Friday, August 29, 2008 8:34 PM CDT
McCain's previous foe speaks out
By BOB SCHULTZ, For the JG/T-C
DENVER — Barack Obama beat the long odds of the Democratic primary season to emerge as the unanimous choice of his political party.
It was more than a year ago that Obama launched his epic quest. And, more than a half dozen rivals stood in his path to the nomination. Many of the candidates were better financed. Most had better name recognition. And several had the previous experience of running for the national ticket.
By comparison to the year-long primary slug-fest, the general election season will be intense and brief, as only 67 days remain until Election Day.
And rather than multiple foes of the primary, Sen. Obama faces only one, Sen. John McCain. While Sen. Obama’s campaign includes a myriad of experienced campaign advisers, he might benefit from speaking with others who have faced John McCain in a general election.
Ed Ranger was the 1998 Arizona Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate seat held by incumbent John McCain. Ed’s resume for the race was impressive. While born in Detroit, Ed was raised in the Arizona desert as the oldest of five.
A graduate of the University of Arizona, he received his MBA from Thunderbird University and a law degree from Arizona State Law School. Finally, he received a second law degree from Mexico National University.
Licensed to practice law in both Arizona and Mexico, Ed started the first environmental law firm in Mexico. In 1998, McCain was a popular two-term incumbent.
Unlike Obama, Ed’s campaign against McCain was under funded and woefully behind in the polls. Ed launched the campaign as a grassroots effort, visiting nearly every city and town in the state.
The focus of Ed’s campaign was Mexico. He felt that Arizona, as Mexico’s neighbor, needed to take an integrated approach to working with the next-door nation. Issues of immigration, trade, and the environment were core to Ranger’s concerns.
Ironically, the same issues of ’98 Arizona race are the major topics for the presidential campaigns of 2008.
The general campaign included three debates between Ranger and McCain. Ed respected McCain’s debating skills.
In the general election, Ed’s efforts were not successful. He garnered only 30 percent of the vote. But even with the loss to McCain, Ed was quick to point out that before, during and after the election, McCain treated him with cordial respect.
So what advice does McCain’s former foe have for Obama?
“Focus on the future, not the past,” was Ed’s suggestion. While McCain is a skillful debater and determined campaigner, Ed is confident that Obama will win, because his candidacy is driven by solutions for the future.
Ed never sought elective office after his loss to McCain. But his passions of the race remain. He continues to be directly involved in the economy and environment of Mexico. His latest effort is the construction of a non-food ethanol plant in that nation.
Ten years after his race, Ed Ranger hopes to accomplish in the private sector what he espoused in his campaign against today’s Republican presidential nominee.
Bob Schultz is an East Central Illinois businessman, investor and political enthusiast. Although he identifies as a Republican, he is attending the Democratic National Convention to bring JG/T-C readers a local perspective.
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Luke Beanwalker wrote on Aug 29, 2008 1:35 AM:
I can go along with the idea of printing a Republican view on the Democratic convention. Hey, it was an opinion piece, and they were up-front about that. But I absolutely disagree with using the front page to run generic opinion pieces that could be written by anybody, anywhere, at any point in the campaign. That's what the Opinions page is for.
Mr. Schultz's blatant use of the JG/T-C to further his own personal interests almost would have been forgivable, had he contributed something of worth in return. But he didn't -- not even close.
It will be interesting to see if the JG/T-C placates the liberals who want them to send a Democrat to the Republican National Convention. My guess is that the newspaper's powers that be are red-faced over how this "experiment" turned out, and that they won't touch this idea again -- not with a 10-foot pole. "