To the AZ blogosphere -

...Stepping onto the soapbox here...

I don't normally counter-post here (in this context, 'counter-post' means to post something that directly criticizes another blogger's posts). I might disagree with something that has been written, but that's what comments sections are for.

This whole enterprise (blogging) is supposed to be about the free exchange of information, ideas, opinions, and viewpoints.

However, occasionally someone steps over the bounds of propriety, even by the rather loose standards governing partisan discourse here in Arizona.


Republican blog/press release outlet Red State Arizona has an ad hominem smear piece on AZ Democratic Party spokeswoman Emily Bittner. In it, the author (screen name Squish) informs his/her readers that Ms. Bittner has a lien on her condo and spins that into criticisms of Democrats in general and Governor Napolitano in particular.

Squish ignores a few not-so-minor facts about liens; among them is the fact that almost everyone has had a lien on their property if that property was ever used as collateral for a loan (think mortgage or auto loan).

When I first started blogging, I came across the Maricopa County Recorder's website, which includes a section on property records (various types of deeds and the like). I explored it a little, and found a treasure trove of info about various public (and private) figures.

And it was almost totally useless.

Nearly all of the information contained in the records is just that of people living their lives and the transactions they conduct in order to live those lives.

Certainly, some of the info contained in it could be brewed into partisan "hack-job" attacks, but most such attacks wouldn't be honest, even if they were based on "facts."

Also, in addition to being dishonest, such tactics open up the wielders of those tactics to similar attacks.

For example, a Democratic blogger could write about the various financial issues of various members of the leadership of the AZ GOP (one federal tax lien from 1993, a physician's lien from 2006, a state tax lien from 2002...and 2003...and 2004, etc.)

All were minor (OK, the federal tax lien was in excess of $20K, but the others were under $1K) and have long since been resolved, but they could easily be used to tar the reputations, perhaps unfairly, of those people.

Simply put, however, no one really wants to go there. Besides being unfair and nasty (characteristics that may not discourage certain people from using the tactic), the "blowback" potential is so high as to ultimately make the tactic cost-prohibitive.

...Getting off the soapbox now...


Have a good weekend!

I pledge...

The AZ Rep has a *special* article on its website, a heartrending tale of woe, a heartfelt plea for help.

The article chronicles the plight of nativist former Congressman-turned-radio-talk-show-blowhard JD Hayworth, who still faces hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal bills stemming from his fight against a federal corruption investigation.

The AZ Rep article cites as a source an entry in Hayworth's personal blog (http://www.jdhayworth.com/blog/?p=33).

The blog entry puts forth Hayworth's argument that he was unjustly accused and smeared for political purposes, and that while he has been 'vindicated', he incurred large bills to defend himself. Now that he isn't an elected official receiving regular contributions, his campaign coffers are empty and can no longer be used to pay those legal bills.

He sort of glosses over the fact that it was campaign contributions, particularly those from imprisoned lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his friends, that got him in trouble in the first place, but I digress... :)

Anyway, Hayworth's plea moved me, deeply.

I can't afford to give him money right now (he graciously advised/hinted to his supporters of the IRS's gift limits of $12,000 per person/$24,000 married couple), I can make this pledge.

Thanks to JD's eloquent cry for help, I hereby pledge that if he is eventually convicted and imprisoned, I will send him...

Letters.

Yup, I'll become his pen pal. (Rather thoughtful of me, isn't it? LOL)


All sarcasm aside, if he or any other reader wants to read about an investigation, conviction, and imprisonment that truly *was* politically motivated, read about the plight of Don Siegelman, former governor of Alabama.

If anything that has happened in the last 7+ years that will put Karl Rove behind bars, what he and the Bush-run Justice Department did to Gov. Siegelman will be it.

Later!

Locker Room Bulletin Board Material

In my previous post, I made the observation that we seem to have entered into a political version of pro football's silly season, a season marked by a significant quantity of meaningless media-produced fluff.

Another phenomenon of of the silly season is "locker room bulletin board material," a quote from a member of one team that the other team takes offense at and posts on its bulletin board as inspiration.

In the political arena, Randy Pullen, chair of the Arizona Republicans, provided a fine example on Thursday.

