Mike Gravel, Former Alaska Senator And Anti-War Advocate, Dies At Age 91

 From NPR -

SEASIDE, Calif. — Mike Gravel, a former U.S. senator from Alaska who read the Pentagon Papers into the Congressional Record and confronted Barack Obama about nuclear weapons during a later presidential run, has died. He was 91.

Gravel, who represented Alaska as a Democrat in the Senate from 1969 to 1981, died Saturday, according to his daughter, Lynne Mosier. Gravel had been living in Seaside, California, and was in failing health, said Theodore W. Johnson, a former aide.

I never met him, but agreed with him on many things.

In 2008, there was a large contingent of Democrats on the presidential ballot in AZ and it was my job to organize an evening for my local legislative district where representative/surrogates from each campaign (people not from our group) would come speak to us on behalf of their preferred candidate before we voted (most of us voted by mail, which Republicans hate with a passion).

I remember thinking that Gravel's surrogate did the best job (which didn't make a bit of difference in the end) and that his message should have reached a wider audience.

Scottsdale looking to turn its charter on its ear

The City of Scottsdale has a task force reviewing its charter, looking toward voter approval of changes at a special election in March. Most of the changes suggested are of the "technical correction" variety (updating language for current usage or for clarification purposes, etc.)

However, some of the proposed changes that they are considering are somewhat less innocuous.

Here is the public comment that I submitted to the Charter Review Task Force regarding some very specific language proposed for the charter -

Good afternoon,

At the Charter Review Task Force meeting on September 28, I submitted a written comment on the appropriateness of inserting into Scottsdale’s charter language written by the “ORANGE Coalition”. At the time, I advised against doing so, but because of the short notice, that comment wasn’t quite as specific as it should have been.

The Charter Review Task Force was established to make recommendations for updates to the City Charter, with an eye toward making it more citizen-friendly, among other things. More generally, the Task Force is charged to work on improvements and updates to the Charter that benefit Scottsdale’s citizens as a whole.

However, the language suggested by the ORANGE Coalition has only one beneficiary - American Water.

American Water’s subsidiary, Arizona American Water (AZAm Water), has a small but troubled presence in the Scottsdale water market. Its approximately 2000 customers and their families have repeatedly been faced with TCE-contaminated water pouring from their taps. This situation has led to some residents, including members of the Scottsdale City Council, to call for looking into acquiring AZAm Water’s system and adding those customers to Scottsdale’s water system.
(http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2009/06/23/20090623srwater0624.html)
Naturally, American Water objected to this, and while the movement to acquire AZAm Water has fizzled, American Water is taking no chances. The ORANGE Coalition seems to have been created specifically to ensure that such an idea is removed even from the realm of possibility.

- The ORANGE Coalition was incorporated as a non-profit corporation on November 12, 2008 with two directors listed as having the address of 1025 Laurel Oak Road in Voohees, New Jersey. (http://starpas.azcc.gov/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=wsbroker1/names-detail.p?name-id=14878680&type=CORPORATION)

- That address is the same address as that of the corporate headquarters of American Water. (http://www.amwater.com/about-us/contact-us.html)

- One of the directors listed on the incorporation paperwork, Daniel Kelleher, is a retired American Water executive and currently serves as a consultant to American Water on defending it against condemnation initiatives. (http://pr.amwater.com/PressReleases/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=261448)

The members of the Charter Review Task Force are attorneys, professional lobbyists, and current and former elected officials. To a man and woman, you all
are familiar with the idea of representing the interests of others. As Task Force members, your chosen duty is to represent the interests of the people of Scottsdale.
If any member of the Task Force (or, for that matter, the Mayor or the City Council) wants to stand before the community and argue that the residents of the City are best served by protecting the revenue stream of a corporation that has a documented history of poor customer service and threats to public health (as if forcing overpriced and contaminated water on its customers is merely “poor” customer service), of course they are free to do so.

However, it isn’t the place for the Task Force members to provide political cover for such a scheme by burying the ORANGE Coalition’s charter changes among a large number of innocuous technical corrections and housekeeping changes, expected to be the subject of a special election in March.

I urge you to reject the ORANGE Coalition’s proposed changes. If there is enough support in the community for the changes they desire, they should have no problem gaining the signatures needed to place a stand-alone referendum question on the ballot next fall.

Thank you for your consideration.

Among the fine observations that I left out of the comment that one of the benefits of creating the ORANGE Coalition at a non-profit corporation instead of a political committee is that political committees have to disclose their donors while non-profit corporations do not.

Why bother though?

Using the same address as American Water's corporate HQ shows that they don't really care if people know who is behind the ORANGE Coalition.

Mayor Jim Lane and his friends are being as subtle as baseball bats in their quest to consolidate power in Scottsdale and to protect their friends' profits, both at the expense of the best interests of Scottsdale's residents.

Lane and his supporters may rail against the influence that the Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce had during the Manross administration (complaints that have more than a little merit), but the only thing that has changed with his election has been the names of those pulling the strings, not the facts that strings *are* being pulled, and that enough money gets you a turn at tugging on one of the strings.

Later...

Scottsdale City Manager keeps his job - for another 3 months, anyway

Tuesday's meeting of the Scottsdale City Council began as most of them do, with a local group of kids (a Brownie troop this week) reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. In honor of Constitution Week, they announced that they would also recite the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution (You know, the one that starts "We the People...)


Which they did an awesome job with, except for the fact that they recited the beginning of the Declaration of Independence. (You know, the one that starts "When in the course of human events...)

Close, but... :)


That should have been the first clue that the original plan for the meeting (basically for the Council to fire City Manager John Little via a 4-3 vote) wasn't going to come off *quite* as planned, but would still be in the ballpark.

What was officially supposed to be a discussion of Little's job performance was more of a kangaroo court. It was made clear by a number of Council members that this evaluation was not about how well Little had met the goals and objectives of his job, because they had never laid out any for him to meet.

The tactics of his detractors on the Council (Borowsky, Mayor Lane, Littlefield, and Nelssen) consisted of harping on the things about Little that they didn't like (his "attitude" and conflicts with the Mayor, mostly). Council member Lisa Borowsky *did* mention that she thought Little is a good guy, before excoriating him for "not getting along" with the majority of the Council.

That was a pattern from the detractors - compliment him on his "charm" and then criticize him for his "insubordination."

There was also a tendency to allude to "other issues" without being specific (Borowsky referred to a rumor that not only was Little not "open" with the Mayor and Council, he wasn't "open" with other charter officers who were "open" with the Mayor and Council.)

