AZ-PPP: Giffords would lead...

[MilesC56]

Do you have a favorable view of Gabrielle Giffords?
Yes: 57%
No: 17%

Do you have a favorable view of Jeff Flake?
Yes: 29%
No: 30%

2012 Match-ups

Giffords- 48%
Flake- 41%

Giffords- 54%
Palin- 36%

Giffords- 57%
Hayworth- 31%

Goddard- 45%
Flake- 45%

Flake- 46%
Pastor- 34%

Flake- 47%
Gordon- 33%

http://publicpolicypolling.blogspot.com/2011/05/giffords-would-start-with-senate-race.html

[Badger]

Hmmmm. So Goddard is a competitive candidate if Giffords can't run, eh? At least preliminarily reassuring news.....

[JohnnyLongtorso]

The full list of matchups:

Gabrielle Giffords (D) - 48
Jeff Flake (R) - 41

Gabrielle Giffords (D) - 57
JD Hayworth (R) - 31

Gabrielle Giffords (D) - 54
Sarah Palin (R) - 36

Terry Goddard (D) - 45
Jeff Flake (R) - 45

Terry Goddard (D) - 51
JD Hayworth (R) - 33

Terry Goddard (D) - 49
Sarah Palin (R) - 40

Jeff Flake (R) - 47
Phil Gordon (D) - 33

Phil Gordon (D) - 44
JD Hayworth (R) - 36

Phil Gordon (D) - 45
Sarah Palin (R) - 41

Jeff Flake (R) - 46
Ed Pastor (D) - 34

Ed Pastor (D) - 42
JD Hayworth (R) - 37

Ed Pastor (D) - 45
Sarah Palin (R) - 43

[Grad Students are the Worst]

Palin as a candidate for AZ-Sen?  I'm sorry, is there a memo I missed?

[Hashemite]

Palin as a candidate for AZ-Sen?  I'm sorry, is there a memo I missed?

Doesn't Palin live in Arizona these days or something?

[MilesC56]

Palin as a candidate for AZ-Sen?  I'm sorry, is there a memo I missed?

Doesn't Palin live in Arizona these days or something?

http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2011/03/is_sarah_palin_considering_a_s.php

[JulioMadrid]

run, goddard, run!!! (I don't think Giffords will be able to campaign in 2012... if she can, run, gabby run!!)

[A-Bob]

Palin as a candidate for AZ-Sen?  I'm sorry, is there a memo I missed?

Doesn't Palin live in Arizona these days or something?

http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2011/03/is_sarah_palin_considering_a_s.php

wooow. At first I thought they were testing Bristol and even then I was confused... I missed whenever Sarah moved there...

[Former Moderate]

This obsession with Giffords running for U.S. Senate has got to stop. It's just not realistic.

[Holmes]

This obsession with Giffords running for U.S. Senate has got to stop. It's just not realistic.

I know. But there is something you can do: ignore it.

[Bacon King]

This obsession with Giffords running for U.S. Senate has got to stop. It's just not realistic.

^^^^^

She may not be healthy enough for a serious campaign, and even if she is, the second she starts running for higher office it becomes acceptable for her opponents to say bad things about her again.

[I'm Not a Witch]

Palin as a candidate for AZ-Sen?  I'm sorry, is there a memo I missed?

Doesn't Palin live in Arizona these days or something?

It certainly would strengthen her foreign policy credentials in that it would add another country to the list that she could see from her house.

[All life is a blur of Republicans and meat.]

As if Palin has any interest at all in being a U.S. Senator... oh please...

[JohnnyLongtorso]

The top primary choices are Giffords and...Palin?

Arizona Democrats have a clear choice 1 and choice 1a for who they'd like their Senate candidate to be next year. 46% want Gabrielle Giffords to be their nominee to 28% for Terry Goddard, with none of the other names we threw into the mix even hitting double digits. We also asked who they would want if Giffords was not an option and in that instance Goddard becomes the clear favorite with 50% of Democrats saying they would want him to be the nominee in that instance. Harry Mitchell's the only other Democrat to hit double digits in the non-Giffords field at 11% and he's followed by Phil Gordon at 8%, Felicia Rotellini at 6%, Rodney Glassman and Ed Pastor at 5%, and Dennis Burke at 2%.