Courtesy PolitickerAZ.com -

Arizona Republican Party Chairman Randy Pullen said DNC Chairman Howard Dean was better off screaming wildly into microphones. “If Mr. Dean actually thinks either Senator Obama or Senator Clinton can defeat John McCain in his home state of Arizona, Mr. Dean isn’t just screaming, he’s dreaming.”

{snip}

"...this is possibly the dumbest thing to come out of the DNC since they first defended Senator Clinton’s accusations of a vast right wing conspiracy or tried to cast a favorable light on Senator Obama’s ability to skip vote after vote after vote..."

{snip}

"But if they could, they’d realize they have about as much hope of winning in Arizona in 2008 as a snowman does in Phoenix in August."

Thank you, Mr. Pullen.

I should note here that Mr. Pullen is correct on one thing - Sen. Obama *has* missed many votes since the start of the 110th Congress (January 2007) - 37%.

Of course what he doesn't mention is the fact that number pales in comparison to that of Mr. Pullen's hero, Sen. John McCain.


McCain has missed 56% of Senate votes over the same period.


Later...

Silly Season

Here we are, almost three weeks from the most recent presidential primaries and just over three weeks from the next one, and the MSM is completely and utterly bored.

They no longer have election day video to run or vote totals to analyze, so now they are down to make-work sorts of stories like speculations on possible tickets (Obama/Bloomberg? WTF?!?, McCain/Romney?, Paul/Gravel?, McCain/Rice?), speculations on whether one or another candidate should withdraw from the race (Hillary, latest Rasmussen Reports poll) or speculations on whether one gaffe or another from supporters has irretrievably injured a candidate (Obama/Wright, Clinton/Ferraro, McCain/Hagee, Clinton/Carville).

Note: to be fair, though, I've got to say that the comments by Ferraro and Hagee haven't had the legs that Rev. Wright's have; guess only white people are allowed to be loud-mouthed, bigoted loons.

And if they get tired of the aforementioned sorts of speculations, there is that old reliable - is the extended race for the Democratic nomination hurting the Democratic Party? (Variations on the theme from U.S. News and World Report, Voice of America, The Atlantic, ABC News, Boston Globe, etc.)

Then, of course, there are the filler pieces, like...

Chelsea Clinton getting a little testy when asked an inane question about Monica Lewinsky (like anything else was merited?); or...

...Whether an SNL skit provided incisive political commentary and insight (even SNL occasionally gets one right, doesn't it?)


The most analogous situation that I can think of is that two week period between the end of the NFL's conference playoffs and the Super Bowl, an annual occurrence renowned loads of inanity, smack-talk and fluff, but very little actual substance.

Alas, something tells me that we have three more weeks of the same.

Short Attention Span Musing

...In a brief Scottsdale update, on Tuesday night, the Scottsdale City Council will consider and probably approve the appointment of John Little as the interim City Manager during the search for a replacement for outgoing City Manager Jan Dolan. Mr. Little is a long-time City employee and is currently the head of the City's Downtown Group.

In an unexpected fit of municipal sanity, the tentative plan for the search's timeline calls for the final hiring decision to be made by the new Council after it is seated in January.

...In CD3 news, the latest poll of CD3 voters shows high "Anybody But Shadegg" numbers, with 39% of voters surveyed saying that they'd vote for Shadegg and 38% saying that they'd vote for someone else. The PolitickerAZ piece on the poll is here.

For an incumbent congressman untainted by indictment or misbegotten trips to public restrooms, anything less than a 50% approval rating is astoundingly bad news for Shadegg and heartening news for the Bob Lord campaign.

Something tells me that the Lord campaign appreciates this news even more than the previously announced endorsement by Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon. This news means that some of their hard work is paying off.


...Now on to our regularly scheduled snarkiness... :))

...On Wednesday, U.S. military leaders spoke to President Bush about the strains faced by servicemembers and their families as a result of the Iraq war. (AP via Yahoo! News) He was so concerned for the welfare of America's soldiers, sailors, marines, and their families that he went right out and gave a speech at a print shop in Virginia to pimp his taxpayer-funded bailout plan for the retail sector.

