McCain Flip Flop – Offshore Drilling
August 31, 2010
Top Strategist Takes Over Reins of Glassman Campaign
August 30, 2010
PHOENIX, Ariz. — Rodney Glassman is beefing up his U.S. Senate campaign to unseat longtime incumbent John McCain, who continues to fail to represent the people of Arizona.
Glassman has brought on veteran Democratic strategist Bill Romjue to run his campaign.
Romjue most recently ran Andrew Romanoff’s underdog bid for the U.S. Senate in Colorado, a race that drew national attention and nearly unseated an establishment candidate. Romjue also has worked for Vice President Joe Biden, former Missouri congressman Richard Gephardt and former U.S. senator Gary Hart of Colorado. He joins a venerable team of senior advisers that includes:
* Advertising consultant Dane Strother, of Strother, Duffy, Strother. Strother Strategies’ first foray into Arizona politics was helping former U.S. senator Dennis DeConcini get reelected in 1998. Strother works for Attorney General Gary King in New Mexico, and in the past month has won Democratic gubernatorial primaries in Georgia and Oklahoma. Strother has helped elect more than a dozen U.S. senators, and clients have included Blanche Lincoln in Arkansas and Mary Landrieu in Louisiana.
* Direct mail consultant Achim Bergmann, of The Baughman Co. The Baughman Co. has produced winning direct mail from coast to coast, including several Democratic wins in Arizona and the West, and Hillary Clinton’s presidential primary victory in Arizona. Before joining the firm, Bergmann helped Rep. Harry Mitchell defeat former congressman J.D. Hayworth and advised Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in her bid to capture a southern Arizona seat that had been held by a Republican for 22 years.
* Ben Tulchin, of Tulchin Research, a leading polling and strategic consulting firm with deep experience in Arizona and the West.
Romjue officially takes the reins Wednesday from former campaign manager Patrick Mellody, who left to pursue other opportunities.
“We thank Patrick for all his hard work, ” Glassman said. “My campaign team is focused on the general election and remains dedicated to the people of Arizona, whom John McCain has ignored for 28 years. Nearly 300,000 Arizonans have lost their jobs since the beginning of the recession. Half of Arizona homeowners are under water on their mortgages, and Arizona ranks dead last in classroom spending. I pledge to serve the people of Arizona. John McCain has only seemed interested in serving himself and his own narrow interests.”
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McCain Compares Palin to Teddy Roosevelt — Seriously
August 27, 2010
John McCain continues to praise former half-term, wolf-shooting, drill-baby-drilling Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin by comparing her to President Teddy Roosevelt, one of the great figures in American environmental history.
During an appearance on FOX News’ “On the Record With Greta Van Sustren,” McCain said Palin was “carrying on in the tradition of Teddy Roosevelt.”
As governor, Palin actively promoted shotgunning wolves from helicopters, and went so far as to offer a $150 bounty for each severed wolf foreleg. Her administration even pushed to expand this practice.
Roosevelt was the first environmental president. Though he was a noted big-game hunter, he set aside 51 wildlife refuges and signed legislation establishing five national parks.
McCain uprooted Palin from Juneau, Alaska in 2008, claiming to the world that she was qualified to be president of the United States. Her qualifications? Half a term as Governor of a state with the population the size of Pima County, and a part-time mayorship of a city half the size of Coolidge.
“John McCain put Sarah Palin on a national ticket and still won’t admit it was a mistake,” said Glassman Communications Director Blake Morlock. “But by comparing her to Teddy Roosevelt, he has shown how out of touch he really is. She practices politics the way she hunts; taking potshots at targets far removed from the reality on the ground. McCain won’t bring any federal money to Arizona, but he will proudly inflict Sarah Palin upon us.”
Other ways in which Palin and Roosevelt differ:
Teddy Roosevelt cleaned up corruption in the New York City Police Department.
Sara Palin got tangled up in Troopergate.
Teddy Roosevelt was a statesman who won the Nobel Peace Prize.
Sara Palin said being governor of a state close to Russia gave her foreign policy experience.
Teddy Roosevelt was an environmentalist, setting aside vast parts of America’s natural treasures for protection.
Sarah Palin gave us “Drill, baby, drill.”
Teddy Roosevelt came up with the phrase: “Speak softly and carry a big stick.”
Sarah Palin came up with the word “refudiate.”
Teddy Roosevelt: Panama Canal.
Sarah Palin: Bridge to Nowhere.
Teddy Roosevelt fought major corporate monopolies and was known as the “Trust Buster.”
Sarah Palin said the following about the Wall Street bailouts: “Ultimately, what the bailout does is help those who are concerned about the health care reform that is needed to help shore up our economy …oh … it’s gotta be all about job creation, too, shoring up our economy to put it back on the right track.”
Teddy Roosevelt was self-made, through what he called “the strenuous life.”
Sarah Palin was made by John McCain.
