Monday, September 20, 2010

Brewer campaign script: Plan A - Lie; Plan B - Run and Hide. Plan C: When Plan B stops working, return to Plan A.

Early this year, Jan Brewer and her quest for an elected term as governor were in trouble.

Deep-pocketed Republican challengers were swamping her in her primary race, and early polling had Terry Goddard defeating her in the general election.

Then Russell Pearce's SB1070 came along, and Brewer's campaign righted itself with Plan A. 

She focused on selling that nativist measure to the Republican base, using stereotypes, extremist rhetoric, and outright lies.

The bill, and her success inciting "energizing" her base forced most of the other R gubernatorial candidates to withdraw from the race.

In addition, polls taken shortly after the primary showed her with a comfortable (~20%) lead over the Democratic nominee for governor, Terry Goddard.

Then came The Debate.

After the brain freeze that will never go away, the grammatical gaffes ("we has did"), and the frantic retreat from the media after the debate, her handlers refused to allow her anywhere near a situation that isn't totally in their control.

That marked the beginning of Plan B.

Run and hide Brewer and her weaknesses until November, and everybody would keep their jobs (and the revenue streams for their real "former" employers).

Then came word on Monday of new polling that shows Goddard has seriously closed on Brewer.

It's become obvious, even to those who have their heads buried in the sand at the bottom of the deepest underground bunker in the state (which has been made to look a *lot* like the 9th floor of the Executive Tower), that running and hiding is no longer a viable plan.

Instead of adapting to the changed circumstances (something that might just involve cranio-rectal dislodgement surgery), they've chosen to go back to Plan A.

Stereotypes, extremist rhetoric, and lies.

From an interview with Jorge Ramos of Univision, via Huffington Post -
RAMOS: But you understand people were upset that you said that the majority of undocumented immigrants were drug mules when in reality they are not. The majority are not.


BREWER: Well, if you know; if you are coming across with the drug cartels, and you're hauling drugs, then you are. And they're probably not doing it willingly; they are probably not doing it willingly.

RAMOS: Do you still believe the majority are drug mules? The majority of undocumented immigrants are bringing drugs to this country?

BREWER: I think that it has increased. I think that it has increased.
If The Debate was Brewer's "Brain Fart" moment, this could well be her "doubling down on a pair of 8s when Goddard is showing a 10" moment.

We'll know in November if her ploy is effective.

Later...

2 comments:

Lauren said...

too true, Craig. It seemed for awhile, that we were living in bizarro world. Let's look at our state with an eye towards reality. Terry Goddard for Governor!

tempe turley said...

This is really good news. I don't follow the polls very closely so I'm having a difficult time knowing what's working and what's not.

Its good to hear that people are actually paying attention and the Jan Brewer has to pay some consequences for bad behavior.

Let's hope this election becomes about much more than HB1070. Thanks for posting this.