An open letter to Arizona governor Katie Hobbs

Dear Governor Hobbs.

Arizona Democrats have a long history of fielding candidates who are R-lite in general election races.

Arizona Democrats have a long history of losing those races.

Your consultants and advisers may tell you otherwise, but don't be R-lite.

People who face a choice between R and R-lite candidates will almost always vote for the authentic thing.

On January 20, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes observed that Arizona's "stand your ground" laws  and gun culture could help turn encounters between Arizonans and ICE agents violent.

On January 29, Arizona's Senate Republicans enthusiastically clutched their pearls and approved SR1036, calling on Mayes to retract her comments and resign her position.

Also on January 29, you emulated, but went milder than them and called for her to retract her comments.

She shouldn't retract a damn thing - she wasn't wrong.

Also, while there may be Rs worthy of being emulated, AZ Senate Rs aren't among them - they're profoundly lousy public servants and wastes of DNA as human beings.

By going R-lite, you are all but guaranteeing that the person who emerges from the R primary for governor will be victorious in the general election.

Right now, I think that will be Andy Biggs.  Not because I think that he's their strongest candidate electorally, but because he's the worst human being among their "Big Three" (the other two aren't decent human beings, but Biggs is worse).

And R voters have a track record of choosing the lousiest people in their primaries.

Me

An open letter to Sen. Ruben Gallego

Rolling Stone broke some news about one of AZ's own this weekend.

From Rolling Stone -

Dem Crypto Ally Defends Fundraiser With Trump Crypto Donor

Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) traveled to Pennsylvania for a town hall on Saturday to offer 

Democrats advice on how to build a bigger tent — and perhaps to drum up support for a 

potential 2028 presidential bid. 

 

When an attendee asked Gallego about a fundraiser he held 

with Marc Andreessen, a billionaire crypto investor and close ally of Donald Trump...

The rest is behind a paywall, but readers get the gist.

Dear Sen. Gallego,

Maybe you thought that people back in AZ would be distracted by Hamas' financiers offering Cheeto a $400 million bribe, and Cheeto trying to rationalize accepting it.

Maybe you thought that because it took place across the country, no one would back in AZ would notice.

We weren't distracted, and we did notice it.

You shouldn't behave like Cheeto -he's a complete skell.

You shouldn't behave like you're R-lite - they're depraved, on a good day.

You shouldn't behave like you're Sinema-lite - she defines "ethically challenged."

Before she changed her registration, and *couldn't* be part of the Democratic primary, I had already decided that if she was the Democratic nominee, I would skip the race.

That may happen when you're up for re-election, and i expect that I won't be the only person to make such a decision.

You didn't win in 2024 by much and you can't afford to lose too many voters...nor can you count on the Rs nominating someone as personally unpopular as Kari Lake.

Me