Last Friday I had the good fortune to interview Pamela Gorman, a congressional candidate from my native Arizona, for PJTV. Gorman is running with nine other Republicans in AZ-03, vying to replace Rep. John Shadegg, who is retiring after serving in Congress since 1994.

Gorman has a solid record of fighting tax increases and wasteful spending in the Arizona legislature, often doing battle with her own party because it was the right thing to do, if not always the most politically expedient. In short, she is precisely the type of candidate the GOP needs right now, especially in a district where the Republican who makes it through to the general is likely to win.

There is a good break down of some of Gorman’s more serious opponents at Red State so I won’t go into that here.

To any serious, legitimate national conservative group looking to jump into a race and endorse a candidate, Pamela Gorman is a no-brainer. For several election cycles, the GOP has pushed through candidates who have a little glamor going during the election but are loaded with possibilities for buyer’s remorse once elected. (I’m a Californian now, I know this nightmare all too intimately.) If ever there was a time to make bold endorsements and go all-in for candidates who are proven entities when it comes to battling what we’re ostensibly opposed to, this is it.

The momentum that exists for conservatives at this moment means absolutely nothing if we merely elect the type of spineless idiots that brought us to the edge of the cliff in 2006 and pushed us over it in 2008. This movement needs people who get us, not people who get Washington.

There is an opportunity here for American conservatives that may not come our way again. I fear that some irrational optimism may see us throw it away for some more of what originally gave us this headache.

Pamela Gorman’s willingness to do what she should even when the status quo mongers leading her own party told her she shouldn’t is all the reason any real conservative needs to support and endorse her.

You can watch my interview with Pamela here.