Since Janet Napolitano went to Obama’s cabinet and McCain announced (repeatedly) that he was running for reelection, Arizona has seemed off the table for us. This, being followed by Sebelius’s choice to join the cabinet instead of running for Brownback’s seat, certainly but a bad taste in everyone’s mouth. However, I’m inclined to a never give up attitude, and I think McCain is still very vulnerable, even if it would be an uphill fight. There’s no room for naivity though. If we’re going to win, we need a very strong candidate……..
The Mayor of Phoenix, Phil Gordon
(Credit where credit is due: I’m not the only one who’s thought of this, SE-779 floated this idea as well, so hopefully we’re on to something.)
For those of you that don’t know about Mayor Gordon, he’s bound to be one of the best mayors in the country and a rising star in the Democratic Party, and it shows. He was elected mayor in 2003 with 72 percent of the vote and again in 2007 with 77 percent. And Gordon’s not just a big name politician. The guy’s the real deal. He’s worked hard and used creative thinking to revitalize down town Phoenix, supported light rail, and launced the Works Progress Advancementproject, the heart of which is a compelling public works project. The icing on the cake? Mayor Gordon is on record standing up to Joe Arpaio and for civil rights. And for all his hard work, Mayor Gordon earns tremendous praise from his constituents and drives the wingnuts insane.
Mayor Gordon is not only a good Democrat, he’s clearly a Better Democrat of the mold that’s shown great promise in the West over the last couple of cycles. But here’s the rub-by all accounts, he’s interested in running for Governor. The Arizona governor’s seat was lost to the Republicans when Napolitano went to the cabinet and the Secretary of State took over. There’s no guarantee we’ll get the seat back, and we already have a top tier candidate for the seat in Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard, who’s also from the city of Phoenix. The last thing we need is a rough primary between our two top candidates if we’re going to take back the governorship, especially when we could be working on taking down a high profile Republican senator.
McCain’s loss to Barack Obama and his conduct during the course of the campaign hurt him, so much so that it looked like Obama would be competitive in McCain’s homestate at one point. Early on it looked like McCain would mend fences and work to keep a top challenger out of the running, but now it’s clear that with Napolitano gone he has no intention of doing anything but being a vindictive old man and an obstical in the path of progressive change. What’s more, if Gordon were to run, he might not find himself facing McCain. The far right has always had the knives out for the senator. Former Congressman J.D. Hayworth gets a lot of buzz for a primary challenge. In 2004, the Club For Growth (which will surely support any McCain challenger in the primary) tried to get Jeff Flake to challenge him. And there’s always a few extra wingnuts drifting around Arizona like Randy Graff. Gordon would have a strong advantage over any of these far-right nuts, but even if that dream scenario doesn’t play out he’ll still have a good shot at beating McCain.
Think about it, Arizona, like most of the west, is moving our way. Obama will compete there in 2012 and would have competed there had McCain not been on the ballot last year. McCain lost a lot of support among the growing Latino population in the state with his waffling on immigration, a group that Mayor Gordon has been a strong advocate for. On top of that, McCain is working hard to further erode support among working and middle-class constituents by opposing a popular president’s economic reforms in a time where people are feeling the crunch. What’s more, McCain has always gotten soft ball opposition in his reelection campaigns, and we’ve seen that he has a tendancy to flash his temper and trend towards self-destruct when he’s up against a real opponent. So believe me, this one is doable. It will be tough, akin to the Begich/Stevens contest last year, but still very, very, winnable.
So, if you think Mayor Gordon should run (and he will probably have to be drafted), why not drop him a line: http://www.mayorgordon.com/con… or throw his name out to the DSCC.
We can do this. We can beat McCain on his home turf and send him packing for good while electing a Better Democrat and a great ally for President Obama to the U.S. Senate. But first, we’ve got to make some noise and get him to run.
(Cross Posted at Senate Guru and DailyKos)