From the Editor: We have lots of questions for Giffords

I contacted Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ office on Monday and told them I put a note in Sunday’s paper asking readers to submit health-care questions they’d like addressed at her upcoming forum in Green Valley.

I think I rattled them when I said:

1. I’d received dozens of questions in the first 24 hours, and,

2. We hope to get most of them answered — in the paper — eventually. By her. Maybe not before the forum Sept. 1, but not long after.

We’ll see if they come through on our request.

Thank you for the questions. They’re provocative, thoughtful and speak to the confusion the health-care bills have created. Keep them coming (dshearer@gvnews.com). On Sunday, we’ll print many of the questions to give Giffords a sense of what people in Green Valley are thinking. I’ll also be sending them directly to her office and calling to make sure they received them and that they will pass them along to her.

At this point, all we can do is try to get straight answers that cut to the chase, make sense and, frankly, ease our conscience on several fronts. Again, thanks for responding.

One other point. I was listening to a radio talk show on Monday guest-hosted by state Rep. Frank Antenori, and he was giving out bad information.

You do not need a ticket to get into the health-care forum (Sept. 1, 9-11 a.m., West Social Center, 1111 Via Arcoiris). You do not need to RSVP (Giffords’ office says it gives them an idea of crowd size; I wouldn’t bother, but get there early). Nobody has an RSVP list that will be checked at the door, as Antenori suggested. And, questions for Giffords do not need to be submitted in advance.

The only oddity out of her office is that no signs will be allowed in the hall — for safety reasons.

Safety? Perhaps they fear paper cuts. Since we don’t have nationalized health care yet we all should be fine should injury occur.

The town hall format has not been determined, but this information is accurate as of Tuesday, according to her spokesman.

EDITING PROBLEM? (SEE UPDATE AT END)

I went to Jesse Kelly’s Web site on Monday and found a short clip from my appearance Aug. 14 on PBS’ “Arizona Illustrated” (www.votejessekelly.com, click on “news”). In short, I talked about how Kelly had been in Green Valley often, was running aggressively and that, for now, the race for the GOP nod in CD8 is all about name recognition.

With me on that segment was Jim Nintzel, a reporter for Tucson Weekly. They included a clip of him, too. If you hadn’t seen the original broadcast, it would appear Jim said, “Jesse Kelly is now the forerunner of the Republican party.”

But you’ll notice the editing was awfully choppy. That’s because they didn’t include Jim’s entire quote, which was, “I think what happens when a guy like Jesse Kelly is now the forerunner of the Republican party, it just shows that Gabby Giffords is not very vulnerable because there are no big names lining up to take her on at this point...”

You can see it at http://tv.azpm.org/uachannel/, under “On Demand” click “View More Clips.” Look for “Friday Roundtable, 8/14/09.”

It doesn’t matter whether the people who represent me are Democrats or Republicans. It does matter that they’re above-board and honest, and in this case Kelly is neither.

What he and his campaign have done is unethical and deceitful. I hope by the time you look for it online that it has been replaced with an apology. And I hope that Jesse Kelly, whose greatest asset is that he hasn’t been swallowed up by Washington-style politics, isn’t on his way to selling out.

— Dan Shearer

UPDATE: The video has been removed. Kelly's campaign manager, Brett Summers, said a staff member had edited and posted the video. The staff member "made a poor choice," she said.

"The people should not view this mistake by a staffer as an example of who Jesse Kelly is and that one person's poor decision does not make Jesse dishonest or unethical. For that to be stated by one mistake is an unfair assessment of him and the campaign," she said.