That would have to refer to City Clerk Carolyn Jagger, who's pretty much the only charter officer left standing since Jim Lane took over the Mayor's job.

Tony Nelssen even accused Little of taking the City Manager's job just so he could list it on his resume.

In the end, though, it all came down to the contentious relationship between the City Manager and the Mayor.

They want to fire Little because he doesn't genuflect enthusiastically enough when the Mayor enters the room.

Nothing more tangible, or job performance-related, than that.


To be certain, Little had his supporters, too.

Council members Ecton, Klapp, and McCullagh made it clear that they thought Little has done well playing the hand he has been dealt and deserves to keep his job.

Ecton - "He has done an excellent job in a difficult time."

McCullagh - This is "not the easiest council to work with."

Klapp - "Six months is too short a period" to evaluate job performance.

Little also had strong support from the community and from rank-and-file City employees, including former Council member Robert Pettycrew and the Scottsdale Police Officers Association.

Most praised Little's honesty and "uncompromising integrity." Pettycrew, being a former member of the Council, brought some historical perspective to the mix, noting that there has been an "erosion" in the how the Council and City Staff relate to each other.

The end result of it all was a bit of a surprise - Council member Ron McCullagh moved to keep Little in his job and revisit the evaluation in six months. Nelssen said he could support a 90-day period, so McCullagh amended his motion to that time period.

Surprisingly, the amended motion passed by a 4-3 vote (Borowsky, Lane, Littlefield opposed - they want to fire Little immediately), giving Little a three-month reprieve.

So, after more than a couple of hours of contentious discussion, nothing was settled. Come back in December.

AZRepublic coverage here.



...A couple of observations on the events at the meeting.

- If Little has failed as City Manager, the most legitimate reason to fire him (and failure wasn't proven or even charged), then the Council has failed too. They hand-picked him to replace Jan Dolan and voted him in by a 7-0 vote.

- While the Mayor and members of the Council are intelligent and educated, they aren't very bright. There was some talk of Tuesday's story in the Republic about how the City has turned around a gaping budget deficit and now has a $6.6 million surplus, but they ignored the story of the investigation of the Governing Board of the Maricopa County Community College District by the national college accrediting organization. They're in trouble because of "micromanagement."

There's a lesson there for all at the meeting.

While the Scottsdale City Council doesn't have an accrediting agency to answer to, it does have voters to answer to, and will next year. It also has independent measures like the City's bond rating to help gauge the effectiveness of the City's day-to-day management, and the interference of the Mayor and City Council in the day-to-day affairs of the City does not bode well for the City's bond rating and other measures.

- Little was not the only target in Lane's sights during the meeting. Two of his supporters introduced petitions callng for the resignations of non-Lane clique Council members Klapp and McCullagh because the Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce's political activity last year.

In case anyone who was at the meeting or watching it on TV thinks that I am exaggerating and that the two petitioners were just concerned citizens, know this -

One was Mike Fernandez, who was/is treasurer of the committee "Republicans for a Bright New Day in Scottsdale", a big player behind an anti-Mary Manross and Betty Drake ad blitz last year.

The other was R. Lamar Whitmer, who was Lane's campaign manager last year.

Even though it wasn't listed on the agenda as such, last night's meeting was *all* about Jim Lane's ongoing quest to consolidate his power and marginalize or remove any potential dissenters within the City's elected and senior staff power structures.

During the meeting, former Council member Pettycrew opined that Little should be kept on because "someone has to tell the emperor that he has no clothes."

That statement is more on point than one might think a usually trite aphorism could be -

It's looking more and more like Lane has a lot of tinhorn Napoleon in him.

- Lastly, in what could be a sign of things to come during the Lane administration, they couldn't appoint an interim City Attorney because all of the potential candidates for the job have withdrawn their names from consideration. Apparently word is getting out about Lane and the Council's penchant for using the City's professional staff as pin cushions when they don't parrot the Lane party line.

Later...

Coleman's desperate moves fail - Franken Widens Lead

From The Hill -

Norm Coleman has just made his appeal more difficult.

Al Franken extended his lead in the Minnesota Senate race to 313 votes Tuesday, after about 350 improperly rejected absentee ballots were added to the ballot pool.

The total is 87 more votes than Franken led by at the beginning of the day and all but assures that Coleman’s current court challenge will fail.

Don't be surprised if the GOPers' appeals and dilatory tactics to last for six years, the entire term of office up for election - as much as the GOP wants to protect one of its own (Coleman), they want to prevent the seating of someone they *despise* - the loudly liberal Franken. They hate him with a fiery passion they once reserved for Hillary Clinton.

- In other ongoing elections news, the race in NY-20 to replace former Congresswoman now Senator Kirsten Gillibrand in the U.S. House is still too close to call, with Democrat Scott Murphy and Republican Jim Tedisco swapping the lead in the race on an almost-hourly basis.

Of course, given that the Reps have a more than 64,000 voter registration advantage in the district, the fact that they didn't win this one in a walkover is something of an embarrassment.

- In IL-05, there is a special election today to select a replacement for former Congressman now White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. That one is expected to stay in the Democratic column, though with the events in NY-20, it may be worth keeping an eye on this one.

Later...

Best and worst bargains - 2008 elections

Edit on 12/8 to update County numbers, below...

Post-General Election campaign finance reports are in, and normally this would be the time to do a really geeky and dry post listing figures for contributions, expenditures, cash on hand, etc. However, since the election results are in, I'm going to do something a little different.

Still geeky and dry, but different. :))

Today's post will list the best bargains (based on lowest expenditures per vote for election victors) and the worst bargains (based on highest expenditures per vote for election losers.)

The expenditure figures taken from the cycle-to-date boxes of the campaigns' post-general reports; vote totals taken from the appropriate reporting authority, either the AZ Secretary of State or the Maricopa County Recorder.

Best Bargain - AZ Congressional races

Republican Trent Franks was easily the leader here, spending $400,019.59 to receive 200,914 votes, or $1.99/vote. Republican Jeff Flake was the second most frugal victor, spending $3.76/vote. By contrast, the victor who spent the *most* per vote was another Republican, John Shadegg. Shadegg spent $17.85/vote ($2,656,692.67 spent, 200914 votes received).

