Back at the end of February,
Rep. Jim Kolbe issued a
challenge to our man
Sen. Harry Reid to a debate on Social Security. Reid decided not to take up the challenge but
Raul Grijalva thought he could be Reid's "second."
They debated yesterday at a church in Green Valley, in Kolbe's district.
This sort of event is rare, if not unprecedented. Unfortunately, the larger local paper, the Arizona Daily Star only saw fit to run a short story on the event. ABC had a reporter there, and their story should run Tuesday night on World News Tonight.
I wasn't at the event, so I have to admit that what I know is second hand. Unfortunately, the
Young Democrats were not able to make it. The U of A is on the eve of finals and the town they had the debate at is about 45 minutes from town. Of course, the
Young Republicans did make it. Ah, must be nice to have trust funds. (By the way, check out the pic of the YR president...I'm on the verge of aging out of the YDs...this guy looks to have several years on me...)
The YRs cheered every time Kolbe mentioned Bush's name. Of course, this puts the lie to the argument that this has nothing to do with partisan politics. There wasn't the silliness that went on in Pennsylvania, where the YRs were cheering against social security. These guys had a bit of sense. I wonder if they forgot they were cheering a gay congressman? Is he welcome at their meetings? It was only a couple of years back that homosexuality was enough to get you thrown out of the College Republican chapter at the U of A. (I love the pic of Barry on their site...probably wouldn't be welcome at their meetings if he were still around)
Anyhow, Kolbe messed up a bit when he showed up with a full blown PowerPoint presentation. Grijalva's understanding was that there was to be no charts or displays. At first, the League of Women Voters, who ran the debate, let Kolbe get away with his presentation. Several members of the audience objected, and he had to stop. He refered to the presentation a few more times, however.
As for the substance, it was pretty simple. Grijalva's arguments were that this is a boon for the brokers, but will result in huge debts for younger workers. Kolbe's argument was that the Democrats don't have a plan, yadda yadda yadda. Interestingly, Kolbe has had a privatization plan that has been circulating for several years. He didn't bring up the fact that his plan is very different from Bush's plan (or should I say "Bush's outline").
I am very disappointed in the near total lack of coverage that the local media has given the event. It is unusual, at the least, for congressmen to debate each other outside of Washington. You'd think that the editors would give a story on the event some priority. I was unable to watch the local news last night, but KVOA, KGUN and KOLD didn't find this event important enough to put on their websites. In defense of the Tucson Citizen, they ran a preview of the debate on Saturday's front page, and today's story won't be posted until 10:00 or 11:00, since they are an afternoon paper. This is not so much a matter of "bias", its more because the local media isn't interested in covering politics, despite several fine reporters who would love to do the stories.
Another interesting piece of background to this story: Kolbe is slightly frustrated that Grijalva gets the attention he does. For years, Kolbe served as southern Arizona's congressman next to Mo Udall. Kolbe was second banana because, well, he wasn't Mo. Mo retired, and was replaced by Rep.Ed Pastor, who for various reasons, didn't get much press in Tucson (he is from Phoenix). Also, Sen. John McCain is more interested in national media, and Sen. Jon Kyl barely has a presence in Southern Arizona. Kolbe has had the press to himself for a decade. Now, he has to compete with Grijalva who has made it a point to agressively make his case in the media. Poor Kolbe is miffed to have to share the spotlight. Of course, this event just put the second-term Grijalva on the same footing with the long term Kolbe. Thanks Jim!
