Try as they may, the GOP just can't catch a break in the open seat race to replace the embattled Rep. Rick Renzi. It appears that their extensive efforts to recruit former state Senate President Ken Bennett to join the race have failed:
Prescott Republican and former Arizona Senate President Ken Bennett told The Insider this afternoon that he has decided against a campaign for the 1st congressional District.
Business concerns, namely his March appointment as CEO of an alternative energy firm, were the main dissuading factor, Bennett said. If he had won election to the seat, he would have had to cut virtually all ties with the corporation, known as GeoBio Energy.
Bennett joins a long list of no-show GOP candidates in this R+2.2 district, including Arizona Corporations Commissioner Kris Mayes and state Rep. Bill Konopnicki. Sydney Hay, the president of the Arizona Mining Association and the leading GOP candidate by default, has a very conservative profile, and her zealous support of the Iraq War could help make her the next Randy Graf.
Update: Man, Hay really is a nutter. Take a look at these gems from her website:
We have taken the consumer out of health care. This is one major reason why costs have risen so dramatically. When someone else is paying the bill, there is no incentive to negotiate price, to shop around, to even contemplate whether a high-priced procedure is truly necessary.
Uh, Sydney? Health care isn't the same thing as shopping for groceries, or installing a new granite countertop in your kitchen.
More:
I can think of nothing that strikes a deeper blow against our nation's character than abortion on demand.
I learned about the need to abolish the income tax in favor of the FAIR tax from my friend, one of the foremost leaders of this movement, Alan Keyes.
Ronald Reagan said it was "a time for choosing."We are again faced with a time for choosing. Do we choose to support our troops as they defend us in the War on Terror, or do we, as the Democrats would have us do, retreat and face our enemy on our home land?
First and foremost, it is the role of the Federal Government to defend this nation. We can debate the appropriate strategy for winning the War on Terror, and we should. But, let us remain firm in our resolve that our troops need our utmost support in this war and we should do everything in our power to give them what they need, when they need it.
Do you want the folks that were in charge of the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts in charge of your Mom's cancer treatment?
Today, it was my plan to start focusing less on presidential diaries and more on Congressional races. But, thanks to John McCain, I have the opportunity to write a diary that focuses on a little of both. As we all know, the corrupt Rick Renzi is retiring to face a grand jusry, but it gets even better. McCain is doing his best to help Democrats win this seat According to the progressive blog Down With Tyranny! McCain has decided to endorse a candidate who used his ifluence to get his rapist son out of jail.
