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!

LD17 Candidate Healthcare Forum Tonight

...Apologies for the late notice, but I just found out about it myself...

From an email -

District 17 Legislative Forum - Focus will be healthcare and disability related issues.

Date: Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Time: 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Focus: Health Care and Disability Related Issues

Forum Format: The candidates forum will be held from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Please arrive early to meet the candidates between 5:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Location: Pyle Adult Recreation Center (SW Corner of Southern/Rural)

655 East Southern Avenue

Tempe, AZ 85282

(480) 350-5211

Food: Refreshments Served

For information Contact: David Carey at (602) 443-0723.

Senate Candidates:

Meg Burton-Cahill, Democrat

Jesse Hernandez, Republican

Representative Candidates:

Wesley Waddle, Republican

Mark Thompson, Republican

Ed Ableser, Democrat

David Schapira, Democrat

Due to a conflict with my work schedule, I won't be able to attend the forum, but it should be an informative one, and with less than a week to go before the election, an important one.

Definitely well worth a couple of hours out of your week.

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!

Dammit! I wanted to post a pic of the perp walk

...but that will have to wait until after the sentencing phase of the trial...

Ted Stevens (R-AK), the senior Republican in the Senate, today became the latest Rep elected official who has been convicted of crimes committed while in public office.

From CNN.com -

A jury found U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska guilty Monday of all seven counts in his federal corruption trial.

The jury found Stevens guilty of "knowingly and willfully" scheming to conceal on Senate disclosure forms more than $250,000 in home renovations and other gifts from an Alaska-based oil industry contractor.

The senator could be sentenced to anything ranging from probation to 35 years in prison (5 years for each of the 7 counts). Sentencing was put off until early next year by the judge in the case.

Personally, I don't expect Stevens to ever see the inside of a prison cell. He's 84 and the inevitable appeals of the verdict will take most of the few years he has left. In addition, he was convicted of non-violent crimes and has no prior record.

The only pertinent question left is - will Stevens lose to Mark Begich next week, will he resign from office regardless of the outcome of the election, or will the Senate expel him for his crimes?

The early line on those three possibilities? "Very possible" (the latest poll numbers are a statistical dead heat), "snowball's chance in Phoenix" (Stevens doesn't think that taking a gift and lying about it is wrong), and "your guess is as good as mine" (it depends on how pissed off the surviving Rep senators are and if they want to take out their frustrations on Stevens).

My guess is that the leaders of both parties in the Senate want Begich to defeat Stevens. That would be less embarrassing than having to kick one of their own out of the most exclusive club in America.

Silver lining note (for Alaskans, anyway :) ) - The felony conviction means that Stevens won't be able to pose for the de rigeur election day photo of the candidate casting his ballot for himself. :))

Later!

FoxNews.com disses Harry Mitchell's challenger

Well, at least they got Harry Mitchell's name right...

On the heels of a telephone poll last week where I had to help the caller pronounce Schweikert's name correctly comes this gem from FoxNews.com (emphasis mine) -

AZ 5: Harry Mitchell (D) is just too popular with his district to be replaced by is [sic] Republican opponent David Schleicher...

In the face of the McCain campaign's meltdown, Schweikert and the other R candidates for Congress just aren't gettting much love...not that I'm complaining. :)

But to not even get his name right???

Anyway, another indicator of Fox News' journalistic standards soon followed. From the same AZ CD5 blurb (again, emphasis mine) -

... But Mitchell is still a political novice and could misstep...

Ummm...Harry Mitchell isn't even a novice when compared to John McCain, and McCain is older than Methuselah

A brief refresher course for Fox News -

Eight years on the Tempe City Council.

16 years as Mayor of Tempe.

Eight years in the AZ State Senate.

Two years in Congress.

28 years teaching high school in Tempe.

A freakin' 30-something foot statues of him in the middle of Tempe.

"Political novice"???

They wish...

Later!

Impressive Democratic registration gains

Another one of those boring 'numbers' posts, but since I like the numbers in question... :))

All numbers taken from the Arizona Secretary of State's October 2006 and October 2008 voter registration reports.

Across the state, the Democratic Party has shown significant gains in voter registration, frequently outpacing any Republican gains by a margin of four or five to one in some districts. (PoliickerAZ coverage here)

In the Scottsdale/Tempe/Mesa area, the gains were both consistent and pronounced -

CD5 - 108,300 Democrats, 146,691 Republicans

In two years, CD5 Democrats gained almost 14,000 registrations, taking the gap from over 52K to just over 38K.

That gain, as well as an increase of nearly 17K Independent voters in CD5 is definitely positive news for centrist incumbent Harry Mitchell.


LD17 - 30,096 Democrats, 26,433 Republicans

In two years, LD17 Democrats turned a registration shortfall of 970 into an advantage of over 3600.

Definitely good news for State Sen. Meg Burton-Cahill and State Reps. David Schapira and Ed Ableser.


LD8 - 29,161 Democrats, 56,474 Republicans

In two years, LD8 Democrats gained over 2300 voters on the Republicans in the district; in addition, there are more than 5400 more independent voters in the district. While Stephanie Rimmer still faces an uphill battle in her quest for an LD8 House seat, that seat is well within the realm of reachable.