...The Bush Administration's never ending quest to outsource America's national security continues -

From the Washington Times -

The United States has outsourced the manufacturing of its electronic passports to overseas companies — including one in Thailand that was victimized by Chinese espionage — raising concerns that cost savings are being put ahead of national security, an investigation by The Washington Times has found.

The Government Printing Office's decision to export the work has proved lucrative, allowing the agency to book more than $100 million in recent profits by charging the State Department more money for blank passports than it actually costs to make them...

...In another never-ending quest, the Bush Administration moved to protect industry's ability to pollute America as inexpensively as possible.

From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution -

Washington - The Bush administration has appealed a court ruling that the Environmental Protection Agency violated the federal Clean Air Act when it issued less-stringent requirements to reduce mercury releases from power plants. The Justice Department, on behalf of the EPA, asked that the full Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit reconsider the ruling in a lawsuit brought by New Jersey and 16 other states. A three-judge appeals court panel in February struck down the EPA regulation, which allowed for a pollution trading system to reduce mercury emissions from power plants, instead of requiring each plant to install the best available mercury controls.

Ahhh...even though they're lame ducks, the Bushies are still dedicated to their work of ruining the country for generations to come. Gotta admire their conscientiousness.

It *is* admirable, right???? :)

...Later!

Mike Gravel's delegates have a decision to make

Earlier today, former U.S. Senator and 2008 Democratic candidate for President Mike Gravel announced that he is joining the Libertarian Party.

From an email -

The fact is, the Democratic Party today is no longer the party of FDR. It is a party that continues to sustain war, the military-industrial complex and imperialism -- all of which I find anathema to my views.

{snip}

I look forward to advancing my presidential candidacy within the Libertarian Party, which is considerably closer to my values, my foreign policy views and my domestic views.

Of course, the Libertarians do have some questions about those "domestic views".

From a Washington Post article -

"Andrew Davis, a spokesman for the Libertarian Party, said...while the party's membership agrees with his stances against the war in Iraq and the military draft, among other issues, it differs with his stances in favor of universal health care and higher spending on public education."

The title of this post is mildly sarcastic - as most readers know, Gravel doesn't *have* any delegates.

In essence, all he's done today is to go from being a marginal candidate in a major party to being a major candidate in a marginal party. And even there, he's a 'major' candidate in that party only until Ron Paul decides he's not getting enough attention as a Republican and rejoins the Libertarians.

Later!

Sheriff Joe - Genius At Misdirection. Who Knew?

Perhaps knowing that the EV Trib was planning to publish a damning story about him on Sunday, Joe Arpaio spent a good part of Good Friday leading hundreds of his deputies on a highly-publicized immigrant hunt in North Phoenix.

Most people just figured it was just "Joe being Joe," getting in a little fear-mongering and race-baiting for the cameras before celebrating the holiday.

Then Sunday rolled around, and the East Valley Tribune published an expose of one of Arpaio's financial shenanigans meant to reward his political loyalists in the MCSO, and to have the taxpayers pick up the tab.

From the story, written by Dennis Welch -

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is using a loophole in state retirement rules to keep his most loyal deputies on the payroll after they've retired and accepted lucrative pensions and bonuses.

In just the past year, Arpaio has rehired four top-level chiefs into civilian jobs. The four received retirement bonuses that paid them nearly $300,000 to more than $500,000 apiece.

The sheriff says the men were the most qualified for the jobs. But critics say Arpaio, who is running for re-election, is keeping on key people who have helped him in previous campaigns.

The article goes on to detail Arpaio's stunning abuse of a retirement program that allows his deputies to retire as sworn officers, receive their pensions, a large one-time cash payout, *and* come back as highly-paid civilian employees.

You've gotta admire Arpaio's consistency though - he pulled this same stunt years ago for his Chief Deputy (and Chief of Honduran Junketing) David Hendershott.

Guess he figured that if it worked the first time...

An EV Tribune table with the info on four of the biggest current 'double-dippers' is here.

To sum up what it all means:

Saban for Sheriff in 2008.

4000

Bush's War has reached a grim milestone - when four soldiers died in a roadside bombing Sunday night, the official American death toll there passed 4000. (CNN)

As far as America's historical war casualty totals go (WW1 - 116,000; WW2 - 405,000; Vietnam 58,000; source - fas.org), that 4000 doesn't seem like much, but it's a record for wars that we've started, and started under false pretenses.

