March 31, 2008 - 12:25pm
Why May 1st is such an important day for Rick Renzi
By Wally Edge
Tags: Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Ann Kirkpatrick, Rick Renzi, Sydney Hay, Kris Mayes, superdelegates, CD1
Republican Congressman Rick Renzi of all people could affect the Democratic Presidential Primary. Renzi, who has been charged with 35 counts of money laundering, extortion, embezzlement and other offenses is denying he did anything wrong and is refusing to resign his seat.
More than likely Renzi is refusing to resign so he can use his office and his resignation to work out a plea-deal with the government to avoid jail time. If Renzi were to resign, the perception would be he was admitting guilt. If Renzi does strike a deal, or for any other reason decides to resign the key date will be May 4th. Under Arizona law, if Renzi resigns before May 4th the special primary election shall be held no less than seventy-five nor more than one hundred five days after the occurrence of the vacancy, and the special general election shall be held not less than thirty-five nor more than forty-five days after the special primary election. That would make a general election campaign scheduled to take place between August 22nd and September 21st.
The 1st CD, in which Renzi represents, is a competitive district. With the current political climate, the fundraising advantage of Democratic frontrunner Ann Kirkpatrick and other Democrats have over Republicans Sydney Hay and Kris Mayes, and with Renzi a Republican resigning because of corruption, there is a good chance the Democrats could take CD1.
If a Democrat were to take the seat they would become a Superdelegate to the Democratic National Convention. With the Democratic Primary unlikely to be determined without Superdelegates, this election could become of interest for both the Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama campaigns.
But in reality Renzi needs to resign before May 1st not May 4th. With the Democratic Convention being held August 25th-28th the general election would need to take place by August 18th.
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Ann Kirkpatrick is republican-lite
At a forum in Prescott last week, Ann said there were terrorists walking across the desert go get in and we need fences but retracted that quickly to say virtual fences. She said we need to invest in solar, wind and electric energy. Gee, coal supplies about half the source for electric energy in the US and it is a fossil fuel???? The question she was supposed to be answering was about ethanol and global warming. She suggests even more coal???
She had previously said she would be tough on crime and we need more prisons. There is no money anywhere for new prisons except private ones---KBR, Hallibuton, Blackwater Security types. 1 in 100 Americans are in prison and she wants more? She has also said prisons on reservations???? Native Americans make up only 1-2% of our population, but make up about 3% of the prison population and she wants more prisons? We need to address the causes of poverty first. We need more money on real education. We need universal healthcare. Oh, Ann said she does not support universal healthcare and when she goes to Washington she would form a committee to research it.
She might have served in our State Legislature, but we are one of the lowest spending per student of any state, thanks to our State Legislature. We have horrid conditions in our nursing homes, but no protection really was formed by our State Legislature. Our state budget is in chaos, but the lawmakers want to permantly repel our property tax which would even further hurt our schools. But, again, Ann served in this mess didn't she?
Vote for Howard Shanker and he WILL make a difference. Vote for Ann and we will have another blue-dog in Congress.
not committed
I was at a meeting in Prescott where she was asked who she was supporting for prez and she said nobody, that they were each great candidates, blah blah blah. she isn't committed to anyone.
Is kirkpatrick a clinton supporter?
If so Renzi should resign asap so if she wins clinton gets one more super and one more chance at chaos.
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