Gabrielle Giffords, leading (at least in fundraising) Democratic candidate for AZ-08, is must be stopped: In 2004, she cast the deciding
vote to kill a
bill that would have forced Walmart and other large employers to reimburse the state for the cost of state health insurance (AHCCCS) provided to their employees, right after Walmart lobbyist and donor to her campaigns
Stephen "Rip" Wilson testified against it. She was the only Democrat to vote against the bill. Bashas', the third-largest private employer in the state, would also have been affected, with 721 eligible employees who applied for AHCCCS. (See the
Arizona Daily Star for details, and the
AFL-CIO for background.) I mention Bashas because it shows Gifford has not changed her ways: Her election committee for her current campaign
originally had Eddie Basha as co-chair.
She also advocates building more oil refineries and "looking at" nuclear power (see my comment below for details).
What we can do: Support Patty Weiss! Reasons why on the flip.
Latas has gotten a lot of love here at DailyKos, but look at the fundraising numbers:
Bacall, first quarter: contributions, $0.00, cash on hand, $2,999.20
Giffords, first quarter: contributions, $321,754.84, cash on hand, $474,601.77
Latas, first quarter: contributions, $18,156.36, cash on hand, $8,934.01
Rodriguez, first quarter: contributions, 16,838.00, cash on hand, 5628.74
Weiss: first quarter: contributions, 173,719.00, cash on hand, 138,318.21
(sources:
FEC Electronic Filing Report Retrieval and
FEC Report Image Search)
Weiss is the only one even in Gifford's territory. Worse for Latas, look at name recognition: "Among registered Democrats in the general election, 65 percent have a favorable impression of Weiss, while 42 percent are favorable to Eva Bacal, and 27 percent to Gabrielle Giffords." Latas was and is, I believe, in single digits. Weiss's positions are good, she has funding and name recognition, and she won't make gaffes like Latas, who has made unexplained discrepancies about the 9/11 Pentagon attack part of his campaign and said things about "those dumbasses running things in Washington" (the sentiment warms my heart, but …) in public. (I overhead Latas say that at a Tucson fundraiser for Elliot Spitzer.)
I hope Patty can be persuaded to be a more active presence here at DailyKos in the near future. I'll call her attention to this post.
Walmart Lobbyist Contributions to Giffords
Stephen "Rip" Wilson donated $300 to Giffords so far for 2006 (source FEC Transaction Query by Individual Contributor), and $250 when she ran for Arizona State Senate (source Follow the Money).