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Voters Not Sold on Sending John McCain Back to Washington
August 27, 2010
PHOENIX, Ariz. — John McCain has spent 28 years in Washington and has spent $21 million on his reelection campaign so far – and yet he still hasn’t convinced Arizona voters that he deserves a fifth term in the U.S. Senate, according to a poll released Friday.
A new Rasmussen poll shows McCain standing at just 53 percent. Despite all the money he spent on his primary, he’s dropped four points since May and hasn’t budged since earlier this month.
“Arizona voters know John McCain has failed Arizona,” said Patrick Mellody, campaign manager for Rodney Glassman, McCain’s challenger in the general election. “Arizonans want a senator who will work for them to get Arizona moving again, put Arizonans back to work and improve the state’s public schools. No amount of money can convince voters that John McCain has served the state.”
McCain has flip-flopped on issue after issue, and even recently said he never considered himself a maverick — contradicting an image he spent decades crafting.
“Voters are fed up with John McCain and don’t know who he is anymore, or what he really stands for,” Mellody said.
Glassman has built a campaign based on listening to voters’ concerns and promising to bring people together to get things done.
“Arizona can prosper in the 21st century when we find 21st century solutions to our problems,” Glassman said. “That means bringing people together to focus on clean jobs, better schools and not going back to the old ways that have failed us.”
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Verde Independent – Democrat Rodney Glassman faces uphill battle to oust John McCain
August 27, 2010
PHOENIX — Democrat Rodney Glassman is going to have to educate a lot of people about himself — and hope they like what they hear — if he hopes to oust John McCain.
A new Rasmussen Reports survey Friday shows that 53 percent of the 500 likely voters questioned by automated telephone poll on Wednesday, the day after the primary, said they intend to vote to return the Republican senator to Congress for six more years. Glassman, by contrast, was the choice of just 31 percent.
Those numbers are pretty consistent with what Rasmussen has found in the past — before McCain and Glassman won their respective primaries — when testing a head-to-head race between them.
What Rasmussen found this time, though, suggests a possible path for Glassman.
Asked for their views of the candidates, 53 percent respondents said they see McCain in a favorable light. Glassman’s numbers are at 33 percent.
But it’s not because voters don’t like Glassman, a former member of the Tucson city council. In fact, the number of Arizonans who have a very unfavorable view of him is identical to the number who share that view of McCain.
Instead, it appears to be a question of ignorance.
Fully three out of every 10 voters said they don’t know enough about Glassman to have an opinion of him. That is 10 times as many as are unsure of how they feel about McCain.
A similar pattern shows up when Rasmussen asks voters where they see the pair on the political spectrum.
McCain is viewed as conservative by 55 percent of survey respondents, with 26 percent saying he is a moderate and another 14 percent finding his views liberal or very liberal.
Only 11 percent of Arizona voters see Glassman as conservative. Another 27 percent believe he is a moderate and 39 percent perceive him as a liberal. But 22 percent say they aren’t sure of his views.
Finally, Rasmussen found that one in 10 people questioned would rather have someone other than either McCain or Glassman, with another 6 percent unsure of how they might vote.
Glassman’s ability to bridge that knowledge gap could depend heavily on his ability to generate media coverage. While he spent more than any other Democrat in the primary, his ability to raise cash pales in comparison with McCain who reportedly spent $21 million to trounce primary challenger J.D. Hayworth. That compares with less than $1.2 million Glassman listed in his last Federal Election Commission report for the four-way Democratic primary, including $500,000 in personal loans.
In a separate question on the same survey, 40 percent of respondents said they strongly approve of the job Gov. Jan Brewer is doing, with another 25 percent say they somewhat approve her performance. Only 24 percent express some level of disapproval.
The survey has a margin of error of 4.5 percent.
On Gender Equity Day, McCain’s Dismal Record on Women’s Issues Highlighted
August 26, 2010
On Gender Equity Day, John McCain must explain his record of voting against women on issues such as equal pay, sexual assault and a woman’s right to choose. This stands in stark comparison to the views of his U.S. Senate challenger Rodney Glassman.
McCain voted against the Lily Ledbetter Act, which ensures that women receive equal pay for equal work and expands legal recourse to discrimination in the work place. McCain voted to protect the rights corporations that fail to protect women from sexual assault.
McCain has consistently failed to represent the majority of Arizonans, who favor a woman’s right to choose.
“John McCain simply doesn’t get issues important to women and has done nothing to support equality between genders,” said Patrick Mellody, campaign manager for Glassman . “He can’t say he’s a champion of the basic idea of equality, while constantly voting against women in the U.S. Senate.”
McCain’s challenger, Rodney Glassman, will champion equality and the dignity of women.
“Arizona needs a senator who will represent the people of the state and in the 21st Century. We have moved rightly moved on from the days when discrimination was wrongly encouraged in parts of society,” Glassman said. “I look forward to fighting for all Arizonans in the U.S. Senate, while protecting a woman’s right to choose and making the workplace a safe place for all women to pursue rewarding careers.”
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