Worst Bargain - AZ Congressional races

Democrat Bob Lord, Shadegg's opponent in CD3, "won" this dubious distinction, spending $1,745,210.41 to receive 115,759 votes, for a $17.85/vote pace. The only losing candidate who spent at a pace that was even close to Lord's was Republican Tim Bee. Bee spent 13.25/vote in his failed campaign to unseat Gabrielle Giffords in CD8.

Giffords and Harry Mitchell (D-CD5) each spent more than $15/vote, but since they won their races (rather handily at that), the money spent was a good deal.

Note: Challengers Don Karg (R-CD4), Rebecca Schneider (D-CD6), and Joe Sweeney (R-CD7 [I think]) haven't filed post-general reports that I could find, but I doubt that any of them spent enough money to challenge Lord for the 'Worst Bargain' status.


The comparison of county campaigns was more difficult, because both major candidates for county attorney, Andrew Thomas and Tim Nelson, as well as supervisor candidates Fulton Brock, Joel Sinclaire, and Max Wilson haven't filed post-general reports yet. (Note: with Joel Sinclaire's passing, his committee has been suspended/terminated. I'm not sure if/when a final campaign finance report will be filed.)

Brock, Thomas, Nelson, and Wilson all have reports up on the County Recorder's website, and according to the time/date stamps on the forms, all reports were submitted on time.

However, I don't want it to be said that I'm not able to form conclusions based on incomplete information. :)))

Best Bargain - Maricopa County races

Right now, Don Stapley is the clear winner in this category, but that could change once his legal expenses are added in. At this point, however, the Republican incumbent spent $9933.45 to receive 164,381 votes, or $0.29/vote to retain his seat in SD2.

Note: Stapley was a little creative in filling out his report, neglecting to fill out the "cycle-to-date" column. The expenditure number listed in this post is a total of the "cycle-to-date" number from his pre-general report and the "current period" number from his post-general report.

Worst Bargain - Maricopa County races

Ed Hermes, the Democratic candidate in Supervisor District 1, "led" this category, spending $112,026.14 to garner 119,971 votes, for a $0.93/vote pace. While for the purposes of this post, this campaign qualifies as the "worst" bargain among the county races, I expect Ed to take the lessons of this cycle and apply them to another campaign, one that he may very well win.

Tim Nelson challenged for this one, spending over $438K in his unsuccessful campaign for County Attorney. However, while he spent nearly 4 times as much as Hermes, his countywide race garnered him more than 4 times the votes, dropping his dollars per vote number to $0.80.

One item of interest from Fulton Brock's post-general report were contributions from a couple in Oro Valley, which is in Pima County. The twosome share a name with some of the people involved in the Stapley indictment. On October 16, 2008, Jason and Kris Wolfswinkel each gave $390 (the maximum allowed individual contribution) to Brock's campaign.

Stapley's failure to report his involvement with some Wolfswinkel family businesses is at the heart of his legal travails.

Wouldn't it be sweet if Brock's name was added to the list of indicted Republicans? Yeah, I know it probably won't happen, but one has to wonder why some Pima County residents care enough about a Maricopa County supervisor's race to fork over the max contribution to his campaign.

Both of these could change once all reports are in, plus the numbers don't include the "independent" expenditures that benefitted Joe Arpaio and Andrew Thomas. However, they both won their races, no matter how unethically, so they don't qualify for "worst bargain" under the guidelines of this post.


I was going to do one of the comparisons for some of the ballot initiatives, but there were a couple of hurdles there - too many of the committees haven't filed reports, and in many cases, there are multiple committees in support/opposition of a given prop.


Comparison purposes -

To put some of these numbers in perspective, in 2004, then-Congressman JD Hayworth spent $7.58/vote to retain his seat. However, that was nearly 180 times the rate of his opponent, Elizabeth Rogers. She spent roughly $0.04 per vote.

Compare this to 2006, when both spent more per vote in their races. Hayworth spent $31.12/vote to lose to Harry Mitchell in CD5; Rogers spent $0.06/vote to win the Kyrene Justice of the Peace race.

OK, that's not really relevant to the rest of the post, but it should give pause to those who would support a speculated-upon Hayworth gubernortorial candidacy. It should also give hope to candidates like Rebecca Schneider and Marilyn Fox, who ran strong campaigns on limited budgets.

There is life after losing an election.

Let's see what happens in two years before considering them and others like them, to be electoral afterthoughts.

Other campaign and campaign finance news -

...According to the Secretary of State's website, the first official candidate committee for 2010 has been formed by Michelle Reagan, Republican State Representative from north Scottsdale. It's an exploratory committee and doesn't list the office that she is "exploring." My guess is State Senate, though Corporation Commission or State Treasurer are possibilities.

...Jim McAllister, an AZCentral.com Plugged In blogger, notes that victorious candidates Jim Lane (Scottsdale Mayor) and Lisa Borowsky (Scottsdale City Council) already have their hands out to developers, seeking contributions to retire their campaign debts.

Apparently, they don't read the news reports about indicted and convicted public officials.

...The AZ Republic has a story that current Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne will be forming a committee to explore a run for State Attorney General in 2010.

Ummm....yeah. Horne has spent most of two terms making the public education system in AZ one of the worst in the country, and now he wants us to set him loose on the legal system?

Later...

Short Attention Span Musing - Election Results Edition

...Stuff I was wrong about (and I'm not too happy that it is so)...

When the Reps purged moderate professional public servants such as State Senators Pete Hershberger and Tom O'Halleran during their primary, replacing them with pure ideologues like Cap'n Al Melvin and Steve Pierce, and replacing the late Jake Flake with Sylvia Allen (a Russell Pearce fave), I thought that AZ's Dems with their pragmatic and centrist candidates were in a position to take a majority in one or both chambers of the lege.

I was wrong. We lost a little ground in both.

...Stuff I was wrong about (and happy that it is so)...

When the Reps nominated Marian McClure, Barry Wong, and Bob Stump for Arizona Corporation Commission, I thought that they had put up three candidates that might have been strong enough to beat back the candidacies of Sandra Kennedy, Paul Newman, and Sam George.

Turns out Kennedy and Newman have won seats, and George is neck-and-neck with Bob Stump for the third seat (currently, George is 1052 votes down, with provisionals and dropped-off mail in ballots still being counted).

...Stuff I was right about (and mostly very happy that it is so)...

Months ago, before either party's presidential primaries had even taken place, I predicted that John McCain at the top of the Rep ticket would lead to good things for national Democrats ("President Barack Obama" anyone? Whoo hoooo!! :)) ) but would hurt AZ Dems due to increased Rep voter turnout (see point one about losing ground in the lege).

