Bitter Smith comes in with a show of strength

SCOTTSDALE - "We do know what we're doing," said Brian Hummell, Susan Bitter Smith's campaign manager, last Thursday.

Bitter Smith had appeared before the crowd at the LD8 Republican meeting to inform everyone that, though she was not able to participate in that evening's CD5 Republican candidate forum, it would be the last time she would be barred from doing so.

The next night, in the yard of her expansive Scottsdale home, Susan Bitter Smith entered the Republican primary in CD5, becoming the last candidate to do so.

The event was led by former state senator Ed Phillips, who is also a cafe owner and the weatherman for the radio station KTAR. He also hosts the radio show Arizona Almanac, to which Bitter Smith is a frequent contributor.

"I am so proud she asked me to do this," Phillips told the guests, "because I truly believe she is the type of person we need in the United States Congress."

Jean McGrath, another former state legislator and current board member on the Central Arizona Water Conservation District, for which Bitter Smith is a director, spoke of the candidate's tax cutting prowess and praised her as a "true conservative."

Also present were two other Central Arizona Project members, Scottsdale Vice Mayor Wayne Ecton, Paradise Valley Councilmember Mary Hamway and others.

Perhaps the most visible attendee, and last to speak, was Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who took the stage in praise of Bitter Smith based on her personal qualities.

"She's not only tough, but she's a nice person too."

Arpaio said though he knows the other candidates and "they're all nice people... I feel Susan has the best chance of beating the Democrat," referring to incumbent Rep. Harry Mitchell. Arpaio pledged to "work hard" for her during the course of the primary, drawing on his enormous popularity among Maricopa County conservatives.

Bitter Smith capped off the event by thanking her supporters and putting her signature on the Americans for Tax Reform's Taxpayer Protection Pledge, which had been blown up to nearly the scale of a Publisher's Clearinghouse check.

The announcement was clearly designed to send the message that though Bitter Smith is a latecomer, she is not starting at too great a disadvantage.

However, her fundraising totals are as yet unknown. Campaign Manager Brian Hummell wouldn't divulge how much she's raised so far, but says it's "more than most" of the other CD5 primary candidates.

"Everyone else has had four or five months of being able to appear at LD forums," said Hummell. "This is the advantage we have."