By Robert Robb, columnist | The Arizona Republic
(Editor’s note: Opinion pieces are posted only for purposes of discussion.)
* Want to tell me again the one about Doug Ducey’s “floundering” campaign?
A few months ago, that was the chatter among political railbirds. It didn’t make sense at the time. Ducey had only run statewide once, for the low-visibility office of state treasurer. He started the campaign largely unknown to voters.
At that point, Ducey wasn’t really the frontrunner, but he was perceived as such because he had raised the most money and had built the broadest coalition. The early issues – Medicaid expansion, Common Core and SB 1062 – made Ducey look awkward, since they pitted elements of his coalition against each other. Hence, the false conclusion that his campaign was floundering.
However, his coalition, despite the stresses, didn’t fracture. The question was whether, when voter contact activity truly began, the Ducey campaign could transform his advantages into votes. Clearly, it did. In fact, it was, tactically, one of the more impressive primary election efforts I’ve seen.