Perhaps "4000" may not seem like much to the likes of George "What? Me Worry?" Bush and Dick "Americans think the war is a mistake? So?" Cheney, every single one of those more than 4000 deaths was absolutely devastating to the victims, their families, their friends, and their colleagues.

Of course, Bush and Cheney may feel they just have their eyes on the bigger picture -

In 2002, Halliburton's earnings before taxes number was a loss of $228 million;

In 2007, that number was a positive $3.4 billion. (source: Morningstar)


What's 4000 lives weighed against billions of dollars?


On a related note, I wasn't going to do a "Sunday Morning Crappie Award" post this week, but Arizona's junior U.S. Senator, Jon Kyl, has earned at least an honorary award for his blithely shameless support of the president and his policies while questioning Sen. Barack Obama's 'seriousness' and 'wisdom.'

Somebody should clue Kyl in - there hasn't been any wisdom in the White House since January 2001.

And for that blatant double standard - criticizing the qualifications of a Democratic candidate for president while ignoring the fact that the President he so ardently supports is perhaps the most unqualified man to ever sit in the Oval Office, and one that is unqualified for the very reasons that he cites in criticism of the Democratic candidate - Jon Kyl wins an honorary award of this week's Sunday Morning Crappie.*

* - the award is an honorary one because this isn't really a flip-flop by Kyl. He's been Bush's lapdog for years.

Voter Registration Trends - CD5, LD17, and LD8

Tony Cani over at Wactivist has a post about an EV Tribune article on the latest voter registration numbers in AZ. He observes that while many in the D.C. power structure of the Democratic Party are writing off AZ this fall because John McCain (R-Truant) will be at the top of the ballot, the voter reg trends indicate that Arizona will be a battleground state, both for the Presidency and in many of the Congressional races.

From the AZ Secretary of State's latest report on voter reg figures -

CD5 (compared to January 2008)

Democrats 92,595 - up 394 (.43%)
Republicans 136,430 - down 2835 (-2.04%)
Libertarians 2,058 - down 164 (-7.38%)
Independents 88,539 - down 5918 (-6.27%)

Total 318,691 - down 9454 (-2.88%)


LD17

Democrats 25,249 - down 281 (-1.1%)
Republicans 24,478 - down 905 (-3.57%)
Libertarians 650 - down 70 (-9.72%)
Independents 19,868 - down 1955 (-8..96%)

Total 70,245 - down 3211 (-4.37%)


LD8

Democrats 25,555 - up 189 (+ 0.75%)
Republicans 52,654 - down 1016 (-1.89%)
Libertarians 490 - down 42 (-7.89%)
Independents 29,386 - 1849 (-5.92%)

Totals 108,085 - down 2718 (-2.45%)


Brief analysis -

In LD17, the Democrats extended their newfound registration advantage over the Republicans (whooo hooooo!), something that bodes well for LD17's legislators come November, especially if the trend continues. Right now, while the Dems do have a definite advantage, at 36% to 35%, it's still a virtual dead heat.

In LD8, while the Reps still have a more than 2 - 1 registration advantage, the trend is clear - the hard work of the LD8 Democrats is paying off. Since the 2006 election, the Democrats have closed the registration deficit by almost 3000 voters (+2500 Dems, -500 Reps).

That hard work is a major reason why that, since October 2006 in CD5 as a whole, the Republican registration advantage has been cut by almost 8500 voters.

While Congressman Harry Mitchell still has an uphill battle in his re-election fight, that hill is a little less steep, whether or not John McCain is at the top of the ballot in the fall.

Later!

Breaking - Richardson Endorses Obama

From an email to his supporters (apparently, Governor Richardson was as impressed by Senator Obama's speech on race in America as I, and millions of others, was) -

During the last year, I have shared with you my vision and hopes for this nation as we look to repair the damage of the last seven years. And you have shared your support, your ideas and your encouragement to my campaign. We have been through a lot together and that is why I wanted to tell you that, after careful and thoughtful deliberation, I have made a decision to endorse Barack Obama for President.