So long as Governor Janet Napolitano stays in AZ to stand up to the Arizona chapter of the Flat Earth Society, I'll be satisfied with a Democratic-controlled White House and a Republican-controlled lege.

...So how soon before the "Barkley for Governor" talk begins again?

Kevin Johnson, formerly a star with the Phoenix Suns, rode Tuesday's Democratic wave into the mayor's office in Sacramento, California.

From the LA Times -

A Democrat, he likened himself to Barack Obama, noting that both campaigned on a platform of change. Race was not an overt issue in Sacramento, where African Americans make up about 14% of the population.

"The mayor stared blindly into her rear-view mirror while Johnson was focused on the road ahead," said Doug Elmets, a Sacramento political consultant.

Actually, candidate KJ was more the sort of pro-business Republican-lite candidate that Rahm Emanuel would fall all over himself recruiting if he was still running the DCCC, not as an agent of change like Barack Obama, but it's still good to see KJ doing well.

...The denizens of San Francisco aren't anywhere near as colorful as conservative pundits would have everyone believe...

From U.S. News and World Report -

SAN FRANCISCO—Even here, in this defiantly liberal city, it was simply too much. A local measure that would have renamed a sewage treatment plant after George W. Bush was defeated yesterday, with 69 percent of voters opposing it. Thirty percent of voters supported the initiative.

Was it a case of "too much" or was it just a case of not wanting to create any reminders of the worst president in history?

...The 2010 campaign season has already started, with speculation on possible candidates hitting the internet by Thursday. PolitickerAZ has a list of possible gubernortorial contenders, one that includes the usual Democrats, such as Phil Gordon (Mayor of Phoenix), Terry Goddard (AZ Attorney General) and Jim Pederson (Developer and former chair of the AZ Dems).

One other name that was included was something of a surprise - Johnny Basha.

Even if the Basha family hadn't become a bunch of union-busting Republicans, Johnny Basha could never get through a Democratic primary. He's a fundraiser for and contributor to John McCain.

Oops.

Later!

Monday and GOTV

Edited so as not to offend MSM sensibilities...









A building full of GOTV volunteers in Tempe











What it's all about...

Governor Howard Dean in AZ for Get Out The Vote efforts

On Monday, Governor Howard Dean, Chair of the Democratic National Committee and inspiration to Democratic grassroots activists everywhere, is visiting Arizona to cheer on volunteers as they make the final push to put Senator Barack Obama, Congressman Harry Mitchell, and the other Democratic candidates over the top in their quests to put the county, state, and country back on a course that is socially, fiscally, and economically responsible.

Scheduled appearances -

Time: Noon

Place: Pima County Democratic HQ

Address: 4639 E. 1st Street, Tucson (one block S. of Speedway, one block W. of Swan)

Other speakers: Congressman Raul Grijalva, Don Bivens, Chair of the Arizona Democratic Party, and Vince Rabago, Chair of the Pima Dems


Time: 3:00 p.m.

Place: Coordinated campaign office

Address: 123 E. Baseline Rd., Tempe

Contact: (480) 820-2298 or allison.shannon[at]gmail.com

Other speakers: TBA


Contact the Arizona Democratic Party at (602) 298-4200 for more appearance info.

Mail Call - Last Minute Mailer

Somehow I ended up on a mailing list used by Wes Waddle, one of the Republican House candidates in LD17. He sent out a south Scottsdale-specific piece, with one hitting my mailbox on Friday.

(Note: I don't have a scanner in order to upload an image of it, but I'll look for one tomorrow and update this post if I find one.)

The address side of the card has a pic of Waddle dressed in a flight suit while posing next to an airplane of some type.

On the other side are pics of an "Old Town Scottsdale" sign and some other buildings and sights from Scottsdale's downtown area.

As for text on the mailer, the address side has the required "paid for by" statement, a proclamation across the top that he is "the only candidate representing Scottsdale" and one across the bottom proclaiming "Wes Waddle. Your choice for a better Arizona." In between, he has a brief letter that talks about how south Scottsdale has been represented in the lege by people from Tempe and how voting for him would mean that "Southern Scottsdale is treated fairly and not overshadowed by Tempe's slick politicians."

On the other side, he has a list of three generic headings with three bullet points each (gotta love things that come in threes, right?)

Evaluation:

Not bad, except (you just knew that there was going to be an "except" :) )...

Let's see -

1. Most of the pics he included in the mailer that I recognize are from *outside* LD17. A couple I don't recognize offhand, so I'm pretty sure they're not from LD17, but I can't say for certain. Yet. :)

2. I know it's supposed to be Scottsdale-focused, but the mailer reads like that of a candidate for Scottsdale City Council, not the Arizona lege. He talks about his small business experience and working "with the City to create a business-friendly environment" and protecting "private property rights in Scottsdale." Never does he mention his plans for the lege. Which brings us to the next point...

3. He never actually states which office he is a candidate for.

4. He never mentions that he is a Republican. (Not an unusual occurrence this year; it seems that most Republicans not named "McCain" are running away from their party.)

All in all, a solid mix of obvious deception and rookie mistakes.

Assuming Waddle doesn't win his race this year, he will probably learn some from the mistakes (I've met him at a campaign finance workshop put on by Clean Elections - he's intelligent) and has the opportunity to obviate the need for deception by getting more involved in the community (joining a City of Scottsdale board or commission would be a good start) and then maybe run for Scottsdale City Council in 2010 or 12. It seems to be more in keeping with his focus.

NB - At first, I figured that his shot at "Tempe's slick politicians" was directed at Ed Ableser and David Schapira, the Democratic incumbents in LD17. However, driving home through Tempe and south Scottsdale tonight I noticed how Waddle's Republican ballotmates, Jesse Hernandez (for State Senate) and Mark "Religion is OK - for Republican candidates anyway" Thompson (State House) have joined forces (signs all on the same poles, jointly sponsoring a TV spot, etc.) and all but thrown Waddle under the bus.

Now I wonder if Waddle's "slick" characterization was aimed as much at Thompson and Hernandez as at the Democrats they are trying to unseat.

NB2 - "The only candidate representing Scottsdale"?? That is probably news to State Senator Carolyn Allen (R-Scottsdale) and State Rep. Michele Reagan (R-Scottsdale). And probably to Congressman Harry Mitchell (D-CD5) and the staff of his Scottsdale-based district office, too.

Later!

Republicans detouring through Bizarro World as the election draws near...

