Post by JohnC on Aug 13, 2004 11:49:51 GMT -7
Last night the wife and I went to a political debate between the three candidates running for the Congressional seat in our district (District 8, in southern Arizona)
The candidates were: Jim Kolbe, Incumbent Representative, Randy Graf, Republican Challenger and a young Democrat who, ( in my opinion) needs to read up on everythng, including the Constitution and our Bill of Rights - poor guy was barely capable of speaking in complete sentences.
Anyway, we have attended quite a few of Kolbe's "Town Hall Meetings" wherein he deigns to leave his comfy ranch and visit the peasants in the rural towns. I have never heard this man agree with his constituents that the illegal alien invasion is a serious problem. He has always acted as if he thought we were all a bunch of bumkins who were barely intelligent enough to know what shoes were for.
Randy Graf, on the other hand has always stopped to say hello, and doesn't hesitate to ask if you have any special concerns... you most definitely feel that he truly wants to help you.
In his opening comments/speech, Kolbe bragged about how he has been our "Representative" for ten consecutive terms and has constantly striven(?) to ensure our needs were addressed during that time. Basically, he said that he had voted for us some of the time, but more for his beliefs most of the time. He was exceptionally proud of the Program that he, Senator John McCain (R) AZ and Representative Jeff Flake (R) AZ have sponsored that will pretty much give 8 - 10,000,000 illegal aliens amnesty and open the way for them to take most of the low-paying entry -level jobs our kids usually start out in and it will also, (if Bush gets his way) allow them to start getting Social Security benefits. He voted no on practically everything his constituents seem to feel were important, and sidestepped several issues that concerned us.
Graf, however, avoided nothing and seemed completely in tune with our feelings concerning the invasion of our borders, and offered sensible solutions. He even admitted that if he was elected, as a junior representative he'd have to work very hard, but he said he'd do the best he could.
Overall impressions on Kolbe- he's very, very worried and is making far too many excuses. He is definitely much more experienced but came off somewhat shady, as if he knew he'd been avoiding the rural voters, and didn't know what to say to them anymore.
Graf is young, with only four years in the state legislature, but he either is a better actor than Kolbe, or a better possibility for the voters. He definitely is saying what the voters want to hear, and is extremely popular - I've watched teenaged kids go up to him and ask him what he'd do about thngs that they're concerned about and he spends as much time with them as he does with any adult.
I'd say we all know how important this election will be to our individual and collective futures and I'm looking forward to voting in our upcoming primary . JohnC
The candidates were: Jim Kolbe, Incumbent Representative, Randy Graf, Republican Challenger and a young Democrat who, ( in my opinion) needs to read up on everythng, including the Constitution and our Bill of Rights - poor guy was barely capable of speaking in complete sentences.
Anyway, we have attended quite a few of Kolbe's "Town Hall Meetings" wherein he deigns to leave his comfy ranch and visit the peasants in the rural towns. I have never heard this man agree with his constituents that the illegal alien invasion is a serious problem. He has always acted as if he thought we were all a bunch of bumkins who were barely intelligent enough to know what shoes were for.
Randy Graf, on the other hand has always stopped to say hello, and doesn't hesitate to ask if you have any special concerns... you most definitely feel that he truly wants to help you.
In his opening comments/speech, Kolbe bragged about how he has been our "Representative" for ten consecutive terms and has constantly striven(?) to ensure our needs were addressed during that time. Basically, he said that he had voted for us some of the time, but more for his beliefs most of the time. He was exceptionally proud of the Program that he, Senator John McCain (R) AZ and Representative Jeff Flake (R) AZ have sponsored that will pretty much give 8 - 10,000,000 illegal aliens amnesty and open the way for them to take most of the low-paying entry -level jobs our kids usually start out in and it will also, (if Bush gets his way) allow them to start getting Social Security benefits. He voted no on practically everything his constituents seem to feel were important, and sidestepped several issues that concerned us.
Graf, however, avoided nothing and seemed completely in tune with our feelings concerning the invasion of our borders, and offered sensible solutions. He even admitted that if he was elected, as a junior representative he'd have to work very hard, but he said he'd do the best he could.
Overall impressions on Kolbe- he's very, very worried and is making far too many excuses. He is definitely much more experienced but came off somewhat shady, as if he knew he'd been avoiding the rural voters, and didn't know what to say to them anymore.
Graf is young, with only four years in the state legislature, but he either is a better actor than Kolbe, or a better possibility for the voters. He definitely is saying what the voters want to hear, and is extremely popular - I've watched teenaged kids go up to him and ask him what he'd do about thngs that they're concerned about and he spends as much time with them as he does with any adult.
I'd say we all know how important this election will be to our individual and collective futures and I'm looking forward to voting in our upcoming primary . JohnC
