Dem Candidate Unsure About Voting for ObamaCare

Voters in Arizona's 8th congressional district will start casting ballots today while the candidates looking to fill the seat vacated by now-retired Democratic Rep. Gabriele Giffords spent a spirited hour Wednesday night -- including dueling accusations of lying --in their only televised debate talking about the future of ObamaCare, Medicare and Social Security.

Symbolically and practically Democrat Ron Barber is looking to follow in the footsteps of his former boss. "In 2006, I began working with Gabrielle Giffords, and was honored to be named her district director in 2007," Barber writes on his campaign website. "I am eager to continue all this work in Congress."

But on Wednesday night Barber, who's been attacked for supporting ObamaCare, refused to say whether he would have voted for the controversial measure had he been in office. "I really can't respond to a hypothetical question like that," Barber told the debate moderators from Arizona Public Media. Later in the debate he said he's in favor of making changes to the law. Giffords voted for President Obama's signature domestic legislation. (read more)

Almost lost in the fight for delegates in the southern states of Alabama and Mississippi is a Tuesday night caucus in the nation's most southern state: Hawaii.

It'll be the first time Hawaii's Republicans will go to the polls to determine the allocation for 17 of the state's 20 delegates.

"We want to use this opportunity to draw in new members of the Republican Party," State GOP Chairman David Chang told Fox News on Monday. He explained that in past years local party leaders would select the state's delegates to the national convention. "Even though we're a small state and the national scene may not pay attention to us [hopefully we can] get more people involved who wouldn't get involved."

None of the presidential candidates have travelled to the state in recent weeks preferring instead to campaign on the mainland. But three of the four campaigns are sending family surrogates to Hawaii.

Rick Santorum's daughter Elizabeth has multiple events scheduled for the next two days throughout Honolulu. Mitt Romney's son Matt also has events planned for the next two days including a stop on Oahu's North Shore in a town that is home to Brigham Young University's Hawaii campus. Last week, candidate Romney held a 30 minute conference call with Hawaiians asking them to support him with their votes on Tuesday. (read more)

Some 200,000 ballots have already been cast for the Arizona's Republican presidential primary that's still two weeks away. Nearly ¾ of those votes come from voter-rich Maricopa County, the largest in the state.

Most of the smaller counties don't yet have an exact tally of returned ballots so a specific statewide figure isn't available but a spokesperson for the Maricopa County Recorder's office says 144,518 Republican votes have been submitted. Nearly 400,000 early ballots were sent out there and voters can still request them until the end of this week.

Voters have until polls close on Election Day to return ballots. Those who don't request one can also show up on February 28 to vote in person. The early voting period opened on Feb. 2 before Mitt Romney won Nevada and Maine. Perhaps more significantly, it's not clear how many ballots were returned before Rick Santorum's recent sweep of contests in Missouri, Minnesota and Colorado and his subsequent rise in national polls.

"They came back fast," Pima County Recorder Ann Rodriguez told Fox. So far there, 30,205 Republican ballots have been returned. That's 35 percent of the early ballots sent out. They are sent to voters who requested them for this election or have done so in the past. Nearly 60 percent of Pima County's Republicans will get an early ballot. (read more)

A Democratic official told Fox News on Sunday that he’s confident the party will hold the seat being vacated by Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who announced her resignation from Congress effective this week.

But out of deference to the congresswoman, the official and another Democratic official in Washington each refused to speculate on names that would be put up for either the special election to be held in the spring or the regular November general election. Each said that process would move quickly in the days ahead.

One Democratic name that keeps popping up, however, is Giffords' husband, astronaut Mark Kelly. Kelly has said on more than one occasion that he's not interested in the seat, and is focused on Giffords' recovery.

Kelly has been a vocal advocate of Giffords' continuing her public service after she recovers from a gunshot wound that injured her more than a year ago while she was conducting a town hall in Tucson. Six people, including Giffords' aide, were killed and 13 were injured. (read more)

The last 36 hours for David McGowan have been pretty crazy.  The newly installed Nevada state director for the Rick Santorum campaign didn't have his job before Tuesday's Iowa caucus.

He's got it now.

"I really feel that there's a movement here for conservatives looking for someone to lead them," McGowan said from his cell phone that's been jammed with calls and texts the last couple of days.

McGowan said he's still trying to find office space for the campaign and organize the scores of volunteers and others who'll be needed to work for Santorum in advance of Nevada's Republican caucus on Feb. 4. 

"We feel that people are out there. They're going to find us as much as we're going to find them," he said.

Santorum's Silver State momentum runs square against longstanding frontrunner and Iowa caucuses winner Mitt Romney. The former Massachusetts governor won the Nevada contest in 2008 and has made multiple visits since. 

"I feel good about where we are," Romney senior adviser Ryan Erwin told Fox News. Erwin said the campaign's volunteer efforts are strong but acknowledges that more work needs to be done in the next month.  (read more)

President Obama has been keeping such a busy schedule in the first few days of his Christmas vacation that one might question his recent suggestion that he sometimes fights laziness.

