dean before the Arizona primaries, and Paul Babbitt's house was on my canvass sheet. Unfortunately, he wasn't home - I would absolutely have loved to meet him and personally deliver my good vibes for him and his campaign.

  I recall all the Flagstaff Deaniacs being very upbeat about Babbitt's chances. I don't have a whole lot of green to disperse these days, but I think I'm going to put him on my list of those who will get $5 contributions from me.

  by Devin on Mon Mar 29, 2004 at 01:51:56 PM PDT

  •  We must have met...

    If you were here in Flagstaff for the Dean canvassing, we must have met. I was one of the local organizers. During the first day, I was handing out packets to the canvassers as well as a bunch of Dean materials like buttons and bumperstickers. Remember me?

    As for the $5, please make it $5.03 and please contribute before the end of the month. Thanks!!!

    by GregFromFlagstaff on Mon Mar 29, 2004 at 09:12:28 PM PDT

    •  I'm sure we did...

      ...I met so many people, but I don't specifically remember you. I'd probably remember your face if I saw your picture.

      About the blog, it isn't so much the technical aspect of it that I'm concerned with, as I've suggested to the Wagner campaign that using Blogger is probably a good solution for them. I'm thinking more about a sewing circle of campaign bloggers that can provide a sounding board for ideas and an arena where we could all refine our blogging skills together for the benefit of all our respective campaigns. Perhaps this could have something to do with OurCongress. I don't even know if people would be interested in something like this, but I would.

      by Devin on Tue Mar 30, 2004 at 01:19:00 PM PDT