I've been watching Rodney Glassman's Arizona Senate exploratory campaign for a little while now and I think we're looking at the early stages of someone who is quite electable.
Let me explain just a little bit further as to what I've learned about this man over the last few weeks.
Rodney Glassman, make that Dr. Glassman, no wait, it's Lieutenant Glassman … and City Councilman Glassman. Oh, heck, those all fit. And he has his law degree, too. OK, I've got a little CV overload here, let me try to get this out in an organized fashion.
Rodney and Sasha Glassman
Rodney Glassman is currently exploring a Senate run in Arizona. He is exploring rather than declaring because he is on the Tucson City Council and they've got some important business that he wants to see finished before he resigns to run full time. The budget for the municipality is turned in on April 6th and their press release indicates that things will likely change shortly thereafter.
Rodney Glassman travels around the state visit with Democrats and gathering support for his run. Except when he is slacking off like last week – three days of no appearances. I guess he can be excused for going away for training associated with being an Air Force Reserve JAG.
Somewhere in between law school, joining the Air Force, being a city councilman, and marrying the prettiest girl in Arizona plain ol' Rodney found time to become Dr. Rodney, with a Ph.D. In Arid Land Resource Sciences. When not busy representing his portion of America's 32nd largest city, or helping to defend our country, Rodney is focused on water conservation, a key issue in Arizona.
The Glassmans' next big move in this area is a children's book called Jeremy Jackrabbit Harvests The Rain. This book is about, wait for it … water conservation.
The book, illustrated by Tucson area children, and starring Raul the roadrunner and Ramona the mouse, will be read aloud by House Progressive Caucus leader Raúl Grijalva and his wife Mona Grijalva (strange coincidence, eh?) tomorrow at The Loft Cinema in Tucson. All proceeds from the book go to the Pima Library Foundation.
OK, did I mention the Glassman Foundation? No? OK, well somewhere in amongst all of these other things Rodney also has time to fund raise for local causes, over a million dollars since 2002. I was surprised to see there wasn't a direct link between this and the publication of the book ...
(UPDATE: Rodney turned up and commented.)
(UPDATE: Can someone please go adjust the DSCC - they seem a little out of sync with the will of the voters in Arizona. The campaign just forwarded this to me.
Rodney Glassman Supported by Arizonans, Not DC Establishment
Despite Washington Democratic leaders desire for an establishment insider, Arizona Democratic activists and leaders are lining up behind potential U.S. Senate candidate Rodney Glassman.
"Recent comments by the DSCC only highlight the fact that, should I decide to run, I will not be an establishment candidate," says Glassman in response to comments published today in the National Journal that Glassman may may not have sufficient Washington credentials. "Arizonans believe it's time to send an Arizonan to Washington instead of letting Washingtonian insiders continue to represent us."
Arizonans are showing their support for Glassman in a very tangible way: Even with his "exploratory" committee, Glassman already has more individual contributors than any candidate who has ever run against McCain. Glassman's focus has been on $20 donations because he believes grassroots support is more important than establishment support as he “tests the waters.”
In addition to the strong grassroots support Glassman is garnering, prominent Arizona Democrats like Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard and former senatorial candidate Jim Pederson, along with the entire slate of statewide Democratic candidates, are encouraging Glassman's potential bid for U.S. Senate.
"Prominent Arizona Democrats like Jim Pedersen, Terry Goddard, and state party chair Don Bivens asked me to run against John McCain for U.S. Senate," says Glassman, "but I believe this effort must be bottom-up not top-down. That's why I believe that focusing on $20 donations is the right thing to do, and that's why I invite the DSCC to come to Arizona to see for themselves what is building in Arizona as we explore the 2010 race."
Glassman would be both the first Democratic elected official to challenge McCain in the U.S. Senate race and the first Democrat to run for this Senate seat who is encouraged and supported by every other candidate for statewide office in Arizona in nearly twenty years.
Goddard, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate, said of Glassman, "Rodney Glassman has already brought energy, intelligence and enthusiasm to the race for U.S. Senate, and he is still in the exploratory phase. At a time when Arizonans are crying out for new leadership, Rodney's innovative ideas and fresh perspective are what the U.S. Senate needs."
With Arizona's resign-to-run law, potential candidates who want to fulfill their obligations to current constituents are hamstrung. Glassman has promised to hang tough on the Tucson City Council until early April before making any official decisions, saying: "I will not abandon my responsibilities for political expediency in a time of crisis."
"The Tucson City Council will forward their budget recommendations to the City Manager in just 5 weeks on April 6. I understand what it would take to win this race, and should I decide to run, I will be ready to run a grassroots campaign that will rival any beltway-insider campaign that John McCain or J.D. Hayworth can muster."
