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Rodney Glassman’s U.S. Senate campaign today officially unveiled John McCain’s “Daiy Flip Flop” on the campaign’s official web site.
Between now and the election, the web site will point out a different McCain flip-flop, revealing McCain’s style of switching positions as he switches audiences. McCain has flip-flopped on more than enough issues to provide a daily tally, like immigration, ear mark spending, climate change, “maverickyness” and even torture.
“John McCain’s been on so many sides of so many issues that it defies geometry,” said Blake Morlock, Communications Director for the Glassman campaign. “It’s done nothing to help create Arizona jobs or help under water homeowners.”
McCain’s brand may change again as he heads into the general election, while Glassman’s campaign will focus on a single theme: “What’s best for Arizona.”
“My focus is squarely on the people who will send me to the U.S. Senate,” Glassman said. “We do that by bringing people together to move Arizona forward.”
SEE JOHN MCCAIN’S FLIP-FLOPS HERE
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PHOENIX, Ariz. — John McCain entered the political history books over the weekend, actually attacking himself as a purveyor of “class warfare.”
McCain made the comments on Fox News Sunday, dismissing senators who oppose extending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy for the exact reason he opposed enacting those cuts in the first place.
In 2001, after failing to gain support for an amendment that would make the wealthy pay a higher tax rate than they do now, McCain voted against the Bush tax cuts. In his floor speech he explained why: “I cannot in good conscience support a tax cut in which so many of the benefits go to the most fortunate among us, at the expense of middle-class Americans who most need tax relief.”
SEE THE CONGRESSIONAL RECORD HERE
This past weekend, Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace asked McCain if he would support extending the Bush tax cuts for the middle-class while allowing tax cuts for the wealthy few to expire in order to pay for small business tax relief. McCain mocked the idea as “class warfare.”
SEE THE VIDEO HERE
“John McCain actually threw himself under the proverbial bus,” said Blake Morlock, Communications Director for the Rodney Glassman for U.S. Senate campaign. “It makes one wonder what positions he will take the next time political winds change. He’s apparently capable of shape-shifting at will.”
Glassman, a Democrat running against McCain in the general election, opposes allowing the Bush tax cuts on the middle-class to expire. This would constitute the largest middle-class tax increase in U.S. history — a tax increase McCain apparently would let happen.
“I oppose John McCain’s tax hike on struggling middle-class families,” Glassman said. “I would like to see all the tax cuts extended until the economy recovers, but if I have to choose between people like John McCain and me keeping our tax cuts or middle-class families keeping theirs? I choose the middle class.”
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PHOENIX, Ariz. – Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Rodney Glassman has agreed to debate John McCain later this month on KTVK-3TV in Phoenix.
The hour-long, formal debate is set for Sunday, Sept. 26. It will air live on KTVK and be streamed to the station’s website, azfamily.com. The station is also seen in Yuma on cable, and station officials hope to set up a feed for one of Channel 3′s sister stations in Tucson.
“We’re happy that for one hour, every six years, John McCain seems to care about the issues important to Arizona, including jobs, securing the border and improving public schools,” said Glassman campaign Communications Director Blake Morlock. “If he really cares about these issues, he will work constructively right now to create jobs, secure the border and fix Arizona public schools, rather than simply obstruct until later.”
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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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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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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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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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In an effort to start a real national push for green jobs, U.S. Senate candidate Rodney Glassman today joined the newly minted EnergizeUS coalition, comprised of candidates running for office across the country — each committed to pursuing policies to expand alternative energy jobs and keep America secure.
The EnergizeUS coalition pledges not just to run on green jobs, but to form a caucus in the U.S. House and Senate to create a push for jobs in a new green economy.
John McCain has taken all sides of this issue but is best remembered for an energy plan reduced to three words: Drill baby, drill. He’s spending millions of Big Oil dollars in an effort to hold onto his seat, despite ignoring Arizona’s needs for 28 years in Washington.
“Arizona is perfectly positioned to cash in on the coming revolution in clean industry and needs a U.S. Senator committed to putting our state on the cutting edge of the new economy,” Glassman said.
Arizona receives fewer federal solar dollars than the city of Portland, Ore., in part because McCain has refused to fight to bring our tax dollars back to our state.
