Clown car of AZ-01 Democrats hopelessly divided on Biden
Extreme 1st district Democrat candidates’ views on Biden are fast becoming a defining division among the six-way clown car race.
- As two polls show the race-to-the-far-left primary statistically tied, Andrei Cherny, Kurt Kroemer and Conor O’Callaghan proclaimed Biden is fit to be president.
- Andrew Horne, Marlene Woods and Amish Shah need to climb out of their bunkers and answer Scottsdale and Phoenix voters’ burning question: Joe or No Joe?
In case you missed it…
Stanton joins House Democrat calls for Biden to drop reelection bid as GOP ties Arizona Dems to president’s sinking ship
Cronkite News
Alex Cunningham
Phoenix Rep. Greg Stanton of Phoenix on Thursday joined a growing chorus of congressional Democrats calling on President Joe Biden to end his reelection effort, as Republicans unleash a torrent of attacks aimed at capitalizing on the president’s struggles.
[…]
Rep. Raúl Grijalva of Tucson was the second House Democrat to call for Biden to end his reelection bid. A week later, as Democrats’ fears boiled, Stanton and several others from around the country joined the chorus. One Washington state Democrat hinted that Biden should step down as president.
[…]
A day earlier Rep. Juan Ciscomani, R-Tucson, launched an attack on Democratic challenger Kirsten Engel similar to Lake’s attack on Gallego.
“Where do you stand, Kirsten Engel? Joe or no Joe?” the narrator asks. The ad shows her sitting, mouth closed, as crickets chirp to represent her silence on whether Biden should remain as the Democratic nominee.
[…]
Engel’s campaign did not respond when asked whether she thinks Biden should end his reelection bid and be replaced as the nominee.
“Engel’s refusal to comment on Biden’s obvious cognitive decline is a slap in the face to Southern Arizonans who deserve basic honesty,” National Republican Congressional Committee West spokesperson Ben Petersen said in a news release.
Stan Barnes, a former Arizona House GOP member and now a political consultant, described the ads as a “tried and true strategy.”
“If you think Joe Biden’s incompetent or mentally unavailable,” down-ballot candidates who haven’t distanced themselves from Biden could be hard to support, said Barnes, owner of Copper State Consulting Group. “Democrats are going to be on the defensive all the way down the line, and I think it’s going to have a real impact on the outcome.”
The NRCC has been trying to use Biden to embarrass the half-dozen Democrats vying to topple Rep. David Schweikert, R-Fountain Hills, in an especially competitive district.
Conor O’Callaghan and Andrei Cherny have publicly voiced support for Biden since the debate. Kurt Kroemer told Cronkite News he is standing by the president.
“He is the Democratic nominee. He went through all the primary process, 87% of the people voted for him,” Kroemer said. “If you’re entrusting the future of this country to Donald Trump and his ilk, I think you’re missing something.”
Marlene Galán-Woods sidestepped the issue of Biden’s future, telling the Arizona Republic she is focused on her own bid for office. Two other Democrats in the race, Amish Shah and Andrew Horne, have yet to comment and did not respond to requests.
Petersen framed support for Biden as a “litmus test” in the Democratic primary.
Polling has shown Biden has slid further behind Trump in Arizona since the debate, though only marginally. Biden carried the state by about 10,000 votes in 2020.