Last week I interviewed Patty Weiss, former Southern Arizona
newscaster, and currently a candidate for the Democratic nomination for
the Congressional District 8 seat being vacated by Jim Kolbe. I have to
confess to a staggering feat of amateurism; my tape of the interview
came up blank. Luckily, I have a good memory, took some notes, and
Patty was kind enough to review my notes to ensure that they accurately
reflect her positions. As a result, the responses I attribute to Patty
on the issues I raised are at best paraphrasing, not quotes, though she
did sign off my recollections.
My impression of Patty was that she is a very intelligent and
articulate person, the sort that might overwhelm less active
intellects, and garner a certain reputation from the envious or less
able. She is well-spoken, as one would expect from a professional
communicator, but I never got the feeling she was just stringing
together talking points, though, of course, there was some that,
naturally. There were also moments when she was less guarded than any
professional politician would have been and that could, unfortunately,
cause her some embarrassments in the future.
It is obvious that Patty is not just ‘interested in politics’ (a quote
that has been used widely to cast her as a dilettante); rather Weiss is
possessed of a well-considered viewpoint on the issues. Anyone who
thinks that Weiss is a less than serious candidate, or one who will
turn off the electorate upon greater exposure is in for a rude
awakening. She looks great on TV, and has charisma. The wildcard may be
how she fares in face-to-face retail politics. I suspect that she will
be better than most. In my opinion, Weiss is likely to exceed
expectations upon greater exposure and develop into a formidable
political contender. Her wide name recognition could very well
translate into wide electoral support as voters come to know her and
like her in this new role.
UPDATE 2/28/06: Blue in AZ at Daily Kos attended several panels with the candidates and transcribed their position statements on the Iraq war. There have been comments on this post that Patty’s previous statements about what to do in Iraq differ from how she answered me. I’ll let you review the record and decide for yourself whether that is the case or not.
