Thorpe offers aid at accident scene
The off-duty EMT, a House candidate, helped crash victim
Medicine makes for good politics … So apparently Richard Carmona isn’t the only candidate on the Arizona campaign trail swooping in to fix what ails people. Literally.
Last week, state House candidate Bob Thorpe rendered potentially life-saving aid at the scene of a motorcycle-SUV accident in downtown Flagstaff. Thorpe is a certified firefighter and emergencymedical technician, and he put his training to work, helping to stabilize the injured motorcyclist’s head and neck until an ambulance arrived.
Thorpe worked alongside a nurse and an off-duty police officer, according to a news release from his campaign. Thorpe is a Republican candidate in northern Arizona’s Legislative District 6.
Earlier this campaign cycle, U.S. Senate candidate Carmona’s campaign was quick to publicize the former surgeon general’s diagnosis of a hematoma on the leg of a Republican staffer who had been tracking the Democrat’s travels to try and catch him in an embarrassing situation. As it turns out, the impromptu medical consult happened in Flagstaff. Thorpe, a Flagstaff resident, apparently was paying attention.
» Jette dumps another party … Democratic congressional candidate Matt Jette appears to be making the political equivalent of the Grand Tour. He ran as a Republican for governor in 2010, then returned to the hustings this year, newly minted as a Democrat.
But last week, he said he’s done with donkeys and will finish out his run for the House in Congressional District 6 as an independent.
Jette said he’s leaving the Democratic Party “after seeing that not every difference in opinion is a difference in party.” The two major parties are divided not by policy, he concluded, but by “the greed to win office.”
Um, isn’t that the point of campaign season?
Despite his switch, Jette remains on the ballot as a Democrat. His opponents on Nov. 6 are GOP U.S. Rep. David Schweikert, Libertarian Jack Anderson and Green Party rep Mark Salazar.
» Another one bites the dust … Add former Republican state representative Roberta Voss to the growing list of Arizona independents. Voss said she switched her party affiliation from the GOP to PND (“party not designated,” the official label for independents) after watching the Republican National Convention in August.
“I thought, ‘I can’t do this anymore,’ ” said Voss, who served three terms in the House from the northwest Valley. Voss had been drifting toward the political center for years, but it took the convention speeches to formalize the switch, she said.
Like many disaffected partisans, she said her party left her.
As a newly minted “i,” Voss said there’s one independent trait she won’t adopt: Their propensity to not vote. In Arizona’s Aug. 28 primary, fewer than 8 percent of registered independents voted, even though they have the opportunity to choose a partisan ballot.
» From the ‘small world’ department … So there was Kevin McCarthy, the genial tax guru from the Arizona Tax Research Association, visiting the Vatican along with his family during their summer vacation. And as he’s ambling along through the papal palace, who should he bump into but former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and husband Mark Kelly?
McCarthy stopped to say hi, but he didn’t get much time. People were lining up to greet the former congresswoman from Tucson, further proof, he marveled, that Giffords’ profile has transcended international borders.