Blogger Roundtable Discussion - LD 18 Senate Race Part 2

The good people at Mesa Issues put together a roundtable discussion between bloggers who are covering the LD 18 Senate race. East Valley Immigration, Thoughts on Mesa, Sonoran Alliance , and Adams and Jefferson agreed to participate. The second installment of this discussion follows:

2. What do you think is the greatest handicap for each candidate?

Sonoran Alliance:
Pearce- people think he only is about immigration. He's actually a big player in the no-tax crowd. Gibbons- He's all for open borders and has aligned himself with by taking money from big time Democrats.

Mesa Issues:
Its going to be hard for people to get past the fact that Gibbons and his donors are double dipping in donating to his campaign and for the independent expenditures. If he has changes to the employer sanctions laws, he better speak up now, instead of letting others speak for him.

Thoughts on Mesa:
Gibbons – his ties to those fighting the employer sanctions laws and his own attempts at personally attacking Pearce.Pearce – He talks too much and gets off subject.

East Valley Immigration:
Pearce- people think he only is about immigration. He's actually a big player in the no-tax crowd. Gibbons- He's all for open borders and has aligned himself with by taking money from big time Democrats.

Adams and Jefferson:
I see three main challenges for each candidate:
Russell Pearce:
His strong position on illegal immigration has allowed his opponents to accuse him of being a racist.
He has angered a lot of powerful people across the state who have organized a concerted effort to remove him from office.
He is a Clean Elections candidate which limits his financial resources and also gives the Gibbons camp an opportunity to challenge his conservative credentials.

Kevin Gibbons:
His list of campaign contributors include Democrat party activists and othergroups who directly oppose key principles/platforms of the Republican Party. This has angered the Party and led to the MCRC endorsement of Russell Pearce in this primary - a very uncommon thing for them to do.
His supporters are more "anti-Pearce" than "pro-Gibbons" which isn't the best motivation for voters
He has snubbed the LD18 Precinct Committeemen who are now mad as hornets at him and will be working with their friends and neighbors to make sure the Rep. Pearce is sent to the Senate.