Votes are already being cast, and there is only two weeks left in the Arizona Primary but the outcome is far from a sure thing. The conventional wisdom is Rodney Glassman will be the Democratic Nominee to take on John McCain. The conventional wisdom also then says John McCain will win the general and hold his seat, by a large margin. But conventional wisdom can be wrong, and in this case we can help it be wrong.
Randy Parraz is running against Glassman in the Arizona Primary, and unlike Mr. Glassman, Mr. Parraz is a fighter, a fighter with the experience and battle scars necessary to take the fight to John McCain.
More after the jump...
Who is Randy Parraz?
Mr. Parraz diaried here yesterday as well and stuck around to answer questions. You can visit his diary here - http://www.dailykos.com/...
It is worth a look both for the diary where Mr. Parraz briefly lays out his beliefs on issues of the day, Randy answers to questions posed by us here and a civil, spirited discussion between Parraz supporters and Glassman supporters surrounding LGBT issues and where each candidate stands. Mr. Parraz is for same sex marriage, believes it's a yes or no question, Mr. Glassman is for marriage equality but leaves "marriage" up to religious institutions. There is a vid on this issue here - http://www.youtube.com/...
Randy Parraz at a glance -
Randy Parraz is an attorney, community organizer, and executive director of the National Voter Rights Education Project. As a leader of the AFL-CIO, he spent many years advocating on behalf of workers and their families. From church based organizing in East Dallas, to national coalition building on behalf of 20,000 strawberry workers in the fields of California, to coordinating the mobilization of thousands of Canadians across the border from Vancouver to Seattle in protest against the WTO, to spearheading support for the Immigrant Worker Freedom Ride in Arizona, Parraz has experience with many different methods of social change. He is the founder of both the Student Institute for Social Change and the Latino Youth Leadership Institute.
A graduate of U.C. Berkeley, Parraz earned a Master's degree in Public Administration at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and a J.D. at Berkeley's Boalt Hall School of Law. He was a leader in the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF) and the AFL-CIO for nine years.
As you can see, Randy Parraz has used his impressive education to fight the good fight for years. He's passionate and battle tested. He's an activist first and as such and being from Arizona has had run ins with Sheriff Joe Arpaio. He was even targeted for arrested by Arpaio and his deputies - http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/... sued for wrongful arrest and eventually won http://tucsoncitizen.com/...
There is a youtube channel http://www.youtube.com/... that is not official and unaffiliated with the Parraz campaign but none the less has great videos on it that can help you get a better feel for Mr. Parraz the person and the candidate and where you can compare and contrast him with Rodney Glassman. Here is one of the vids -
I'll close with words from Randy, who was responding to a question I asked yesterday if he had a chance given Glassman is treated as the de facto nominee by pollsters -
The recent polls show the race wide open...we are in a statistical dead heat, and as you say, my opponent has been in the race much longer. Almost half the voters are undecided:
- In the last two weeks our donors, web traffic, and volunteers are up 40%, and growing - Last week we had the largest rally (200 people on a Sunday afternoon) of any candidate, right in Tucson - CNN Blogs yesterday said this was the primary to watch
But you in the blogosphere play a key role; please write about the race and help get through the traditional media complacency. This is a live race in Arizona!
http://www.parrazforchange.com/
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