Edit on 11/2 to correct an error pointed out in a comment...

It all started on my way home from work tonight.

- First up was the radio spot for the Republican slate of candidates for the Arizona Corporation Commission. The run of the mill Republicans in AZ don't think that they can kiss big business' butt fast enough or sloppily enough, yet Marian McClure, Barry Wong, and Bob Stump are running a radio ad touting themselves as "consumer-friendly."

At least they stuck to tried-and-true Republican form by calling the Democratic candidates (Sandra Kennedy, Paul Newman, and Sam George) "divisive." They squeezed in the term by prominently quoting the AZ Republic editorial that endorsed the Republican ACC ticket.

Umm...I've met and spoken at length to all three. The only folks who could consider them to be "divisive" are Republicans and editors who object to the idea of Democrats joining the historically Republican-dominated ACC.

- Second up was a news article in today's East Valley Tribune. Normally, Republicans try to portray themselves as the "God-friendly" candidates, but not today.

Carol Thompson, the wife of Republican LD17 candidate Mark Thompson, criticized Democratic incumbent state representative Ed Ableser for being too involved with religion. She objected to Ableser joining the the LDS faith of his fiancee, Hilary.

From the article, quoting an email from Mrs. Thompson -

"This guy has no idea what he is and shouldn’t be counseling kids.”

She seemed to be objecting to the idea of the change, not to Mormonism itself. Still, Mr. Thompson is probably glad that he's not running to represent Mesa. :)

- And then came the coup de grace.

The McCain campaign is running a spot touting lavish, nearly endorsement-level, praise from a prominent Democrat.

That Democrat?

Senator Barack Obama.

Yes, the same Barack Obama who has been called "that one", "socialist," "communist," "Muslim," "pro-terrorist", and worse by John McCain and his surrogates.

From the examples of McClure/Wong/Stump, Thompson, and McCain, it seems that even Republicans are admitting that the Republican brand has lost its luster.

BTW - Congratulations to Ed and his fiancee Hilary. May they have a long and joyous life together.

Later!

Saban fires back at Arpaio campaign's lies

Dan Saban, Democratic candidate for Maricopa County Sheriff, has been the subject of a robocall smear campaign conducted by Joe Arpaio. The calls have spread complete lies about Saban, his positions, and his statements.

From a Saban press release -

One 60-second call claims that Saban “will close Tent City, coddle inmates, eliminate chain gangs and even ignore state laws that combat illegal immigration.” In fact, Dan Saban has never made any such statements. A woman’s voice on the call also claims that Saban would cause “hundreds of millions of dollars in new taxes,” which Dan Saban called “absurdly false hyperbole.”

“Arpaio has hired a Washington D.C. swiftboat firm when he still hasn’t come clean about the funding of his last TV smear ad campaign,” said Saban. “Research shows that voters and media are rejecting negative advertising this year, and I hope they will see Arpaio’s tactics as below the belt. I have categorically supported the use of the tents, and I will bring in even tougher immigration enforcement efforts, going after real criminal aliens, not just janitors.”

Saban said he will eliminate unconstitutional housing and treatment of detainees and prisoners, and work to Arpaio’s policies that bring a never-ending stream of negligence lawsuits. Over his 16-year tenure, Arpaio’s mismanagement of the County jails has cost taxpayers more than $43 million in lawsuit payouts, settlements and attorneys’ fees. His chronic understaffing in the jails has resulted in more than 60 deaths—many of detainees awaiting trial—in the last three years alone. Last week, a federal court found conditions in Arpaio’s jails in violation of the U.S. Constitution.

“When you can’t talk about your own record, and when you’ve been caught lying in public, you get even sneakier. You’re more or less forced to resort to smear phone calls,” Saban said. “I want everyone to know that I will be a more honest sheriff, a fairer sheriff and a better sheriff than that little voice on your phone. I call on Joe Arpaio to halt this fraudulent robo-lying immediately and stop smearing me once and for all.”

All the way from the McCain campaign at the heights of the ballot down to the lowliest county hack trying to retain his ride on the nativist gravy train, the Republicans are running every scheme in their 'fear and smear' playbook.

As important as it is to work to put Barack Obama over the top in his quest for the Presidency, we need to support downballot candidates to effect the sort of change that affects people's everyday lives.

Volunteer this weekend to help get out the vote for Democrats across the Valley, and on Tuesday, vote for Dan Saban for Sheriff, Tim Nelson for County Attorney, and Ed Hermes, Joel Sinclaire, Marilyn Fox, and Leigh Strickman, Democratic candidates for the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.

Later!

One week to go...

...and the last-minute voter contact and 'Get Out The Vote' (GOTV) efforts are fully up to speed.

Now is the time to redouble all of our efforts to bring responsibility, civility, and professionalism to elected offices at all levels.

In addition to volunteer opportunities with the Arizona Democratic Party and the Maricopa County Democratic Party, there are multiple opportunities to help out for people who don't want to fight downtown traffic.

All are looking for help with early ballot chasing this week and GOTV efforts this weekend, Monday and on Election Day next Tuesday.


East Valley Democratic coordinated campaign offices -

Scottsdale
7950 E Acoma Dr.
Scottsdale, AZ
480-607-4435

Tempe
123 East Baseline Road
Tempe, Arizona 85283
480-820-2298

Mesa-GEMDEMS
7141 E Main St, Mesa, AZ 85207
Phone: (480) 924-DEMS (3367)

Mesa-SEIU
2150 S. Country Club Dr.
Suite #29
Mesa, AZ 85210
(near Southeast corner of Country Club and Baseline)
Phone: (480) 217-6196


Campaigns -

Obama for President
922 N. 6th St. (corner of Roosevelt and 6th Street)
Phoenix, AZ 85004
602-689-8326

CD5 Congressman Harry Mitchell's reelection campaign
123 East Baseline Road
Tempe, Arizona 85283
Phone: 480-755-3343
Email: info[at]harry2008.com

LD17 Senator Meg Burton-Cahill's reelection campaign
info[at]keepmeg.com

LD17 Representative David Schapira's reelection campaign
info[at]davidforaz.com

LD17 Representative Ed Ableser's reelection campaign
info[at]edableser.com

GOTV efforts organized by Lauren Kuby; contact her at laurenkuby@gmail.com or 602-790-2156 to help out with those efforts this weekend thru Election Day.

