Tue 22 Jun 2010
Grassroots Interviews with CD-5 Candidate, David Schweikert
Posted by Marcus A Kelley under Campaigns & Elections , Interview[10] Comments
I’ve been remiss in posting my Grassroots Interviews, so, I’ll be playing a little catch-up. I interviewed David Schweikert on June 16. I wish him the best of luck in CD 5! Currently, Mark Spinks is the only other candidate to have confirmed a date on the show and I have a mere 9 dates left to book before the August 24th primary. After the primary, I’ll start interviewing those candidates that had no contested primaries and those that won their primaries.
June 22nd, 2010 at 11:32 am
Dave, unlike his “drop from the sky” opposition, has a solid conservative track record.
And this time Harry won’t have the DNC cash to carry him through and his not so cladestine RINO support in Districts 8, 17 & 20 have their hands full protecting their enabler, John McCain!
Love it!
June 22nd, 2010 at 12:20 pm
David is the only person who can unseat Harry Mitchell, and the DNC knows it. Expect the Obama hate machine to ramp up to full speed attacking Schweikert soon.
June 22nd, 2010 at 12:20 pm
The more I read Molly Pitcher the more I am inclined to go with J.D.. McCains’ ability to spread stink is about the only thing he has to offer.
June 22nd, 2010 at 12:37 pm
Molly Hatchet:
And you can bet the stink will be regurgitated in District 17 which btw is incapable of electing a Republican legislator of any hue!
June 22nd, 2010 at 8:08 pm
Jack Hammer,
As much as I want to beat Harry why wont he have the DNC’s help? The DCCC has more than double the cash on hand that the NRCC has and outraised them again this month.
The DNC outraised the RNC this month.
So why wont he get help?
The real question is, with all these races the republicans going after seats in will there be enough money for Schweikert? They didnt have enough last time for him, so why would they now?
June 22nd, 2010 at 10:43 pm
Interesting questions, johnny…
On one hand, yes, it’s still a fight – David’s just the most qualified of all the Republican candidates to win. Still, he could use more help, that’s true.
On the other hand, there are a lot more Democrats in trouble this time around. The Democrats may have a bigger pot, but there’s a lot more hands in it. More importantly, Harry Mitchell has gone from being the somewhat respected, genial former Tempe politician to being Obama’s spineless lap dog in the House. Mitchell has a record now, and it works quite heavily against him.
There are people who literally slammed doors in David’s face last election who are now giving him money. Part of it is because of Schweiker’s perservence, but a lot of it is because Mitchell’s been a disappointment to moderates and even some leftists, who expected a bit more advocacy for Arizona issues at the House level from him. Mitchell’s always there when Pelosi needs a vote, but he’s failed miserably at bringing hom the bacon to his district.
June 22nd, 2010 at 11:03 pm
Good job Marcus..
This interview was one of your best to date. David handled himself well and articulated his points very seamlessly through a wide range of topics. I found myself agreeing with him on many points.
The issue at hand is the primary. Most of these comments are about the general which is premature. Jim Ward is no pushover and I would caution those who dismiss him as a carpetbagger to respect him as a worthy opponent who plays to win.
If David wins the primary, I will be happy to support him in the general.
June 23rd, 2010 at 3:05 pm
Steve,
I agree with you to a certain point. But the same way you say the “the dems have more money but there are more hands in it” I assume you are implying there are a lot more Dems in Congress. But you have to look at it from the opposite point of view. The republicans are going after A LOT of seats. There are lots of targeted seats the GOP is going after so to me that nullifies the idea that there are more dems in need of money because to me there are just as many republians who are not in Congress yet challenging.
So to me David is back to my original problem… The NRCC has half the money of the DCCC. The DCCC has shown they will help Harry, the NRCC has shown they will not help David…
June 23rd, 2010 at 9:17 pm
A big problem facing the Dems this cycle is the fact that the tide is not trending their way.
National money will have to be diverted to California to protect Boxer and Brown while Reid is fighting for his life in Nevada.
Senate seats are far more important than the House variety, especially in Districts which the registration edge goes to Republicans.
Another sign lies in the fact that there are no really well healed Dems seeking the U.S. Senate seat as Jim Pederson did four years ago!
What instate money the can raise will probably be headed Goddard’s way!
I might also add that Giffords and the lady now holding Rick Renzi’s old seat are endangered!
No, I just don’t believe Harry will have the assets that he did the last two times around!
June 24th, 2010 at 5:06 am
Jack,
Maybe you don’t know how these funds work… The DSCC is only for senate. The DGA is for governors races and the DCCC is house. So harry would never get money from any of those except the DCCC. They FEC is super strict on how that money is used and spent. Same goes for schweikert and the NRCC, NRSC and RGA… He can only get money from the NRCC.
So you can say all you want that mitchell won’t have the resources but the facts are the dccc has massively supported mitchell the last 2 cycles, they have twice the cash of the nrcc and he is a “front line” candidate for them to protect, so you can bet it will happen again…
Yes things are not trending the dems way but people on this site have to stop acting like this is a done deal. David is going to have to fight really hard to beat mitchell and so far I have not been impressed with david…