Arizona Democrat Richard Carmona examines injured GOP tracker
You don’t see this every day on the campaign trail.
Arizona Democratic Senate candidate Richard Carmona, a former U.S. surgeon general, examined the injured leg of a Republican video tracker following his march in the Flagstaff, Ariz. Fourth of July parade.
Trackers are generally young staffers who film candidates from the opposite party hoping to catch them making a verbal gaffe. But that didn’t stop Carmona from checking out the young man’s injury, which he suggested was a hematoma (i.e. a nasty bruise).
Check out this tweet from Carmona campaign spokesman Andy Barr:
After our tracker’s camera battery died, he asked @CarmonaForAZ about the bump on his leg. The SG diagnosed a hematoma twitter.com/AndyBarr34/sta…
— Andy Barr (@AndyBarr34) July 4, 2012
The incident is a serendipitous turn of events for Carmona, who has sought to portray himself as a politician who would work across party lines in the Senate.
When I was a trauma surgeon, nobody asked for an R or D doc, they just wanted help. Glad that’s still true bit.ly/Lr5L5Y
— Dr. Richard Carmona (@CarmonaForAZ) July 5, 2012
Barr told Univision News that the tracker had been following Carmona around the Flagstaff parade for two hours. After his camera battery died, he indicated his leg was bothering him and Carmona, who used to be a practicing surgeon, offered to examine it, Barr said. Carmona recommended that the man get it drained.
It’s unclear how the tracker was injured, though Barr said it did not occur at the parade.
“He won’t tell us who he works for, but he’s a Republican tracker. He’s a nice guy,” Barr said of the young man.
Carmona, who is of Puerto Rican descent, is expected to face Republican Rep. Jeff Flake (R) in the general election.
(Photo: Andy Barr)