Ed Hermes for Maricopa County Supervisor (SD1)
ed[at]edhermes.com
480-234-1753

Joel Sinclaire for Maricopa County Supervisor (SD2)
info[at]electsinclaire.com

Judah Nativio for LD18 State Senate
3440 East Southern Ave. #1109
Mesa, AZ 85204
Email: judah[at]@electnativio.com

Tammie Pursley for LD18 State Representative

Stephanie Rimmer for LD8 State Representative
stephanie[at]stephanierimmer.com
602.432.2486

There are a number of other East Valley and Maricopa County campaigns that need help too - contact your local coordinated campaign office for more info.

And just as a reminder - anybody with mail-in ballots should plan to have them in the mail by Wednesday to ensure that they reach the Maricopa County Recorder's office by Election Day. If you are unable to mail it in by then, voters can still vote early at the various early voting locations throughout the valley. The deadline for early in-person voting is Friday at the close of business at the various polling locations (see below).

Central/South Valley
Maricopa County Elections Depts.
111 S. 3rd Ave, PHX 85003 (SE Corner 3rd and Jefferson);
Mon - Fri; 8am to 5pm

510 S. 3rd Ave, PHX 85003 (NW Corner 3rd and Lincoln);
Mon - Fri; 8am to 5pm

212 E. Alta Vista Rd, PHX 85003 (East of Central);
Mon - Fri; 8am to 5pm

East Valley
Maricopa County Elections Dept.
222 E. Javelina Dr, Mesa 85205 (I-60 and Mesa Dr.);
Mon - Fri, 8am to 5pm

Tempe Public Library
3500 S. Rural Rd, Tempe 85282 (NW corner Rural and Southern);
Mon - Thur, 10am to 6pm; Fri, 10am to 5pm

NE Valley
Scottsdale City Clerk's Office
3939 N. Drinkwater Blvd.
Scottsdale 85251 (Indian School and Drinkwater)
Mon - Fri, 9am to 4pm

After Friday, any uncast ballots should be held until Election Day when they can be dropped off at any polling place in the county.

Hope to see you at one of the phone banks or GOTV events!

Polished bigotry is still bigotry

There is so much to write about - a McCain campaign aide's race-baiting, the irony of both Barack Obama and Sarah Palin pulling off of the campaign trail at the same time - the irony being that Obama went to be with his ailing grandmother while Palin went to be deposed in the investigation of her abuse of office in Alaska - but I don't have enough time for that.

Instead, the focus will be much closer to home.

Specifically, the AZ Republic's endorsement of nativist John Kavanagh over Democrat Stephanie Rimmer in the race for LD8 House.

Of course, they have the right to endorse any candidate they choose, and for any reason that they choose. However, their rationalization for selecting Kavanagh for the endorsement was breathtaking.

From the editorial (emphasis mine) -

Kavanagh's signature issue in his first term has been, as he promised, illegal immigration. He is as zealous on the issue as Rep. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, which makes us uncomfortable. But there is a profound difference between the two men: Kavanagh is more intelligent and more tactful in making his points...

Hey, I've no disagreement with the Rep on the main point - Kavanagh *is* more intelligent, educated, tactful, and just generally more polished than Pearce.

Even combined, however, intelligence, education, tact, and polish do not make nativists any less bigoted.

And have no doubt - Kavanagh *is* an unabashed nativist. He may have been on his best behavior for the Rep's editors, but when he feels like he is comfortably ensconced among fellow travelers on the anti-immigrant trail, he lets his hair down a bit, as documented in this post from June of 2007.

Simply put, Stephanie Rimmer is a much better choice to represent LD8's residents. She's an intelligent and hard-working businesswoman and community activist whose pro-education, pro-conservation, and pro-business views are a far tighter fit with those of the voters of north Scottsdale and Fountain Hills than Kavanagh's anti-public education, anti-brown people, and anti-government views.

Note: it is sort of hypocritical of Kavanagh to constantly rail against government spending when his entire career has been one of taxpayer-funded positions in the military, as a police officer in New York, as an instructor at Scottsdale Community College, and as an elected official.

Don't misunderstand me - based on what I know, he's had a laudable career of public service, but when he attacks the same government spending that has supported he and his family for decades, I have to wonder where his head's at. (Think: "dire need for cranio-rectal dislodgement surgery" :)) )

Anyway, help Stephanie Rimmer and all of LD8 by volunteering with her campaign or at the coordinated campaign office in Scottsdale (480.607.4435) to help put her over the top.

Have a good weekend!

Randy Pullen takes on Judah Nativio and Tammie Pursley

Randy Pullen, current chair of the AZ Republican Party, may not have any significant skill at raising (the primary duty of any state chair of any party), but he sure can issue a mean press release.

Especially when it's in support of some of his fellow travellers on the nativist trail.

Courtesy an email from the Nativio campaign -

Democratic Party Candidates Judah Nativio and Tammie Pursley favor legislation that relies on the Federal Government to solve the problems we face in Arizona.

Their solutions are the same sort of rhetoric that have stalled immigration reform and maintained the status quo. We simply cannot wait for Washington to figure out a way to secure our borders and fix our immigration laws.

{snip}

Nativio and Pursely's 'do nothing' approach to illegal immigration is simply a delay tactic while people are allowed to continue with business as usual.

District 18 has three Republicans who are more qualified to deal with this problem head on. Their opponents favor a hands-off approach, which will only further this crisis we are facing.

Ignoring, for the moment anyway, the fact that the AZ GOP has to be seriously scared of Pursley and Nativio if they are putting out effort to buttress candidates in a supposedly "safe" GOP district, but is Pullen so stressed over the impending loss of his job (and possibly control of one or both chambers of the state lege) that he has forgotten that immigration control *is* a federal concern? I can understand (not necessarily agree with, but can at least understand) when frustration over the lack of federal control of America's borders leads to nativists' attempts to impose controls at the state level.

However, border control was and is a federal responsibility.

Reading Mr. Pullen's press release leaves the impression that he and the candidates he supports advocate the outright usurpation of federal authority. As near as I can figure from my (very!) limited knowledge of the law, this isn't treason.

Though given Russell Pearce's well-known affinity for neo-Nazis and white supremacists (groups that have been known to advocate the violent overthrow of the government), it's probably far closer to treason than any normal person would want to go.

For his part, Nativio called the presser with Pullen's comments part of a "smear" campaign.

Also from the email -

This is such a lie. I have stated multiple times that the employee sanctions bill passed with bipartisan support, I would like to see a funding source and I do not agree that the Sheriff can run raids on government buildings under this law without cooperating with local municipalities.