“I’m proud to to be part of this coalition of candidates committed to creating jobs and sending fewer dollars to oil-rich countries that bankroll America’s enemies,” Glassman said. “We should spend less money subsidizing Big Oil and invest more in alternative energy, like solar power, to the benefit of Arizona and America.”
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PHOENIX, Ariz. – The Rodney Glassman for U.S. Senate campaign announced Wednesday that women from all across Arizona have signed on to be “Women for Glassman” supporters who back Glassman as the candidate with the vision needed to help provide a brighter future for all Arizonans.
These supporters include educators, elected officials, students, volunteers and activists in the Democratic Party. They are coalescing around Glassman because they say he is the right kind of leader to bring jobs and our tax dollars back to Arizona, improving schools and helping put the state on a sound economic footing for the 21st century.
Here is what some of them had to say about him:
“He will be the voice of reason; he will work with the president to make Arizona more prosperous. This is what our state desperately needs. We have been ignored for far too long and we need someone in D.C who is hard-working, a problem solver and someone who will actually work for the interest of Arizonans.”
– Kathleen Pastryk, Pima County State Committee, Secretary (26)
“He is addressing issues of particular importance at this time–job development, education, comprehensive immigration reform, and veterans’ issues . . . I believe we need new people in our government, people who are not mired in the ‘system’ who continue to promote political gridlock”
–Alma R. Lawler, Rimrock
“After meeting Rodney and learning what he has accomplished, I am convinced that he is the individual we need in Washington to represent Arizona — fresh, innovative, vibrant and committed to Arizona values.”
– Esther Kozinets, Scottsdale
“I support Rodney Glassman because he supports the issues I feel are necessary to make Arizona a good place to and live and raise our children and grandchildren. He has shown he supports education for all people. He wants to secure our borders by having the federal government work on immigration reform. He is opposed to racial profiling and other racist and bigoted laws currently being passed in our state. He is a young and energetic man who represents Arizona’s future.”
– Cecilia Aros Hunter, Pima County Precinct Committee (97)
“Rodney Glassman spoke to an enthusiastic audience when he visited our group, Democrats of The Verde Valley, in March. We are convinced he has the courage, drive, fresh talent and will to win this U.S Senate seat. More importantly, he can bring clean energy and jobs to Arizona. McCain has never done anything for Arizona or the country except posture. It is time his long destructive tenure ended. We can’t afford him.”
–Jeanine Peterson, U.S. Navy veteran
“Rodney Glassman’s knowledge of environmental issues, including his Ph.D. focusing on water and energy, proves his commitment to future generations, respect for Mother Earth and protecting natural resources.”
–Councilwoman Ginny Dickey, Town of Fountain Hills
Glassman said he heartened by the comments from such a diverse group of women.
“I am grateful they have looked at my record and my commitment to improving the lives of all Arizonans and chosen to support my campaign,” Glassman said. “I will continue to fight for reproductive justice and equality under the law, while bringing people together to get Arizona moving forward again.”
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U.S. Senate candidate Rodney Glassman today announced his plan to get Arizonans back to work — a plan that includes bringing Arizona’s dollars back home and restoring the credit of businesses that got sideswiped by the Bush Recession.
Corporate America sits on top of nearly $2 trillion in cash but won’t hire new employees until Americans start spending, while Americans are fearful to spend until the jobs picture improves.
“We can’t keep bailing out the banks and major corporations,” said Glassman. “We need to be looking towards solutions like tax breaks for small businesses looking to hire new employees, invest and grow. Meanwhile the public sector must take up the slack and focus on badly needed infrastructure improvements.”
This is the first step in a series of policies Glassman will enact to get Arizonans back to work now and put the state on a stronger footing to prosper through “Green Jobs” in the future.
The federal budget deficit remains a serious concern, but John McCain’s solution is to put even more Americans out of work and forfeit needed revenues that will only make the deficit larger.
“The best way to balance the budget in the long term is to get Americans back to work and get the recovery going,” Glassman said. “I will pursue an agenda that attacks the jobs situation from every angle — tax credits, infrastructure spending and improving small business access to credit. All are required to tackle the most pressing issue in America.”
Click here to read more about Rodney’s plan to bring jobs back to Arizona.
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