COMMENTARY | Is it too soon to think about replacing Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in Congress? According to the Daily Caller, a special education teacher named Anthony Prowell, a Tucson Democrat, doesn’t think so.
Prowell intends to run for the seat Giffords now holds in the 8th Arizona congressional district. This has gotten a lot of local Democrats angry with him. This is understandable. Giffords has been universally acclaimed for her struggle to recover from the effects of a gunshot wound to the head. Opposing her reelection, especially if it is in the Democratic primary, is seen as the equivalent of opposing Joan of Arc. Prowell may have to wind up running on the Green Party ticket.
But Prowell also has a point. Except for a brief and celebrated appearance on the House floor during the vote on the debt ceiling bill, Giffords has by and large not been able to resume her duties as a member of Congress since the shooting. While the people of Arizona’s 8th appear to be content with the state of affairs that they have a representative in Washington in name only, there does come a point when one begins to wonder what the purpose is of Giffords holding onto her seat if she is unable to use it.
Prowell also is correct in wondering at what point Giffords will decide she is not up to the rigors of a campaign, thus freeing other Democrats such as himself to run for her seat. There is already a Republican, state Sen. Frank Atenori, who has announced his intention to run. But most Republicans are skittish at being painted as the bad guys for hitting Giffords while she is down.
Giffords was well-liked by people on both sides of the aisle even before the shooting. She managed to win reelection in 2010 when a lot of her fellow Democrats were swept away in the political tsunami of that year. In theory, she might be able to win her seat again without doing a lot of campaigning.
On the other hand, she might well have recovered enough by next year to do the job she was elected to do. In that case, even in a year in which President Obama is likely to pull down a lot of Democrats with him, she will likely prevail.
Source: Arizona Democrats ‘furious’ at special-ed teacher considering a run against Giffords, Steven Nelson, Daily Caller, August 24, 2011