Sunday, July 10, 2011

Why doesn't the Arizona Republic make it official and put Chuck Coughlin's name on the masthead?

From the Arizona Republic, written by Alia Beard Rau and Matt Dempsey -
The popular perception that corporate giants and powerful lobbyists wield all the monetary influence in politics doesn't necessarily ring true in Arizona.
Here, the largest source of funding for candidates' election campaigns comes from the average grass-roots voter. That was the case during the 2010 election, and it's expected to be the case again as candidates gear up for the 2012 race.

"I think among the general public, there's this misconception about the influence of money in Arizona politics," said Doug Cole, senior vice president of government affairs for HighGround, a consulting group that works with many of the state's most influential Republican candidates.
In case you aren't familiar with Cole and HighGround, Cole and HighGround's president, the titular Chuck Coughlin, were deeply involved in the Fiesta Bowl "gift"/bribery scandal that is threatening the political careers of many elected officials at the Capitol, most notably the embattled president of the state senate, Russell Pearce.

Interestingly, the article didn't mention the Fiesta Bowl.

Nor did it mention the impact of thousands of Clean Elections' qualifying contributions on Rep's data.

Nor did it mention the influence of "independent" expenditure money funnelled from corporations and corporate associations.

In other words, the Rep ran what looks to be nothing more than an above-the-fold propaganda piece.

Otherwise known as business as usual.

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