We are blessed to have two great American leaders and great Democrats running for President. My affection and admiration for Hillary Clinton and President Bill Clinton will never waver. It is time, however, for Democrats to stop fighting amongst ourselves and to prepare for the tough fight we will face against John McCain in the fall. The 1990's were a decade of peace and prosperity because of the competent and enlightened leadership of the Clinton administration, but it is now time for a new generation of leadership to lead America forward. Barack Obama will be a historic and a great President, who can bring us the change we so desperately need by bringing us together as a nation here at home and with our allies abroad.

Earlier this week, Senator Barack Obama gave an historic speech. that addressed the issue of race with the eloquence, sincerity, and optimism we have come to expect of him. He inspired us by reminding us of the awesome potential residing in our own responsibility. He asked us to rise above our racially divided past, and to seize the opportunity to carry forward the work of many patriots of all races, who struggled and died to bring us together.

As a Hispanic, I was particularly touched by his words. I have been troubled by the demonization of immigrants--specifically Hispanics-- by too many in this country. Hate crimes against Hispanics are rising as a direct result and now, in tough economic times, people look for scapegoats and I fear that people will continue to exploit our racial differences--and place blame on others not like them. We all know the real culprit -- the disastrous economic policies of the Bush Administration!

Senator Obama has started a discussion in this country long overdue and rejects the politics of pitting race against race. He understands clearly that only by bringing people together, only by bridging our differences can we all succeed together as Americans.

His words are those of a courageous, thoughtful and inspiring leader, who understands that a house divided against itself cannot stand. And, after nearly eight years of George W. Bush, we desperately need such a leader.

To reverse the disastrous policies of the last seven years, rebuild our economy, address the housing and mortgage crisis, bring our troops home from Iraq and restore America's international standing, we need a President who can bring us together as a nation so we can confront our urgent challenges at home and abroad.

During the past year, I got to know Senator Obama as we campaigned against each other for the Presidency, and I felt a kinship with him because we both grew up between words, in a sense, living both abroad and here in America. In part because of these experiences, Barack and I share a deep sense of our nation's special responsibilities in the world.

So, once again, thank you for all you have done for me and my campaign. I wanted to make sure you understood my reasons for my endorsement of Senator Obama. I know that you, no matter what your choice, will do so with the best interests of this nation, in your heart.

Sincerely,

Bill Richardson

AP coverage of the endorsement here.

CNN coverage here.

Brief Scottsdale Update, including TCE/Arizona American Water

...Congratulations on the group Height and Density (HAD) on gathering over 3000 signatures to force a referendum on the City Council's decision to approve the Hanover Scottsdale project. Assuming that the petition signatures survive the inevitable legal challenge (Hanover's lawyers - Shughart, Thomson and Kilroy in Phoenix), the election will probably be held in September or November.

On a related note, the rather illuminating HAD video of the harassment by thugs contracted to intimidate them was presented at Tuesday's meeting of the City Council by John Washington of COGS; the streaming video of the meeting can be viewed here. The HAD video presentation begins at approximately the 9:30 mark.

Note: The next meeting of COGS will be held on April 10 at 6:30 p.m., 8507 East Highland Avenue (north of Camelback Rd and south of Chaparral Rd--east off Granite Reef. 0

...In what had to be the quietest controversial moment in Council history, they approved the separation agreement with outgoing City Manager Jan Dolan without any discussion or debate. It was slipped into the consent agenda portion of the meeting, and few of the 100 or so people in the City Hall Kiva (and fewer still of those watching the meeting on TV) had any real clue about what they were witnessing.

Given Ms. Dolan's status as a lightning rod for the ire of certain members of the Council, I'm guessing that if Tuesday's public meeting was so peaceful, it was because last Thursday's special executive session of the council was so 'colorful.'

Oh, to be a bloggin' fly on the wall at *that* meeting. :)

...According to David Ellison, acting City Manager, speaking at Wednesday night's session of City Government 101, no timetable as yet been established for the search for and hiring of a new city manager. At this point, it isn't even known if the new manager will be hired before or after the elections in the fall.

Personally, I think that in the interests of fairness to the candidates for the job, the final interviews and selection of the manager should wait until the reconstituted Council is seated in January.

