tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28821987.post115501474935786024..comments2023-12-30T21:07:49.487-07:00Comments on Arizona 8th: State of the campaign - Democratic PrimaryUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28821987.post-1155137887842732832006-08-09T08:38:00.000-07:002006-08-09T08:38:00.000-07:00Roger and Co.The people I spoke with were almost a...Roger and Co.<BR/><BR/>The people I spoke with were almost all pretty strong self identified liberals, the kind of people who give me grief for being a Republican.<BR/><BR/>Again, the result for Patty wasn't what I found suprising, Gabby has just started her media push, Patty should be ahead still based on name recognition. Again, what is interesting is that there was a unified reasoning behind backing Patty and dismissing Gabby that I hadn't considered. I was frankly highly suprised. <BR/><BR/>I don't have a dog in the fight, or an axe to grind. But Gabby's timidity on separating herself from Patty on the issues (or perhaps it is Patty who is being clever in mirroring Gabby) makes this race a lot more dangerous for Gabby than it could be.<BR/><BR/>Personally, if I have a candidate that has votes on record as opposed to rhetoric, I will go with the votes if they agree with my positions, all things being equal.<BR/><BR/>However, it appears that their are others, especially in the Democratic party that are not feeling a lot of trust in politicians of any stripe right now. They want to feel that they know their candidate, and a great portion of Distict 8 feels they know Patty. There are also many that feel that they know Latas. You yourself know Gabby and it is a big reason why you are supporting her. Would you be as strong a supporter if all you had seen was her TY commercials?<BR/><BR/>I guess my main argument is that this cycle is shaping up more as a "trust" election rather than "qualifications" mandate. Should the campaigning continue on its current trajectory this favors Patty, especially if Gabby does not adjust.<BR/><BR/>Again, because I feel that the anti-Gabby sentiment is made of intangibles, it is certainly something that can be fixed. People are looking to quantify this feeling by nit-picking (see Walmart vote threads). However, should Gabby show leadership either by creating unique policy positions, or by leading the charge by personally confronting Republicans in venues like the forums the trust issue can be mitigated, and quickly.<BR/><BR/>Will Gabby do this, or depend upon her money to get her name recognition up? Defining her positions better carries some risk, but it could lead to a comfortable victory in the primary. But, as I mentioned before, if her plan is to out-television Patty, she could very well be going home early.Framerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09867927854445059711noreply@blogger.com