I have also called for our congressional delegation to move more money to Arizona to help pay the bills that are run up under the law so taxpayers are not the only ones paying for it. I also supported SB1022 last session, a bipartisan bill to assist business that cannot find legal labor.

Lastly, we need to demand that the federal government move more visa applications and approve permits to bring more people here for people who believe in the American dream and want to be part of these United States.

Lastly, besides the whole "ignore federal authority" aspect of Pullen's press release, I find it telling that Pullen couldn't bring himself to say that Pearce, Court, and Ash were the best candidates for all of LD18; instead, he appeals only to the nativists in the district.

Later!

Rally for Obama on Sunday at ASU

Info courtesy an email from the AZ Democratic Party...


Date: Sunday, October 26

Time: 5:30 p.m.

Place: In front of ASU's Hayden Library

Who and What: Women for Obama and the ASU Young Democrats present a rally and walk for Senator Barack Obama. Featured speakers include Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard, Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox, Arizona AFL-CIO Executive Director Rebekah Friend, Democratic Party Chair Don Bivens, Governor's Chief of Staff Jan Lesher and President of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community Diane Enos. After the rally, world-famous trumpeter Jesse McGuire will lead a unity procession of a thousand blue lights across the University Avenue bridge.

Parking: Fulton Center at University and College.

Contact: ADP at 602.298.4200

See you there!

P.S.: Bring a flashlight.

Bob Lord has the Shadegg campaign making rookie mistakes

As Election Day draws ever closer, the strong challenge that the Bob Lord for Congress campaign is mounting against incumbent John Shadegg is pushing Shadegg's campaign into making so incredibly dumb moves...

Let's see -

There was using a picture of a veteran in a campaign ad without his permission...and then insulting that veteran (and former POW) with a condescending faux "apology."

There was putting out another spot without the legally required "paid for by" statement, which could result in the Shadegg campaign paying thousands of dollars more than other candidates to air their ads.

Now there's the embarrassment of losing a campaign credit card.

In a Democratic Party office.

From an AZ Dem press release -

A credit card for John Shadegg's campaign was found this weekend under the front desk of a Democratic Party office.

The card is issued to a senior Shadegg campaign operative, lists Shadegg's re-election organization and was found near Democratic campaign materials.

The Democratic Party notified Shadegg's campaign office that the card has been found. The party has also filed a report with the Tempe Police Department and with the credit card company.

"It's extremely disturbing that a senior campaign operative for Republican John Shadegg would leave a credit card under a desk at one of our offices," said Maria Weeg, Executive Director of the Arizona Democratic Party. "We let Congressman Shadegg know we found his credit card and requested Shadegg promptly explain what a member of his staff was doing in our office and how his campaign credit card arrived in our office."

According to PolitickerAZ, the Shadegg campaign has responded by saying that the credit card was brought to the Democratic office by one of his campaign volunteers in order to purchase an Obama bumper sticker.

Huh?????

So the question now is whether the intended purpose of the purchase of an Obama bumper sticker was to proclaim the Shadegg campaign's support for Barack Obama (something that I'm certain that Shadegg's good friend John McCain will want to discuss :) ) or if they were purchasing the bumper sticker to deface or misuse it in some way (just for harmless laughs, of course).

Something which may or may not be legal to do once they've taken ownership of a particular bumper sticker, but which, legal or not, is still utterly petty.

Why do I not believe that Shadegg's campaign wanted the bumper sticker because of its support of Obama?

Actually, I think they showed up at the Tempe office to spy or more, but that's only my opinion, not an actual accusation. Yet.

Anyway, given all of the dumb mistakes and the blatant disregard for campaign rules (written and unwritten), is it any surprise that the Shadegg campaign has retained the K Street law firm of Sidley Austin, or that one of the firm's partners is Thomas Green, one of the people who defended the Republican "plumbers" of Watergate break-in fame? According to campaign finance records, they spent nearly $12K with Sidley Austin in just the month and a half from August 14 to September 30. (page 100 and 101 of this .pdf from the FEC)

Sounds like the Shadegg campaign is doing one thing right - they're following the Boy Scout maxim of "be prepared."

Later!

What? There are voting problems in Florida? Must be an even numbered-year.

Early voting started in Florida today, and there were problems from the very moment the polling places opened.

From MiamiHerald.com -

Lines at Miami Beach City Hall Monday morning were the picture of unhappiness. News traveled fast among the 20 or so voters waiting at 7 a.m. that technical problems were slowing down voting. Some of the computers used to check in voters weren't working, though there were no problems with the optical scan machines used to count ballots.

''This is a typical Florida election,'' grumbled voter Mike Frank, wearing a black-and-white ''Barack is my homeboy'' T-shirt.

According to some reports on MSNBC, the problem was that some of the machines that read the magnetic strip on Florida drivers licenses (far and away the most common form of ID used in FL) didn't work. However, some did work, so all of the many voters who turned out had to go through one line, leading to long wait times, some in excess of 2 hours.

Problems with early voting will be something to keep an eye on, both in Florida and across the nation.

On the local front...according to Yvonne Reed of the Maricopa County Recorder's office, as yet no problems have been reported at the County's satellite voting locations.

As with the situation in Florida, this bears watching. If you are aware of any issues that impede or block voters from casting their ballots, contact either the Arizona Democratic Party at 602.298.4200 or your county party (Maricopa Dems - 602.498.0503). The election integrity folks at either place want to hear about any problems, whether with early voting or election day voting. They'll also be able to advise on an appropriate response.

Later...

In a fair world...

Due to the general hubbub of the myriad races on the ballot and the economic meltdown precipitated on Wall Street, and a change in my personal work schedule that limits my ability to research, comment, and post, I haven't focused much attention on one of the most important races in the Valley this year.


Specifically, the one where long-time Tempe (and Arizona!) icon Congressman Harry Mitchell is facing a challenge from former Maricopa County Treasurer David Schweikert.


In a fair world, Mitchell would win the race in a walkover - he's spent over four decades serving his community as a teacher, mayor, and legislator.


As a Congressman, he's continued his service to his community and his constituents in a number of ways.


On the *big* issues, he has continued work to see that veterans receive all of the benefits that they've so richly earned, to ensure that Arizona's public safety agencies receive all of the available assistance that they need during this period of broken budgets at the local, county, and state levels and to ask the EPA hard questions when poison started flowing from the taps in parts of Scottsdale and Paradise Valley.

