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Let me tell you a little personal story about why you need to be VERY worried about Blake Masters losing in Arizona and any you absolutely must drag everyone you know to the polls to vote for him on Election Day.
I ran against Gabrielle Giffords in 2008. The Tea Party year. I’d never been involved in politics and I was a totally unknown. Unsurprisingly, I was considered “far right”.
Early on, people didn’t think she could be beaten. I didn’t care. I was a young hothead and went all in. At every GOP pancake breakfast and American Legion function. I was running hard.
So I got great grassroots support, but we were scratching and clawing for every dollar. It was a grind trying to raise money. But then, Obama gets Obamacare passed. America hated it. Suddenly, it was looking like a red wave year.
Before you know it, GOP establishment puts a candidate in the race. (Actually a good dude so please don’t sent him hate mail.) They toss a ton of money at him. So now I’m the underdog.
No worries. I’m not bitter about it now and I really wasn’t then. Screw them. I’ll beat their guy, right?
But we are aware as a campaign team that we’re at a huge disadvantage. He had loads of cash coming in and we were still treading water to put it mildly. I wasn’t the establishment’s boy and didn’t wanna be. So money would be an issue for me. No worries. March on. Fight on.
Now there are two things you NEED to know about Arizona:
- Their primaries are late. August. Stupid, but it is what it is.
- Half the people vote early for the general. Half. Lots of reasons for this. But again, it is what it is.
So we make the (now fateful) decision to go all in on the primary and spend every dime we have on TV ads. Very effective. Human nature is when you see someone on tv, you think they’re important.
I do need to clarify, this wasn’t a big tv buy in the traditional sense. Not millions or anything. We didn’t have that. It was more targeted. Late night Fox News and history channel and things like that.
We spent everything we had banking on GOP help if we won. Well, we won. Beat him pretty soundly. Now I’m the GOP nominee. Help is coming, right? Right?
Wrong.
I wasn’t their boy. Complete GOP freeze out for money. Giffords had a war chest. Immediately they’re on TV with lying, edited ads telling every senior in Arizona that I’m gonna take away their social security and Medicare.
Not complaining. That’s politics. It’s a contact sport.
But I have no money coming in to put up ads countering this. Three weeks this lasted.
Back to how Arizona works, you don’t have three weeks. People are VOTING about that time. Half of them.
Eventually, GOP figures out I can win and they come in with cash. Soon I’m on the air and doing well.
Election Day rolls around and I win on Election Day. Pretty solidly. But, remember half those people voting early? Yeah.
Election was super close. 4000 votes or so if memory serves. They had to recount the vote and it took them a week. In the end, I lost. (In hindsight, best thing that ever happened to me.) But I lost.
Now go to Blake Masters. He’s up in the polls now and everyone is talking red wave. But just like me, he was DOWN when people were voting early and also just like me, the GOP screwed him hard early.
We need guys like Blake. They are the future. So hear me when I tell you, you should be worried. And if you’re in Arizona, consider this a race you are currently losing. Go vote. Drag everyone you know. He’s gonna need it. That’s all.
Tom |
