Ruth McClung Vs. Raul Grijalva : The Arizona CD7 Sleeper Race

Surprise! On the national stage, Democrats are unhappy to suddenly realize challenger Ruth McClung is truly poised to unseat "super-safe" incumbent Raul "Boycott" Grijalva in Arizona CD7 on November 2. A fellow writer at HubPages passed me the link to a Fredericksburg.com article which details their concern; here's a brief excerpt:

Four Democratic sources from different parts of the country said that there is new attention to a race that was long considered in the bag.

And a recent poll, obtained by POLITICO, found that Grijalva and Republican challenger Ruth McClung, a real-life rocket scientist, were in a dead heat, even though Washington prognosticators have declared the deep-blue seat safely Democratic.

Told ya so. My hub titled Ruth McClung Running Dead Even With Raul Grijalva! (published September 20, 2010) addressed this situation in admittedly gleeful detail. Having met the lady (twice), I can personally vouch for the pure dee fact that anyone who underestimates rock climber rocket scientist Ruth McClung as a candidate is making a politically fatal error. Add that to Rotten Raul's call for a boycott of his own state and his extreme advocation for open borders at a time when jobs are scarce and bloody violence is spilling northward from our neighbor to the south...yep, Grijalva, you're cruisin' for a (political) bruisin, for sure.

For some years now, Arizona CD7--a gerrymandered district packing three registered Democrats for every registered Republican--has been considered just about as deep blue as you could get this side of California. In other words, the real battle was in the Democratic primary and nomination pretty much guaranteed success in the general election. The race card is also played there; enough Hispanic citizens live in the district to make pale skin a real liability--or so it was always thought In the past.

Three things changed all that in 2010. The first is the President of the United States, Barack Hussein Obama. The President's policies have run up the unemployment numbers, encouraged illegal immigration, and generally disappointed huge numbers of formerly faithful followers--all of which hurt a hardcore Progressive like Grijalva.

The second factor turned out to be Raul Grijalva himself, most notably when he called for a boycott of Arizona over SB 1070, our law dealing with illegal immigration. No one would have challenged his right to oppose the law, but the way he did so was politically suicidal.

And the third crucial factor was (and is) Ruth McClung. Her deep love for America did not allow her to stand by while Representative Grijalva advocated for Mexico instead of for the people who'd repeatedly sent him to Washington, so she declared her candidacy early on, at a time when it was considered a kamikaze effort with zero chance of success. When the Republican primary rolled around on August 24, she was not only still standing but also managed to thoroughly thump four (countem 4!) competitors...most of whom only became truly interested after Grijalva's boycott misstep...and one of whom even flipped her the finger (behind her back) when she was speaking at the Arizona Border Rally.

She did all that (without a Sarah Palin endorsement!) with a grassroots campaign, stringently limited funding, and unstoppable effort. McClung is one outstanding candidate. Even her website is just a touch different from all those "Joe Blow For Congress" sites out there these days. Can't find it? (Well, you could Google "Ruth McClung", of course.) Try ruth4az.com and you'll get there! Why that wording? Because she knows: It's not "Send me to Congress!" but rather "Let me work for Arizona!"

And "work" is an important word in these parts. Another quote from the Fredericksburg article:

"We need jobs. We don't need a hurtful boycott of our state as my opponent demands," McClung, a Tucson resident, said in a recent ad. "He boycotted us — his own state, his own people."

Grijalva's poll numbers are being driven by southwestern Arizona's distressed economy, Flaherty said. Nearly three in 10 Yuma County residents is out of work — about triple the national unemployment rate.

Admittedly, throwing one more dude out of Washington will add just a touch to those unemployment numbers, but not to worry. Obama will probably... maybe... possibly... hopefully.. find a way to take care of you, Raul.

That is, he may be able to help for a little while...until he, too, is booted out of Washington in 2012.

McClung 2010 and Remember in November.