...On the TCE/Arizona American Water front, the council heard a staff presentation on some of the options available to the council to ensure a safe drinking water supply for all Scottsdale residents.

During the presentation and consideration of the matter, Paul Townsley, president of Arizona American Water announced that one well, SRP PCX1 has been permanently disconnected from AAWC's water distibution system. The water in the well is the source of TCE in AAWC's water supply and will continue to be remediated; the treated water will probably be discharged into the Arizona Canal.

He went on to announce that of the three options that staff presented to the Council (do nothing, buy the Scottsdale portion of AAWC's system, or join Paradise Valley in obtaining the entire system), he and AAWC (and AAWC's parent company) support the 'do nothing' option and that AAWC isn't for sale, in whole or in part.

I'm not sure if that stance is real or just a negotiating position, because as Councilman Bob Littlefield pointed out, American Water is preparing for an IPO, so in essence, it will *all* be for sale soon.

Mr. Townsley's presentation started at around the 3 hour, 48 minute part of the video.

In the end, the Council voted to expand the study to gather more detailed information about the actual costs and benefits of acquisition.

Later!

Does this mean that it will take another 30+ years before we call it 'torture'?

From the Navy Times -

VA grants disability to waterboarded Navy vet

The Department of Veterans Affairs has reversed its earlier rulings and granted a rare disability claim by an Alabama veteran who said he suffered long-term emotional problems after being waterboarded at a Navy survival training school in 1975.

A January story with more details, courtesy the Mobile (AL) Press-Register, here.

Events Calendar

Saturday, March 22 - Maricopa Democrat Night With The Phoenix Coyotes

Time - 7:00 p.m.

Location - Jobing.com Arena, 9400 W. Maryland, Glendale.

Join fellow Democrats (and puckheads!) as the Coyotes take on the defending champs from Anaheim, the Mighty Ducks.

To order tickets by the deadline (5:00 p.m. on Friday, March 21) -

1. Click here to order tickets;
2. Call Steve Pomerantz at the Coyotes' Box Office at (623) 772-3287


Thursday, March 27 - Meeting of the Arizona Chapter of the National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC)

Time - 7:00 p.m,

Location - Country Inn and Suites, 108-1 N. 89th Place, Scottsdale.

Scottsdale's Mayor, Mary Manross, will be the featured speaker this month.


Saturday, March 29 - Chili Cook Off with Governor Napolitano, a D17 Dems Fundraiser

Time - 4:00 p.m.

Location - 5901 E. Vernon in Scottsdale

Come celebrate the fact that LD17 now has more Democrats than Republicans at the Chili Cook-Off. Enjoy chili varieties, cornbread, slaw, flan, and fun beverages! Also enjoy the friendly competition as a number of elected officials and activists create culinary masterpieces to help D17 stay blue.

For more information or to reserve a ticket, call 480-730-8457 or charge your ticket online and donate the amount ($25 or $15 for Young Dems): http://d17dems.org/donate.asp


Later!

Arizona's district level delegates

...Edit to add a candidate that I had forgotten. Thanks to commenter Tim for the reminder...

...Edited on 23 March to correct some mistakes I made in the bio of Dritan Zela, a candidate for delegate. My sincerest apologies to Mr. Zela for the errors. No disrespect was intended; I just took poor notes at the meeting.

End edit...

Thanks are due to everyone who ran for a delegate spot, and congratulations to everyone who won -

CD1
Clinton - Jack Jackson Jr., Greg Kaighn, Dawn Knight, Nikki Basque (Alt)
Obama - Christopher Clark-Dechene, Angela LaFevre

CD 2
Clinton - Bree Boehlke, Debra Boehlke, Robert Boehlke, Matthew Miller (Alt)
Obama - Shirley McAllister, Eddie Smith

CD 3
Clinton - Jim Pederson, Lois Pfau, Howard Bell, Lisa White (alt)
Obama - Mark Manoil, Genevieve Vega

CD 4
Clinton - Dana Kennedy, Jose Rivas
Obama - David Gass, Kate Widland

CD 5
Clinton - Angie Crouse (LD17 Vice-Chair - whoooo hoooo!!!), George Paterakis
Obama - Sean Bowie, Donna Gratehouse, Laren Kuby (LD17 Vice-Chair - whoooo hoooo!!!) , Jim Brodie (alt)