Yet in all of his efforts on those "big" issues and others, he has never neglected his roots in Arizona, sitting down with and listening to his constituents, mentoring the next generation of community leaders and recognizing the efforts of community activists.


In a fair world, the lifetime of public service and the continued hard work for his community would be more than enough to merit returning Harry Mitchell to Congress.

However, a certain small wing (OK, a large and nearly all-emcompassing wing :) ) of the Republican Party feels that public service and hard work isn't part of an elected official's duties, hence the candidacy of David Schweikert and the hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of support from purely ideological groups such as the NRA and The Feedom Project (the one dedicated to electing conservative Republicans, not the one dedicated turning released prisoners into forces for peace in their communities nor the one dedicated to freeing wrongfully convicted prisoners - neither of which serves Republican ideals). The reactionary anti-government group Club for Growth has funded a series of TV spots attacking Harry Mitchell and promoting Schweikert (mostly attacking Mitchell).

There is nothing about Schweikert, his campaign platform, or his ideological backers that indicates he is campaigning to represent the residents of CD5.

If he is elected, the "constituents" he serves will be the out-of-state ideologues and PACs that are bankrolling his campaign.

In a fair world, the keep doing his life's work, Harry Mitchell wouldn't need than our votes from us.


As we all know, though, the world isn't fair.


Harry Mitchell needs our help, both in terms of financial contributions and in terms of volunteers for his campaign. Beside the two web links in the last sentence, the campaign can be contacted at 480.755.3343. Also, the AZ Dems' coordinated campaign needs volunteers for the last two weeks of the election cycle and can be contacted at 480.820.2298.

Later...

LD17 Ad Watch - Update

Turns out a brief examination of the campaign finance records of Mark Thompson and Jesse Hernandez, Republican candidates for House and Senate in LD17 respectively, is *very* enlightening.


It seems that, in violation of CCEC rules barring the expenditure of primary funds for general election expenses, they may have used their primary money from CCEC to pay for a TV spot created to run *after* the September 2 primary.

And while the Reps and their mouthpieces are certain to protest this characterization, saying that the spot was intended for use in the primary election cycle, the spot is an attack ad targeting their *general* election opponents. Hmmmm...


From Thompson's post-primary finance report, covering the period from August 14 to September 22 -


August 22 - Received $12921 from Clean Elections.
August 24 - Spent $1350 with Q2 Productions for "production cost" on a TV ad.
August 26 - Spent $3045 with Gene, Ganssle for a TV air time buy.
August 29 - Spent $2300 with Gene Ganssle for a TV air time purchase.

That's $6695 of primary election funding spent on the TV spot less than a week and a half before an uncontested primary.




From Hernandez' post-primary finance report, covering the same period as Thompson's -


August 28 - Received $12921 from Clean Elections.
August 29 - Spent $1554 with Gene Ganssle for "TV".
August 31 - Spent $1350 with Gene Ganssle for "production cost".
September 1 - Spent $1000 with Connie Thompson (aka - "Mrs. Mark Thompson") for "consultant services" (not really relevant to this post, but interesting nonetheless).


That's $2904 of primary election funding spent on a TV spot, less than five days before an uncontested primary.


Now, CCEC rules allow for the use during the general election period of goods and services purchased with primary election funding, under certain circumstances.


From CCEC rules, section R2-20-106, paragraph G (aka page 37) (emphasis mine)-

Pursuant to A.R.S. § 16-953(A), a participating candidate shall return to the Fund all of his or her primary election funds not committed to expenditures (1) during the primary election period; and (2) for goods or services directed to the primary election. A candidate shall not be deemed to have violated A.R.S. § 16-953(A) or this subsection on account of failure to use all materials purchased with primary election funds prior to the primary election, provided such candidate exercises good faith and diligent efforts to comply with the requirement that goods and services purchased with primary election funds be directed to the primary election.

Ummm...given the short time between contracting for the production of the TV ad in very late August and the primary on September 2, it seems that their "diligence" was directed to toward *spending* their primary funding, not *using* the goods and services purchased during the primary.

Of course, that's assuming that they didn't contract for the production and airtime before receiving the primary election funding, which is an entirely different set of violations. :)


Either way, Thompson and Hernandez may have some explaining/spinning to do when the Clean Elections Commission comes around asking questions.






I wonder if either one will earn the nickname "Pinocchio" after that conversation. :)






















Today's lesson for candidates? Get your Clean Elections $5s in as early as possible, even when running unopposed in the primary. Candidates for lege trying to spend more than $12K in less than 10 days is just asking for a violation.

Later!

LD17 Ad Watch

Jesse Hernandez and Mark Thompson, two of the three Republican candidates for the legislature in LD17, have teamed up to air a campaign spot bashing State Senator Meg Burton-Cahill and State Representatives Ed Ableser and David Schapira.

"Bashing" is all that it is, too. It seems to be all that the Republicans have this year.

And this being an election year and all, that wouldn't normally rate a blog post. Attack ads aren't exactly unheard-of during even numbered years.

However, this spot is so cheesy and sloppily insulting that it is less campaign rhetoric and more schoolyard taunts.

The spot begins by showing three crudely drawn mouse figures with the faces of Burton-Cahill, Ableser and Schapira pasted on them while something resembling the song "Three Blind Mice" plays in the background.

The spot first captured my attention when I heard it playing on a cable news channel.

They absolutely massacred the pronounciation of Ed Ableser's last name, making it sound like it is spelled "Ablazzarrr."

I was going to poke a little fun at them for making such a bush-league mistake as not getting their opponent's name right, but after watching the entire ad, I'm not so sure it was a mistake.

Moments later the mouse bearing Senator Burton-Cahill's face is pictured losing her balance, and with her cane flailing, falling over the edge of whatever she is standing on (the artwork for the spot is *really* low-grade).

It seems to be a clear jab at her medical issues involving her ankle. She spent much of last year hobbled by that ankle and needed a cane for support.

Deliberately mispronouncing one opponent's name and making fun of another's medical problems? Are they adults running for public office or for punk kids running for recess bully?

Sheesh...

Anyway, another curious thing that I've noticed beyond this spot is the teaming up of Hernandez and Thompson on signage (as well as this spot) while their fellow Republican candidate Wes Waddle is all but frozen out. I'm not sure what is going on there, but I almost titled this post "Whither Wes Waddle?" if only for the alliterative effect. :)

However, the post isn't really about him, and the actual title, while incredibly boring, describes the content of the post far more accurately.

Later!