CQPolitics on the AZ8 Race

More national attention to the diverse southern Arizona Congressional District that is literally a stone's throw away from where I live.

The retirement of 11-term centrist Republican Rep. Jim Kolbe created the possibility of a Democratic takeover in Arizona’s politically competitive 8th Congressional District. And many Republican officials, including Kolbe, warned that the candidacy of conservative Randy Graf — who ran a serious but unsuccessful challenge to the incumbent in the 2004 primary — would put the seat more at risk.

Yet Kolbe’s goal of uniting party moderates around a single opposing candidate in the Sept. 12 primary have failed, in large part because Graf has drawn two combative opponents whose rivalry appears as much personal as it is political.

The most recent polling indicates that the two — state Rep. Steve Huffman, who has Kolbe’s endorsement, and Mike Hellon, a former state Republican Party chairman and ex-Republican national committeeman — are splitting the primary votes of Republicans who oppose Graf, and are making his nomination more likely.

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Randy Graf, who's a proud "Minuteman for Congress", is definitely a radical rightwinger. So radical that CQ characterizes two of his opponents as moderate Republicans. I almost shot water out of my nose laughing.

Mike Hellon wants to abolish the 14th Amendment of the Constitution to deny citizenship to U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants. If that has become a moderate position, it's news to me. As I said before, I fully support it, as long as it's made retroactive to the time when the first European ships arrived in the "New World." If they're going to play hardball, they better be prepared to be met with burning indignation from the indigenous people of this land.

The other "moderate" profiled in the race is Steve Huffman. What that should really read is "moderate on immigration." Compared to Mr. Minuteman and Mr. Deport the Brown Menace, Huffman's position is actually more in line with the center of the immigration debate (Note: the "center" is irrelevant with this GOP primary race, according to my omnipotent crystal ball)

Temporary legal workers should be allowed to fill jobs we need done
Thousands of Americans work in industries that depend on foreign labor. The problem is not that people want to work in our country, the problem is that they are here illegally. Border security reform without a temporary worker program will be economic suicide in a state like ours.

Do you hear that? It's the sound of Steve Huffman's flesh being shredded like queso by the harpy-like supporters of Graf and Hellon - perhaps additional restraining orders will be necessary as the primary approaches in a couple of weeks. Heh.