Obama courts Arizona Senate candidate, may contest state 'heavily'

[Freddie Stubbs]

Source: Politico

President Barack Obama called former U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona last month to urge him to run for Senate in Arizona, two Democratic sources told POLITICO.

The call signals that Obama is engaged in recruiting a strong Senate candidate in a state Democrats have eyed as a presidential battleground.

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“On September 23, President Obama called Richard Carmona to encourage him to run,” said one Democratic strategist. “The president said Carmona would certainly shake up the race. Carmona emphasized in the conversation that he would be a very independent voice in the Senate.”

If Carmona were to run, he would give Democrats a high-profile Hispanic Senate candidate in a state – and a region – where Latino turnout will be essential to the president’s prospects in 2012.



Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1011/65347.html

[Wait Wut]

1. We need this.

Badly. This state is going down the drain and Reps/Cons are holding the handle down.

[izquierdista]

2. No Fair!

Anglos stole that state fair and square! Even paid real greenbacks for the bottom bit of it for good measure!

[Firebrand Gary]

3. Woo Hoo for Richard Carmona.

[SkyDaddy7]

4. Yikes! If AZ is going to be the "Battle Ground" state for 2012

then I feel sick!

[oberliner]

5. What Battle Ground states would make you feel better?

I'm not sure I understand your comment.

[Lex1775]

6. Being an Arizonan I'll try to clarify...

Calling Arizona a "battleground" state for the 2012 Presidential Election is ludicrous. In the 25 Presidential elections held since Arizona became a state (1912) only 8 times have the electoral votes gone to a Democrat. 1996 was the last time this state voted "Blue" in a Presidential election... before that it was the Presidential election in 1948.

In 2008 54% of the popular vote in the state went to McCain. And while people crowed about how "close" McCain came to losing his home state most of them didn't/don't realize that a lot of Republicans out here HATE McCain, and only continue to vote for him because the GOP never runs anyone against him in a primary. If they actually had someone they liked on the ballot they would swamp the polls.

If you want some anecdotal evidence all you have to do is look at talk radio in Phoenix. There are 3 hyper-conservative AM talk radio stations and 1 mildly-conservative (depending on when you listen) FM station. There is ONE, VERY WEAK, Progressive AM station that drops off the air every few years due to lack of funding. Their broadcasting station is so weak I can't even pick it up in my office, and they are less than 15 miles from my building. A few weeks ago the local afternoon guys were talking about their new FB page and how they wanted their listeners to "friend" them. One of the guys made the comment that three or four of the local hyper-conservative radio hosts had 30 to 40 thousand friends, each, on their pages. The second guy was stunned and basically said their goal was to get 1,480 "friends" because 1480 is their broadcast number.

And just in case you STILL aren't convinced, 2011 is the first year in Arizona history that EVERY SINGLE popularly elected state executive office is held by a Republican. The state Senate is 21 Republicans and 9 Democrats. I have seen the Senate Majority leader LAUGH during interviews when asked about working with any of the Democrats in the Senate and his response is always "Why, I don't NEED them to pass anything". The State House is 40 Republicans and 20 Democrats.

Anyway... long story short, calling AZ a "battleground" state is ignorant beyond belief.

[libinnyandia]

8. Arizona some day

Maybe someday, when the onservative old people go on to meet Steve Jobs it will change. Or global warming and droughts drive them away.

[customerserviceguy]

7. A quick search

showed that Obama lost the state 45% to 55% for all other candidates. Yes, AZ Senator John McCain was his opponent, but frankly, I'd rather see the President concentrate on winning the states he barely won in 2008.