LD18 - 17,780 Democrats, 26,558 Republicans

In two years, the Democrats in LD18 have gained almost 2900 registrations on the Reps. Combine that with the fact that the LD18 Republicans were almost total slackers in registering new voters (they gained 813, or 3.1%, the Reps in the other area districts gained more than 5% each), and Tammie Pursley and Judah Nativio are in prime position to make LD18 purple, if not blue.

Of course, the brutal Rep primary between Russell Pearce (R-National Alliance) and Kevin Gibbons (R-Jeff Flake's brother-in-law) and the resultant divisions among the Rep faithful in the district doesn't hurt their chances, either.

All in all, some very encouraging numbers for the Democrats in the area (though LD8 will still be a tough nut to crack).

However, with John McCain at the top of the Rep ticket, Democrats will still need every available vote.

As such, there are precincts to walk in, doors to knock on, and phone calls to place.

Later!

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!

Maybe Sarah Palin should have attended Harry Mitchell's Government class

She certainly is talking as if some rather significant part (especially significant for an elected official) of her education is lacking...

Yesterday, Republican VP nominee Sarah Palin once again told a questioner (this time a third-grader) that the job of the Vice-President of the United States is to "run the Senate."

For the edification of Governor Palin (and her handlers, who obviously don't know enough about the Constitution to correct her past misstatements on the topic), the germane sections of the Constitution -

Article 1, Section 3 - "The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided."

The 25th Amendment -

"Section 1. In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President. "

"Section 3. Whenever the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting President. "

"Section 4. Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President. "

Even the U.S. Senate, the organization that Governor Palin firmly believes she would run if she is elected as VP, refers to the office of the Vice President as the "least understood, most ridiculed, and most often ignored constitutional office in the federal government."

The Senate's summary of the position - "Now, the vice president is usually seen as an integral part of a president's administration and presides over the Senate only on ceremonial occasions or when a tie-breaking vote may be needed."

If somebody was enough of a wiseass, they'd mail a copy of the Constitution to the McCain campaign with the relevant sections highlighted for Governor McCain to study.

John McCain 2008, P.O. Box 16118, Arlington, VA 22215

Of course, in a show of bipartisanship, Congressman Mitchell could draw upon his teaching experience and put together a lesson plan for Governor Palin.

I'm sure she'll have plenty of time to study it during the long Alaskan winter after the election. :)

Later!

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.

An "anti-American" part of America, in our midst...

Apparently, my precinct in Scottsdale, Grace, is one of the parts of the country that Sarah Palin, John McCain, and their surrogates (Michele Bachmann, that's you!) consider to be an anti-American part of the country.

In 2000, Al Gore won a plurality of votes over George W. Bush, 473 - 425.

In 2004, John Kerry beat Bush, 575 - 573.

In 2006, Democrat Harry Mitchell beat Republican JD Hayworth for the CD5 seat in Congress, 364 - 296.

In 2008, registered Democrats now outnumber registered Republicans 489 - 470.

There are working people, families, retirees, students, black people, white people, Asians, Hispanics (mostly, but not totally, of Mexican descent), Democrats, Republicans, Independents, non-voters, well-off people, financially struggling folks, Obama supporters (lots of them! :)) ), McCain supporters, taxpayers, charity supporters, baseball fans, football fans, soccer moms, baby boomers, Gen X'ers, Gen Y'ers, ASU alums, Big 10 fans (lots of Ohio State fans), religious folks, non-religious folks...

In other words, all sorts of folks live here, but because we haven't blindly supported the extremist ideology that the McCain/Palin campaign espouses, they call us an "anti-America" part of America.

Wonder what they'll call us if I tell them to kiss my Democratic tuchus?

The Arizona State Republican Party - putting the "fun" in dysfunctional...

It's been fun to watch the AZ GOP implode this cycle. The latest example of this was the AZ GOP's attempt to launder some illegal campaign contributions/expenditures through to the Joe Arpaio and Andrew Thomas races in Maricopa County. (Donna over at Democratic Diva has done a tremendous job covering this topic here, here, here and here.)

AZCentral.com's Political Insider has coverage here.

Other folks have written at length on this, but I haven't really seen an explanation of "why"? What was the motivation to cut corners here?

The AZ GOP is all but broke (or will be if they do as they've said they will and return the money) and unable to do much to help their legislative and statewide candidates, so why take this kind of heat and humiliation for a couple of well-funded incumbents?

I mean, according to their most recent campaign finance reports for the period ending September 22, Joe Arpaio has over $390K cash on hand and Andrew Thomas has nearly $200K (compared to $46K and $162K for Dan Saban and Tim Nelson, their respective challengers.)

Why is the state GOP throwing state candidates under the bus in favor of a couple of county-level candidates? Flush-with-funds county candidates who have large taxpayer-funded staffs to draw upon to work for their campaigns (i.e. - the contact for the shadow group behind the embarrassing contributions is Joel Fox, a captain with the MCSO for Arpaio)?

Something tells me that the AZ GOP's reorganizational meeting after the election will be a contentious one, especially if current state pooh-bah chair Randy Pullen stands for re-election.

His election to the state chair's position in 2007 was a close call, and many people were worried about the impact that an extremist state party leader would have in a state that's growing ever more moderate.

Looks like those worries were well-founded.

Later...

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...