Livingstone: 'Washington needs a drive-by'

PRESCOTT -- Wednesday night, residents of the 1st Congressional District gathered to hear Republican candidate Dr. Sandra Livingstone inside her campaign headquarters, which occupy the corner of an office building that overlooks Courthouse Square.

Livingstone, who is challenging Republican Party-backed Syndey Hay and other candidates in the primary, filed her candidacy just before the June 4 deadline, and flew under the radar until her Federal Election Commission report came out, showing she had near-parity with Hay in cash on hand. Her June fundraising came in at $4,725 - well behind Hay's quarterly take of about $95,000 - but she has put up $200,000 of her own money, meaning she is very much in the race from a money perspective.

Around 20 people, mainly senior citizens, showed up for the Livingstone town hall, where they heard her discuss Second Amendment rights, energy policy and her recommendations for bringing the nation's finances under control.

"I believe in the Second Amendment as written - the right to bear arms, the right to form militias," she said, and advocated for a national law protecting people with concealed weapon permits when the cross state lines.

Speaking on the nation's energy crisis, she said she wants to "get off fossil fuel" in the long term, but said drilling should be the first priority. "Right now we know where we can go to get that energy out of the ground, and I advocate we get it out," she said, citing Prudhoe Bay and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as two prime oil drilling spots she wants to see exploited. 

Additionally, she said she is not opposed to nuclear energy, thinks clean coal holds a lot of promise and advocates investments in new renewable technologies, like the development of the "water car."

Livingstone is adopting an unusual attitude for a congressional candidate on the topic of her ambitions. When one man in the audience asked how he could be sure she wouldn't "sell off [her] dignity" in an attempt to get re-elected, she replied: "I don't care that much about it.

"If I win that's great, and if I win I'll do my very best," she said, but added, "This isn't like a career goal for me." She also said she'd be "very happy to take a term limit pledge." 

After the town hall, Livingstone, a former State Department official with a law doctorate from Cambridge University, sat down with PolitickerAZ.com to talk about her campaign.

Her late entry, she said, was due to a number of other candidates being floated as possible entries into the 1st district Republican field.

"I believed all the way through the beginning of the year that several other really great people were going to run," she said, including Rep. Bill Konopnicki (R-Safford), Arizona Corporation Commissioner Kris Mayes and former state Senate President Ken Bennett.

"It was really a function of other people deciding to pull out."

Livingstone acknowledges that Sydney Hay, who has been endorsed by the Arizona Republican Party and a slew of Republican politicians and conservative organizations, has a powerful institutional network behind her. 

"I'm not part of that whole government structure," she said. "People are up in arms all across these counties that I've traveled to" regarding the Party's influence in the race. 

Livingstone said that despite applying for access to the "voter vault," which yields information instrumental in canvassing and get out the vote operations, she has been denied access. She said she is reapplying. 

"This very heavy-handedness... is not something people want to hear. You can be endorsed by that machine, but a lot of people are not very happy with that machine." Livingstone said she thinks the strategy is "backfiring."

During her talk, she had harsh word for paid lobbyists, who she said use money to influence votes.

"I don't have a problem with groups who want to present a position on issues," she said. "What I have a problem with is when they can use money to influence an election, when they can use money to influence votes. When you see that a particular lobbying group or PAC has given some huge chunk of money to a congressman or a senator the day before they vote on a crucial bill, and then their vote seems to be reflective of the fact they received money from that group." "It's as close as you can get to corruption."

However, she declined to specifically lump the Arizona Mining Association, a lobbying group run by Sydney Hay, into that rubrik.

Livingstone revealed she is not a supporter of the North American Free Trade Agreement - a position that puts her at odds with the bulk of the Republican Party, including U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Phoenix), the party's presumptive presidential nominee.

"I would change it totally," she said, claiming she would renegotiate to put labor and environmental standards in place.

"I believe NAFTA unfair trade agreement, not free trade agreement."

Despite the fact that her campaign consultant, John Echols, worked for U.S. Rep. Rick Renzi (R-Flagstaff) on his first campaign in 2002, Livingstone said she doesn't feel compelled to address the issue of Renzi's 35-count federal indictment. 

"I'm not Rick Renzi, I've never met Rick Renzi." Livingstone said she will be able to stay above the fray because she is "not enamored of Washington."

"Personally I think Washington needs a drive-by in a major way." She added, laughing, "...With some common sense and ideas."

Don't think it's an impediment.

"Democrats, ind. tend to evaluate someone individually. I just trust the voters to make the decision. "Voters tend to