Republican voters don't want Sarah Palin as their Presidential candidate...but she is their top choice as a Senate candidate. There's been some faint discussion that Palin might end up moving to Arizona and that perhaps if she wants to run for President further down the line it might be good for her to get some experience in federal office. 35% of Republicans in the state say Palin would be their first choice as a Senate candidate for next year to 33% for Jeff Flake and 11% for JD Hayworth, with none of the other names we threw into the mix hitting double digits.

[Badger]

So Senator Palin (R-AZ) is actually doable?

[Swedish Cheese]

I'm sure McCain would love to have Palin as his junior senator. 

[rbt48]

If Giffords were healthy enough to run, she would be unbeatable.  But it is not like it was in FDR's time when most Americans didn't know he was confined to a wheelchair.  And, if she speaks as clearly as James Brady did after his shot in the head, what would the election debates be like?  Of course, they might well bring out a strong sympathy vote for her.

[Heimdal]

Although Giffords undoubtedly is the strongest candidate the Arizona Democrats can field (who is left after 2010 anyway, except for Grivalja?), her election would by no means be a sure thing.
Right now she is of course above politics and criticism, due to the tragedy that befell her. That wouldn't last if she decided to run. Arizona is still very much a red state, and she can't count on Obamas coattails either.

[ilikeverin]

This obsession with Giffords running for U.S. Senate has got to stop. It's just not realistic.

It's so disturbing.  She still can't form complex sentences.  She has way more important things to do than run for Senate.

[MilesC56]

Although Giffords undoubtedly is the strongest candidate the Arizona Democrats can field (who is left after 2010 anyway, except for Grivalja?).

Goddard has been polling pretty well.

[Keystone Phil]

This obsession with Giffords running for U.S. Senate has got to stop. It's just not realistic.

It's so disturbing.  She still can't form complex sentences.  She has way more important things to do than run for Senate.

Yeah, certainly people just can't help themselves try to exploit a tragedy.

[Gravis Marketing]

This obsession with Giffords running for U.S. Senate has got to stop. It's just not realistic.

It's so disturbing.  She still can't form complex sentences.  She has way more important things to do than run for Senate.

Yeah, certainly people just can't help themselves try to exploit a tragedy.

Yeah, it's really slimy. Like when those Obama volunteers beat up that poor white girl in Pittsburgh...

http://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=86263.0

Politics of HOPE


This type of news will go over real well! I bet Jack Murtha's constituents and Northeast Philadelphians will just love this!

[Keystone Phil]

This obsession with Giffords running for U.S. Senate has got to stop. It's just not realistic.

It's so disturbing.  She still can't form complex sentences.  She has way more important things to do than run for Senate.

Yeah, certainly people just can't help themselves try to exploit a tragedy.

Yeah, it's really slimy. Like when those Obama volunteers beat up that poor white girl in Pittsburgh...

http://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=86263.0

Politics of HOPE


This type of news will go over real well! I bet Jack Murtha's constituents and Northeast Philadelphians will just love this!

Eh, except I wasn't going around, shouting about the story. It was a comment made in passing. People wouldn't have liked it if it was true just like how I found it even more disgusting when it was discovered to be a hoax.

In the case of Giffords, people are salivating over the chance to make her a statewide candidate after the tragedy. I bet once that story broke about how she struggles to communicate, hacks were rationalizing it: "Yeah...but...you don't really need to talk as a Senate candidate, right?"  Or how about when the new photos were released: "Great! Can we get those with a 'Giffords 2012' logo underneath?"

You can continue to try to make this partisan and about me, brittain, but I think you realize it's really pretty disgusting that people thought that this woman should even consider a Senate run. It's ok to admit it.