Matt Salmon or Kirk Adams for Congress?

I got a letter yesterday from former State Senator Russell Pearce asking me to donate to the Matt Salmon campaign. Matt Salmon is a candidate for the Republican nomination for Congress from Arizona’s sixth district, a seat currently held by Jeff Flake. I will strongly consider that. Senator Pearce is a politician with atypical courage, and I have great respect for his opinions.

Kirk Adams, who is running for the same seat, came to our Mountain View Tea Party meeting a couple of months ago, and I was only mildly impressed. He talked a strong conservative line, but gave me the impression he was saying what he felt people wanted to hear. His failure to stand by Senator Pearce in his recall battle is serious, in my mind. Political courage is an especially important trait in the people we send to Washington, where the pull is strong to be a part of the ruling class.

And I asked Kirk Adams a question in that meeting and got what I felt was a poor answer. I asked about the possibility of pushing for a constitutional amendment to reduce the power of the administrative state. I see now that Senator Mike Lee from Utah has proposed a law that was similar to what I was suggesting – requiring Congress to ratify all new regulations coming out of the federal bureaucracy. Anyway, Adams responded that he didn’t like this idea, that he would rather abolish these agencies, like the EPA, that are issuing these regulations. I was unimpressed by his solution. Yes, he can say it and sound tough, but anyone who has much experience in politics has to know that this isn’t going to happen. So it becomes one of these talking points that helps you sound conservative without actually getting anything done.

So yes, I just may line up behind Matt Salmon.