http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/knau/local-knau-922737.mp3
Phoenix, AZ – By Brewer's own assessment, her opening statement during the
debate wasn't her finest moment.
(I have .... done so much. And I cannot believe that we have
changed everything since I have become your governor in the last
600 days. Arizona has been brought back from its abyss. We have
cut the budget. We have balanced the budget. And we are moving
forward. We have done everything we could possibly do. .........
(laugh). We have did what was right for Arizona.)
In a survey of 500 likely Arizona voters conducted Tuesday, Scott
Rasmussen found Brewer still the choice of 60 percent of those
questioned, up three points from before the debate. Democrat
Terry Goddard remained stuck at 38 percent. 34 percent of those
questioned said how the governor came across in the debate was
not very important in how they intend to vote in November. And 17
percent said it wasn't important at all.
(You have the immigration law, you have the health care law. You
have the fact that people are really angry at the federal
government these days.)
Goddard said he doesn't believe the survey.
(This is a Rasmussen poll that I think asks us to believe
something that is almost impossible to believe, and that is she
picked up support after her horrifyingly bad performance last
Wednesday night.)
But Jim Haynes, president of the Arizona-based Behavior Research
Center, said Goddard is mistaken if he thinks Brewer's gaffes
will help him win the election.
(There's a serious question whether debates change anybody's
mind. They give rallying points to people that have already made
up their minds.)
More to the point, Haynes said a candidate tripping up in a
debate is only half of what it takes to convince voters to
rethink their support. He said they also need a reason to back
the other contender.
(A stumble on the part of one candidate, in and of itself,
doesn't necessarily mean there's going to be a movement.)
Goddard said he intends to keep pursuing his message that the
race is about more than immigration. He said Brewer is to blame
for the state's poor economy. Early voting begins Oct. 7. For
Arizona Public Radio this is Howard Fischer.