Leah Campos Schandlbauer and her family.
Posted on 06/14/2012 2:09:05 PM PDT by NYer
.- Leah Campos Schandlbauer, a Catholic mother of four, hopes to represent Arizona in the U.S. Congress, after serving the country for over 10 years as an international agent in the CIA.
“The most accurate way of describing it is by my professional title – which was 'Operations Officer' in the National Clandestine Service,” Schandlbauer told CNA on June 13. “But we are otherwise known as 'spies.'”
In the “fiercely patriotic” state of Arizona, the aspiring Republican candidate for the newly-formed Ninth District says she gets plenty of positive feedback about her background with the foreign intelligence agency.
“They're really grateful for my service – which is humbling to me,” she said.
Schandlbauer left her CIA position six months ago, as her husband Alfred prepared for a one-year deployment in Afghanistan. The Catholic couple prayed extensively over Leah's decision to seek political office.
On August 28, she will contend for the Republican nomination, as one of seven choices in the party's primary election. The choice, she said, was heavily influenced by her time as an officer in Western Europe and Latin America, which left her concerned for her own country's future.
“A lot of the rhetoric that I heard coming out of Washington sounded a lot like what we were hearing from the likes of Hugo Chavez – really divisive, 'class warfare' type rhetoric.”
“In countries like Argentina and Venezuela, the government divides the people along the lines of class, race, and other categories,” she noted. “They kill the unity of the people. It's very manipulative of the government, for political gain, to control the discourse and pit people against each other.”
“I see that happening here now, and it is frightening.”
She also notes that the “cautionary tale” of Europe's cultural and financial crisis “is ours to learn from, or be the next victims.”
“I was there,” she recalled, “and I saw a lot of the false promises that come out of a statist, European-style 'social democracy.'”
A lifelong Catholic, Schandlbauer learned her faith partly from her mother, who teaches as a catechist. Leah's sister, Rachel Campos-Duffy, is a Catholic author and blogger.
The political hopeful's Catholic faith has shaped her own pro-life and pro-family positions, as well as her advocacy of free-market economics. Following the Catholic free-enterprise proponent Arthur Brooks, she sees property rights and personal initiative as safeguarding human happiness and dignity.
“As Christians, we celebrate the notion of freedom,” she said. “This election year is about us making a full-fledged defense of freedom. I think that is an obligation for us, as Christians.”
Schandlbauer is also a critic of President Obama's approach to religious groups, particularly the “horrible situation that Obama gave us with the HHS (contraception) mandate.” Religious freedom, she said, is in “crisis” because of the mandate.
But she believes the crisis may also be “a great opportunity.” As controversy grows over the contraception mandate, Schandlbauer sees “a lot of unity among Catholics in America on this issue.”
This show of public unity on the Church's part, she said, is “such a beautiful thing. And I hope it's a taste of what's to come.”
“I see that happening here now, and it is frightening.”
Great statement—exactly what the Founders thought-—worth repeating: “she sees property rights and personal initiative as safeguarding human happiness and dignity”.
The main purpose of government is to protect private property rights. We have seen our Congressmen, President and Supreme Court and laws abuse this and twist it beyond recognition-—into a Post-Constitutional government.
We need to return the the fundamental principles of this nation. I like her logic.
What a great family piiture. Look at the kids and their funny poses and faces. So glad fellow Catholics are trying to repair what the likes of Pelosi and company have terribly wrought upon us.
Thanks for posting this!
An excellent candidate.
http://www.ahwatukee.com/community_focus/article_9524e764-8ff5-11e1-94bf-001a4bcf887a.html
“Five Republican candidates vying for Congressional District 9 squared off in Ahwatukee Foothills Tuesday night ...”
Semm like a whole bunch of good candidates.
IMO:
When someone talks about eliminating departments like EPA they should also mention what they’d do instead- say put it’s helpful duties in the Interior Department, or whatever.
Something to force a real conversation and to keep from being ‘extremist-ized’ by their opponent and the media.
Unfortunately, she’s almost dead last in the amount raised for her campaign, just $14,000. She’ll need between $500k to $1 million+ to be competitive.
Great post and great story.
Hope she does well.
Go Leah!
Go Leah... Nice looking AMERICAN FAMILY....
From the article:
“A lifelong Catholic, Schandlbauer learned her faith partly from her mother, who teaches as a catechist. Leah’s sister, Rachel Campos-Duffy, is a Catholic author and blogger.”
There are some good Republican candidates in the AZ-09; my favorite is Paradise Valley Mayor Vernon Parker, who is also a solid conservative and is 100% pro-life: http://www.vernonparker.com/
Oddly, Mayor Parker’s campaign fundraising (and name) was missing from OpenSecrets list of candidates for AZ-9.
I missed seeing that she was Rachel Campos’s sister. I had a crush on her back when she did the MTV Real World show.
That *is* odd. Open Secrets lists Vernon Parker as receiving $27,500 in $250+ donations between March 26 and March 31 of this year. http://www.opensecrets.org/indivs/search.php?name=&state=&zip=&employ=&cand=Parker%2C+Vernon&c2012=Y&sort=A&capcode=3v7sj&submit=Submit+your+Donor+Query If that’s any indication of how he fundraised during April and May, and throwing in all of the smaller donations he must have received, I would guesstimate that his fundraising is in the hundreds of thousands by now. Parker was endorsed by Phoenix Suns owner Jerry Colangelo, which certainly helps.
That lack of bank makes her non-serious no matter how many gushing comments she can elicit.
We need the strongest candidate possible, that’s probably Parker.
Vernon is also the guy though that has a loooong history of some not so pleasant activities. Including, but certainly not limited to fraud against the federal government!
We can’t throw our b team at the democrats in this cycle, especially the three that are running.
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