I haven't seen anyone post a diary on the Arizona U.S. Senate debate between Democratic candidate Richard Carmona vs. Republican candidate Rep. Jeff Flake (and the crazy Libertarian candidate Marc Victor) but after seeing a repeat of it on C-Span just earlier, I think there definitely is merit in posting the video link since the debate went live only hours ago.
First off, I completely apologize for not embedding this video for people as C-Span apparently does not allow the embed option at the moment. GRRRRRRR. If any of you would be kind enough to direct me to a link of the debate where I can embed the video, that would be SWEET. I also apologize for any of you who want to read the transcript but I can't find it anywhere.
However, I have included the link below so you can view the debate in its entirety:
http://www.c-span.org/...
That being said, while I watched a considerable portion of this debate, I think it's clear that Democratic candidate Richard Carmona really knocked it out of the park. Not once did he waver or flip-flop on his perspective and views. Not once did he miss an opportunity to attack Rep. Jeff Flake and boy, when he did, he hit him HARD. There were moments when Carmona used a number of things Flake said against him and did it without even being mean spirited. You could tell Flake was being like John McCain in 2008 where he smiled uncomfortably and obviously felt like his comfort zone was being invaded.
What I saw in Richard Carmona is obviously a fresh face to the Democratic party who is very bright, articulate and knowledgeable about the issues. Even on the issue of economics, Carmona didn't succumb to the usual Democratic talking points and still managed to make a convincing argument over the need for more infrastructure and improvements. Carmona views the U.S. economy in complexities whereas Flake views the economy in a singular, linear perspective. One key moment that can win a number of Republican voters over to Carmona's side is how a conservative Republican mayor in Arizona (I forget the city) talked to Carmona and said his city needs help. He talked to Carmona instead of Jeff Flake. Now if that isn't saying anything, I don't know WHAT is!
One of the things that Rep. Jeff Flake kept bringing up at the debate was that the Obama administration and U.S. government seems to keep picking winners and losers. He said that OVER and OVER and OVER again. Then when Flake was asked about the U.S. recession, he gave such a half-assed response that it seemed he either never knew a recession hit or that he was so married to the trickled down economics of the past.
A bit of pointers to Rep. Flake:
1) The Obama administration and the White House are NOT picking winners or losers. They are working their ass off trying to stimulate the U.S. economy which unfortunately cannot grow fast enough to stimulate on its own. The auto bailout, in case Flake can't seem to think outside his bubble at all, was a bailout done because the Obama administration had NO choice. No structured bankruptcy would have worked and if it did, it would have taken a lot of months for GM and Chrysler to even get back into a position where they could even structure business operations. Private equity, banks and others were on shaky grounds and needed desperately to balance their balance sheets more than anything else. We've got the world economy on shaky ground (even though certain countries like Poland are doing just fine) as well nowadays. However, now GM and Chrysler are doing super great and hiring lots of workers. What more does Jeff Flake need? Oh yes, jobs in Arizona. Well, where's his plan besides lowering taxes?
2) We know you're a fighter but enough of this anti-earmark crap. We know the Bridge to Nowhere was a stupid idea. We GET that. However, you had ample time to fight against leadership and fellow Republicans in your own party over the continuous spending increases and the large debt increases during President Bush's years in office. By not doing that, you are making yourself not a conservative Republican but a big spending Democrat (as a number of conservatives on Fox News always say). Now you want to be fiscally conservative? Wait to go for being patriotic! You're really quite the effective Congressman!
The big question that can be raised in the debate is whether or not Richard Carmona would have voted for the Affordable Health Care Act. Here is Carmona explaining his position on it and I've got to say, he's pretty smart about defending his perspective:
Also, this is one video that can definitely bring momentum to Carmona's campaign. Here's him on the reason why he chose to run for the U.S. Senate.
After seeing the debate, I would not hesitate to contribute and support Richard Carmona to be the next Arizona U.S. Senator. I don't think you should either! Why not? With an additional U.S. Senate seat for the Democratic Party, why not? John McCain will get a new friend but he won't be one from the Republican Party. His new friend will be an independent-thinking Democrat so maybe McCain will learn a thing or two from Carmona. MAYBE.
Richard Carmona Campaign Website:
http://www.carmonaforarizona.com/
Donate:
https://services.myngp.com/...=
Volunteer:
http://www.carmonaforarizona.com/...