In the 48 hours since his Friday night arrival in Hawaii, the president found time to have dinner with friends at a Waikiki restaurant, play a 5-1/2 hour round of golf, attend Christmas morning church services and later that day meet Marines at a nearby base.

The White House doesn't provide an itinerary of events on the president's vacation calendar but the rest of his time on Oahu is likely to include more visits to the golf course and trips to the ocean from his family's rented beach home.

Based on past experiences he's likely to escort his daughters to a local shave ice parlor and maybe even visit a popular coastline park renown as a first-rate snorkeling destination. 

During a recent interview in Washington, Obama said he sometimes becomes lazy and cited his Hawaiian upbringing for that trait. "You know it's interesting, there is a deep down, underneath all the work I do, I think there's a laziness in me," Obama said with modest condemnation.

He then smiled to explain: "It's probably from, you know, growing up in Hawaii and it's sunny outside, and sitting on the beach." (read more)

After already saying that she wouldn't already throw a wrench into next year's primary schedule Arizona Governor Jan Brewer announced Monday that her state's primary will remain--as scheduled--on Feb. 28.

She had contemplated moving the primary into January in the hope of giving her state greater visibility in the primary process but also forcing the hands of the other states (i.e. Iowa and New Hampshire) that are at the front of the line to hold their elections even earlier.

"Today I signed a proclamation establishing February 28 as the date of Arizona's 2012 Presidential Preference Election," Brewer said in a statement released from her Phoenix office. "It has always been a priority of mine to ensure that Arizona and its voters play an influential role in the nomination process, and that Southwestern issues are addressed by the candidates in a meaningful fashion.

Arizona law requires 120 day notice for the establishment of a primary date. As that window closed for a January election, Brewer announced the party-backed debate to take place in Arizona. No date has been announced. Brewer has yet to announce an endorsement in the presidential race and recently said she would until after the Arizona debate to make up her mind.

"Arizona voters will be hearing from the presidential candidates in the months ahead. Now, it is the obligation of voters to make certain that they are educated on the issues when it comes time to make their voices heard." (read more)

While holding out hope that a debt ceiling deal will be signed before the upcoming August 2 deadline, 31 Republican senators have now endorsed legislation directing the Treasury Department to pay creditors, seniors and military service members before any other outstanding bills.

The measure's key backer, Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., says he hopes his bill doesn't have to become law but feels it will be necessary if lawmakers don't reach agreement on how to raise the debt limit.

"This legislation isn't meant to be a substitute for raising the debt limit," Toomey said at a Tuesday news conference.

He said the purpose of the law would be to minimize whatever disruption would occur if August 2 passes without a deal.

Toomey's legislation directs the Treasury Department to make debt payments the country's first priority. After that, the government would pay out Social Security benefits and paychecks for active duty military personnel.

The news conference featured lawmakers from both chambers who wanted to assure seniors that their benefit checks will not go away. They also took aim at President Obama for overstating the economic calamity if no deal is reached. (read more)

There will be no more shipments of empty containers or publishing of the Federal Register under a new push by the Obama administration to cut down on wasteful government spending.

Sorry Fiddlin' Foresters, your government-funded website is going to get cut too.

Monday announcement made by Vice President Biden aims to build on what the White House hails as a nearly waste-free implementation of the stimulus. "The idea is simple. Taxpayers should be able to see exactly what their tax dollars are buying. And trace the progress of the work under the government program just like they did under the Recovery Act. There's no reason it shouldn't be that way for all of these programs."

Biden also hailed the bipartisan support from lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

"The bureaucracy is resistant to change," House Government Reform Committee Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif. said in a statement. "When I met with Vice President Biden in November, we both shared a vision of increased transparency in all federal spending. We are on the same page on the goals we want to achieve." (read more)

In advance of his announcement rally in Des Moines, Iowa Monday, former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty hit a few broadcast morning shows to make his case for why he should be the Republican Party's presidential nominee in 2012.

In each appearance he touted his record on fiscal matters saying it proves that he's ready to face exploding deficits in Washington.

"I know how to balance budgets. I know how to tackle spending. I know how to get economies growing," Pawlenty told CBS. "And in my state, we led the way back under difficult circumstances. It's a very liberal state. And if you can do it there, you can do it anywhere."

In an interview with NBC Pawlenty saying he didn't want to criticize anyone, passed up the opportunity to contrast his virtues against presumptive GOP frontrunner Mitt Romney. But he had no hesitation in explaining why he'll do a better job than the incumbent. "President Obama, unfortunately doesn't have the courage to look the American people in the eye and tell them the tough truth about the things that we're going to need to do to get our spending under control. I'll do that."

Pawlenty was also asked whether he lacked the charisma to run a successful campaign for the presidency and he bluntly said he's not running for "entertainer-in-chief" and that voters who're looking for the loudest candidate will not be supporting him.