CD 6
Clinton - Beverly Fox-Miller, Roman Ulman, Elizabeth Brown (alt)
Obama - John Chiazza, Kit Filbey

CD 7
Clinton - David Martinez, Gail Beeler
Obama - Paul Eckerstrom, Lisa Fernandez

CD 8
Clinton - Chris Campas, Elly Anderson, JoJene Mills, Bruce Heurlin (alt)
Obama - John C. Adams, Patricia Canady


I attended the CD5 Obama caucus where we had a diverse slate of enthusiastic candidates to choose from. The candidates ranged from an Albanian immigrant/Fulbright Scholar in Mathematics (who gave a moving speech on what America, democracy, and Obama means to someone who was born in and lived under one of the world's most repressive regimes - Dritan Zela) to a lifelong Democratic activist ("I campaigned for FDR as a fetus" - Jerry Gettinger).

When the balloting was complete, the winning candidates were people who were both dedicated volunteers for Senator Obama and long-time Democratic activists who were exhilarated over their selections.

Other notes from the caucus -

...Under caucus rules, candidates did not have to be present to win, which is a great ideal. However, future delegate candidates should learn from the results in CD5 - "no show" meant "no votes."

...A number of candidates for office showed up to work the rooms for supporters.

- Joel Sinclaire, candidate for District 2 Maricopa County Supervisor, was there, speaking passionately about the need for fiscal responsibility and accountability on the part of the County and all of its agencies (yes, he was definitely referring to a certain Honduras-junketing sheriff's office and a certain no-bid-contracts-to-favored-outside-law-firms-issuing county attorney's office.) His campaign website is still under construction, but the email works. Contact him at Joel[at]electsinclaire.com if you want to help out.

- Stephanie Rimmer, candidate for LD8 House, also was there. She's a small business owner and longtime community activist who's making a second run in LD8. She's running as a Clean Elections candidate, so she needs $5s and signatures. Her website is here, and she can be contacted at stephanie[at]stephanierimmer.com.

- Ed Hermes, candidate for District 1 Maricopa County Supervisor was present, bringing his energetic campaign to unseat Fulton Brock. He needs help with contributions, both financial (no Clean Elections at the county level yet) and time. Contact him at ed[at]edhermes.com if you want to help.

- LD17 state representatives (and candidates for reelection!) David Schapira and Ed Ableser were also candidates for district level delgates for Obama, but they graciously withdrew because they have the opportunity to gain delegate slots as party leader/elected official (PLEO) delegates. That selection process is upcoming. They're still collecting Clean Elections 5s and signatures.

Later!

Sen. Barack Obama won the nomination Tuesday

Sen. Barack Obama gave a speech Tuesday that did something no other major political figure has ever done.

In the words of The Daily Show's Jon Stewart, he spoke to America on the subject of race, and he spoke to Americans "like they were adults."

I won't attempt to recap the entire speech here. I'm just not that skilled a writer.

After viewing the speech and reading the text (both available here), I was left with many thoughts -

"Wow."

"Wow."

"Wow."

"Wow."

"Wow."

"Wow."

"Wow."

"Wow."


OK, so it was one thought expressed many times. :))

Personally, I think that this speech just sewed up the nomination - every voter in the remaining primaries, as well as every super-delegate, will see the speech and see Barack Obama as the one candidate with both the ability to win election as President and the clarity of vision, emotional depth, and intellectual honesty to actually do some good once he has the job.

To be sure, there are those who will see that but still not vote for Obama, if only because they are totally wedded to insider politics.

Fortunately, they don't constitute a majority of the Democratic Party, or of the country as a whole.


BTW - While watching the speech, I *did* have one or two thoughts besides "wow"...

"Good God, I wish I wrote as well as his speechwriter," followed by "betcha Hillary Clinton wishes her campaign had a speechwriter that good."

Washington Post coverage (columnist Courtland Malloy) here.

To those readers of the Republican persuasion - It should be noted that while Sen. Obama presumably spent Monday polishing his speech, the Republican nominee spent the day polishing up the picks in his NCAA brackets.

Later!