Update [2005-9-14 18:30:6 by Mister T in AZ]: Text of Pederson's speech is now online at
http://pederson2006.com Go over the jump to read some excerpts.
"Today, Arizona has one senator who's fighting the broken politics of Washington. And then we have Senator Kyl, who's Exhibit A of the problem." -- Jim Pederson, Candidate US Senate
Former AZ Dem Party Chair Jim Pederson officially announced his candidacy for US Senate this morning.
Friends of mine who were at the announcement event feel good about his speech and are excited to have someone like Pederson taking on our other Senator here in AZ (yeah, we have two - not just McCain).
Photos and maybe even some video are on the way - I'll update this diary when they come.
Excerpts of Announcement Speech Text
I don’t need to tell you about the challenges we face. You can see it in your own lives.
A changing economy, in which job security can no longer be taken for granted and incomes, except for the very rich, are stagnant or declining. Exploding health care costs; eroding pensions. The cost of a college education so central to success, growing by leaps and bounds.
All of this adds up to a crisis for the middle class families who are the bedrock of this country, and raises the question of whether stories like mine will still be possible in the America of the future.
These are the things Arizonans are grappling with around their kitchen tables.
The question is, why are they not grappling with them in Washington?
Illegal immigration has been a gathering storm for decades, and we in Arizona have borne the brunt. But still no action from Washington.
Our kids continue to slide relative to students from other, growing economic powers. If that trend continues, where are the high end jobs going to go in the future? It is a national crisis. Why isn’t it a national priority?
So many issues are being ignored. We’re living in a global economy that can be full of opportunity but we’re letting foreign countries break the trade rules they’ve agreed to.
Gas prices are at record levels and we’re tying ourselves to Mideast oil. But Congress just passed an energy bill that throws huge subsidies at big oil companies instead of tapping new technologies and new sources of energy to make our nation more secure and to make sure we pay less at the pump.
Instead of planning for the future, we’re passing a huge federal debt onto our children and putting them into hock to countries like China and Japan.
I’m a proud Democrat but I have to admit, I don’t think either party in Washington has been paying enough attention to these important issues.
What we need are independent leaders in both parties who call it like they see it and who are focused on getting things done. That’s the kind of leaders Arizona has produced at its best. People like Mo Udall and Barry Goldwater, Janet Napolitano and John McCain.
Unfortunately, our other Senator has not been that kind of leader.
The Arizona tradition is one of independence; of putting the well-being of our people ahead of party, ahead of ideology, ahead of big campaign money. Senator Kyl has done just the opposite.
He has one of the most partisan voting records in Washington, faithfully towing his party’s line, instead of thoughtfully asking what’s best for America – what’s best for Arizona.
He’s pursued a narrow, ideological course from his ardent opposition to stem cell research to his unyielding support for reckless fiscal policies that have made America a debtor nation.
And he’s consistently put the special interests of big oil, the insurance and pharmaceutical industries, banks and tobacco companies ahead of the critical interests of people back home.
[...]
The people I knew growing up in Casa Grande – like people today all across this state – don’t ask for special favors or a free lunch. All they want is to be treated fairly, for a government that looks out for their future and their children’s future instead of just worrying about the well-being of the well-connected. As your Senator, I’ll stand up for middle class Arizonans that Jon Kyl has let down.
I’ll stand up for the middle class on taxes. Right now, Senator Kyl is trying to work out a compromise between millionaires and billionaires on a new tax giveaway. He says its needed so people in New York can afford penthouses in Manhattan. Meanwhile, most people in Arizona get a tax cut of under a dollar a day. I’ll fight to shift tax breaks from the super rich and the special interests to our families.
I’ll stand up for middle class families on illegal immigration. This issue will be number one on my agenda. We can’t let this be a political football and we can’t let politicians off the hook. I’ll rush thousands of new Border Patrol agents to our border and enforce our country’s immigration laws. I’ll do what Senator Kyl has not: stand with John McCain, Jim Kolbe, and Jeff Flake on the common sense side of this issue in order to make things happen. We don’t need a partisan approach – we need solutions that fix the problem of illegal immigration. And I won’t just work on illegal immigration at election time – I’ll be focused on this all the time.
I’ll stand up for middle class families on making health care affordable. Health care premiums have gone up 50 percent in the past four years. These health care costs are crippling our businesses and are a strain on our families. Unfortunately, this year, Senator Kyl was the deciding vote on stopping Medicare from negotiating for lower prescription prices from the pharmaceutical companies. He’s helped block the right of Americans to import lower cost prescription drugs from Canada. I will use common sense business strategies to get our health care costs under control and get our government on the side of patients instead of drug and insurance companies.
I’ll stand up for middle class families on medical research. From Nancy Reagan to John McCain to the Republican leader in the Senate, Doctor Bill Frist, Republicans are joining with Democrats to say stem cell research is important and that from juvenile diabetes to Alzheimer’s to Parkinson’s, it can save lives. I know there are powerful Republican pressure groups that oppose this research, but with this much at stake I hope Senator Kyl will break with them and join Arizona families on the right side of this issue. We can’t afford to wait any longer.
And I’ll stand up for middle class families when it comes to defending our country from danger. I’m not one of those who believes America has been too tough when it comes to fighting terrorism. I believe we haven’t been nearly tough enough. We need to make our homeland secure at our airports, at our nuclear plants, and at our borders. We need to capture Osama bin Laden. And in Iraq, we need to finish the job – and bring our troops home.
But most of all, we need to do this: give our troops the support, the weapons, and the body armor they need to do the job and to build a real global alliance to fight terror so that they’re not out there bearing the burden alone. Over and over, Senator Kyl has voted against more body armor, against armoring Humvees, and against veterans benefits but in favor of huge tax cut for billionaires. That’s his choice. But those aren’t my priorities. And I don’t believe they’re your priorities. I’ll stand up for our troops and our veterans and give them the honor and support they deserve. The honor they’ve earned.