Alexis Tameron Joins Mitchell Campaign

Union Guy e-mailed me this morning and forwarded a message from Alexis Tameron. Alexis served as the Political Director of the Arizona Democratic Party for four years. Congrats, Alexis! Congratulate or thank Alexis at alexis@harry2006.com. Thanks to Union Guy over at daringheart!

Harry Mitchell's campaign headquarters opened not too long ago. It is located in Tempe, east of the intersection of Baseline Rd. and Mill Ave.

Harry Mitchell for Congress

115 E Baseline

Tempe, AZ 85282

And finally, J.D. Hayworth has come under a little scrutiny for campaign contributions from a radar tech firm he touted in a July 2004 press release. Where this may lead, I'm not sure... but it will be interesting to see nonetheless.

Hayworth to Tour Border with Bush

On Thursday, President Bush will visit Yuma and J.D. Hayworth will be along for the ride. According to KPHO, Hayworth is going to press Bush on adopting an "enforcement-first" policy.

Oh, this is great!

A recently released poll shows Hayworth only leads Harry Mitchell by five points and he is at the dangerous 50% mark for an incumbent. Now, Hayworth will be joining Bush for another impressive photo-op in a state where Bush is getting a 39/59% approval/disapproval rating. This is a state that re-elected Bush with 55% of the vote barely two years ago! A corrupt President with disasterous approval ratings accompanying a corrupt Congressman with disasterous immigration policies.

Harry Mitchell had this to say about Hayworth, Bush, and immigration:

“The president told the nation this evening what Arizonans already know: we need additional security resources at the border, and a realistic and comprehensive approach to immigration reform.

“Up to now, the federal government has failed in its responsibility to secure our border. As a result, illegal immigration has gotten worse.

“The solution begins with securing the border, but it doesn’t end there. We must secure the border with additional Border Patrol agents and technology, reform our immigration laws to include a temporary worker program, and sanction employers who knowingly and willingly violate the law.

“The bill passed by the House late last year may make for good sound bites, but it is not a realistic approach to comprehensive immigration reform. This is a serious problem and needs a serious solution. If the House ends up killing urgently needed, realistic, comprehensive immigration reform, I don’t think voters in Arizona will appreciate it.

“Furthermore, I applaud the president for tonight urging the nation and the Congress to debate this issue with the tone and respect it deserves. My opponent tried to use this issue to divide our nation, not unite it. His remarks about Arizona’s governor showed a lack of respect for our state, and a failure to grasp how important this issue is to all Arizonans.”

A lot of Arizonans are receptive to "enforcement-first" immigration policies. Hayworth and many other state politicians have run with these platforms. Yet these Republicans have been nothing but rubber stamps for this Presidency. This is a President that cut funding for the border patrol!

I'm sure their little safari will go over well with the voters of this district.

Hayworth: You've Got Nothing to Worry About

An article about Arizona's reaction to the new revelations about the NSA data-mining program included a quote from Bush apologist J.D. Hayworth:

"It's sad that the security and civil liberties of the American people are being
used as political theater," said Rep. J.D. Hayworth, R-Ariz. "The fact is that
if you don't associate with terrorists you have nothing to worry about. But if
you're planning another attack on American soil . . . you better stay off the
phone."

We have nothing to worry about? The telecommunication companies illegally handed over the phone records of millions of Americans to the NSA. Why? So they Administration can go fishing for a needle in a haystack. Why would terrorists have to worry about being caught talking on the phone when the NSA is sending FBI agents out on leads that end up being the pizza delivery guy?

It is sad when our Constitutional freedoms are being eroded away and the Imperial Presidency stomps all over the rule of law. It's very sad when our Congressman plays into it and repeats the same fearmongering rhetoric.

Harry Mitchell on DCCC Red-to-Blue List

The Hill recently reported Harry Mitchell was on the second tier of the DCCC's Red-to-Blue fundraising program. The idea can be put to rest now. According to Rep. Rahm, "He definitely is on the list." This is great to here, I'm glad the DCCC is looking at this race as top-tier. It definitely should be now that Harry is polling dangerously close to Hayworth.

You can help Harry out some more with his fundraising efforts by voting for him in Barbara Boxer's poll at her PAC For A Change. Update: Thanks to Union Guy at daringheart for the link!

New Poll: Mitchell Closing In!

SurveyUSA has a new poll that was published in the Phoenix Business Journal.

Harry Mitchell 45%
J.D. Hayworth 50%

Amazing. Mitchell has been in the race for less than a month officially. First, he raises almost a quarter of a million in a few weeks. Now, he is polling within 5% of an entrenched incumbent! Keep in mind, the margin of error is 4.1%, and I wouldn't be surprised if they started polling within the MoE soon.

In a hypothetical election in Arizona's 5th Congressional District today,
5/9/06, Republican incumbent J.D. Hayworth is narrowly re-elected over possible
Democratic challenger Harry Mitchell, according to a SurveyUSA poll conducted
exclusively for KPNX-TV Phoenix. 6 months from the 11/7/06 general election,
Hayworth gets 50% to 45% for the Democrat Mitchell. Hayworth gets 79% of
Republican votes. Mitchell gets 83% of Democrat votes. Independents break 50% to
44% for the Democrat. Hayworth leads by 13 points among men and trails by 2
points among women, a 15-point Gender Gap. Mitchell leads 4:1 among Liberals and
3:2 among the most educated voters. Mitchell will be Hayworth's opponent if
Mitchell wins the Arizona Democratic Primary on 9/12/06.

I'd like Harry's percentage among Democrats to be higher, but it's early and I'm not sure of Harry's name recognition among Scottsdale, Chandler, Phoenix, and Fountain Hills voters. Hayworth's 79% among Republicans must reflect the current national move towards the dominant party. Republican turnout will be key in this election and national polls are saying Democrats are more excited to vote this cycle. Let's hope Arizona follows that trend.

Update: Mister T has more on this over at Kos.

Thursday News Update

Just want to make a quick news update before the weekend.

Hayworth has a new column in which he advocates more solar power and touts his tax credit that was included in last year's energy package. It was probably the only logical measure in the bill.

The Governor will be hosting a fundraiser for Harry Mitchell on May 9th. I think it is important Governor Napolitano does as much as possible for the Congressional races, she has yet to face a serious challenger and our candidates could use her help.

Mitchell has also been chosen to be in the DCCC's Red-to-Blue program. Hopefully he'll get some much needed support. Thanks to Geo for the story.

I'll go searching again tonight for some more updates. Until then, no worries.

Congressional Turf Wars

AZCentral is reporting that Mitchell has visited J.D. Hayworth's north Scottsdale neighborhood, going door to door. Well, sort of. Mitchell visited the registered Democrats and Independents. J.D. Hayworth has been knocking on doors down in Mitchell's neck of the woods, but I'm interested to know whether or not Hayworth knocked on Republican doors or everyone's?

I applaud Mitchell for getting his message out with base Democrats and it is important in mid-term elections when the base turnout matters. However, I hope does not mean that this strategy will continue throughout the election. Harry Mitchell is a great candidate and he needs to get his message door to door throughout this district. That means more than knocking on Democratic doors this year.

I don't expect Harry to knock on every single door in the district (good luck to the guy who could!), but I wanted to make a point of this. The party has abandoned whole regions with only 30% Democratic support (in elections or registration). Arizona has been critically lacking in this regard. We are still without an opponent to Jeff Flake! The Democrats need to build their party this election, it's the only way we are going to get people to come back in 2008.

It's time to get the message out to as many as we can.

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