Tucson Weekly Endorses Gabrielle Giffords to be the Next Congresswoman from Southern Arizona

Decisions, Decisions ‘06

The ‘Tucson Weekly’ Editorial Board is here to tell you how to vote!
By The Weekly Editorial Board

U.S. Congress: Gabrielle Giffords

Let’s look at the differences between Democrat Gabrielle Giffords and Republican Randy Graf:

• Randy opposes allowing victims of rape or incest to terminate their pregnancies. Gabby believes that’s a decision that should be left to women and their doctors.

• Randy thinks health-care costs can be reduced if people pay more of their own bills and only turn to insurance for big-ticket items. Gabby wants to find ways to provide more Americans with the opportunity to purchase insurance.

• Randy opposes federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research. Gabby thinks the research has the potential to cure Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, diabetes and other crippling diseases.

• Randy thinks that if the federal government just cracks down on enough workplaces, illegal immigrants will pack up and return to their home countries. Gabby supports developing a guest-worker program that will allow employers to hire migrant labor without breaking the law.

• Randy remains a staunch supporter of the Bush administration’s approach to the Iraq War. Gabby says the White House has bungled the conflict and should start figuring out how to bring the troops home.

• Randy wants to teach creationism alongside evolution in science courses and believes the Earth might only be 10,000 years old. Gabby believes science courses should stick with legitimate science and believes the Earth is several billion years old.

It will come as no surprise that Graf is not the man for us.

We supported Giffords in the primary, and we’re supporting her in the general. We thinks she’s smart, politically astute and has a solid understanding of the complex issues facing the district and the nation. She’s got a great environmental record; she’s solid on health care, and she works well with law-enforcement and business people.

Giffords’ primary opponents accused her of being too Republican. The GOP right-wingers say she’s a liberal extremist. That tells us Giffords fits the district–a centrist split of Republicans, Democrats and independents.