Senate Dems wimp out

From WashingtonPost.com -

Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) easily won a vote to remain chairman of a key committee today and will stay in the Democratic caucus despite his high-profile criticism of President-elect Barack Obama and his support of Sen. John McCain during the presidential campaign.

So, let's see what the Democratic caucus welcomed back -

A man who lost a Democratic Party primary in 2006, dropped out of the Democratic Party to run as an independent, but won reelection that year with overwhelming support from Connecticut's Republicans;

A man who spent the last two years officially caucusing with the Democrats in the Senate but actually spent much of his time supporting Republican positions, especially on the war in Iraq;

A man who endorsed and campaigned for Republican John McCain, even journeying to the Republican convention to speak on McCain's behalf.

So, Lieberman must've pledged his undying loyalty or something like that, right?

From the article (emphasis mine) -

Asked whether Lieberman had pledged to show party loyalty going forward, [Ben] Nelson [D-Nebraska] said, "In effect he did, yes."

For those of you who don't understand "politico speech", let me translate.

"In effect he did" means "No, not even close."

Bottom line: if the Senate Dems want to give a committee chair to a non-Democrat, Bernie Sanders of Vermont would be a much better option. While he is officially an independent, he's a much better Democrat that most of the rest of the Dem caucus.

Short Attention Span Musing - Election Hangover Edition

Some stuff that's gotten a little lost in all of the hoopla surrounding the impending change in tenants at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue...

...Russell Pearce (R-Nativist) is showing that with his move to the State Senate, he isn't a one-trick pony any more.

He doesn't reserve his hatred exclusively to brown people any more - he hates education now, as illustrated by his desire to balance the state's budget on the backs of students.

From the EV Tribune on November 13 -

Lawmakers are eyeing an extra $56.7 million collected in tuition by the three public universities, possibly to directly or indirectly help balance the state budget.

Members of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee refused Thursday to grant a favorable review to the plan by the Board of Regents to spend the funds. Rep. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, said the state's larger-than-expected deficit makes it necessary for legislators to use any revenue for the most critical needs.

So the strident anti-taxer Pearce wants to take money that students have paid that they thought was going to fund their educations, and use it to pay for the state's budget deficit? Make up the shortfall caused by his party's tax cuts for corporations by indirectly taxing education itself?

In an editorial published on November 15, the Arizona Daily Star eloquently pointed out the foolishness of Pearce's (and the Republicans') position on the matter -

We understand the financial straits facing the state. But taking students' money from universities demonstrates the backward tendencies of lawmakers who refuse to accept that Arizona can't grow economically by starving its public educational system.

If I was writing the editorial, I'd have been blunter.

"Electing Republicans to run government is like hiring Jack Kevorkian as your family doctor."


...The Al Franken/Norm Coleman Senate race in Minnesota, with its 206-vote margin (currently favoring the incumbent Republican Coleman) is heading to a recount later this week, pending the various lawsuits and countersuits.

... The Mark Begich/Ted Stevens Senate race in Alaska is turning more and more in Democratic challenger Begich's favor, with the current tally showing him ahead of Stevens by more than 1000 votes.

The only bad thing about the possible defeat of convicted felon Stevens by Begich? We miss getting to watch the Senate expel Stevens from its ranks for being, well, a convicted felon.

...Scottsdale's Mayoral election is still close, but challenger Jim Lane is still leading incumbent Mary Manross by 551 votes (49891 to 49340) and looks to be in position to ascend to the Mayor's office in January.

...In other AZ election news, it's looking more and more likely that Republican Bob Stump will hold off Democrat Sam George for a seat on the Arizona Corporation Commission, opening up a lead of 1937 votes as of the close of business at the AZ Secretary of State's office today. Democrats Sandra Kennedy and Paul Newman look to have safely secured the other two contested spots on the ACC.

...In LD20, Democrat Rae Waters has a 593-vote lead over Jeff Dial for the district's second seat in the AZ House; Republican John McComish has a secure grip on the other seat from LD20. Barring a major reversal from whatever ballots remain to be counted, this one should go to Waters.

Note: According to the AZ Rep's Political Insider, approximately 55,000 ballots remain to be counted in Maricopa County.

Later!

Light posting forecasted for another few days...

Apologies for the slowdown in post frequency, but between election/GOTV activities last week, burnout, and work, I just haven't had the time, energy, or words available.

One lesson learned during the past week - if you're going to head north to get away from the Valley for a few hours, don't dress like you're in the Valley. You know, shorts and a light long-sleeved shirt.

Went to Prescott Sunday. Got slushed on. (aka - freezing rain, though it could have been sleet. I've been living here for so long, I've forgotten the difference. I don't think it was hail though - that tends to hurt when it bounces off of you.)

It was cold. It was wet. It was fun. :))

Otherwise, expect continued light posting, with occasional drizzling sarcasm in the evenings.

Be warned though, the idiot Congressman from Georgia who equated Barack Obama to Adolph Hitler may inspire a post this evening. One with a downpour of sarcasm, not just a little drizzle.

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!

In Politics As In Golf...

Over the last few weeks, there has been a lot of talk in the media about Obama "playing on offense" and McCain "playing on defense" in red states (aka - states that George Bush won in 2004), the "ground game" (Obama's campaign organizations in various states) and "Hail Mary" passes (McCain's selection of Sarah Palin as his VP running mate).

In short, politics was discussed in football metaphors.

While there is more than a little accuracy to those metaphors, in many ways, politics is more closely analogous to golf than to football.

It's been said that golf is really two games in one, and the two games require players to have two distinctly different skill sets in order to excel at them.

The long game, mostly driving off of tees, requires a lot of power but not necessarily a lot of accuracy, It generates the most "oohs" and "ahhs" from the crowds at tournaments and column inches from sportswriters, but doesn't necessarily mean much in the final standings.

The short game, mostly putting on a relatively flat and nearly pristine surface, requires patience, a deft touch, and pinpoint control. A good putting game doesn't generate the same awe that prodigious drives do, but made putts more frequently results in solid paydays.

This phenomenon is summed up by the golf cliche "Drive for show, putt for dough."


In elective politics, the area of campaigning for office is most similar to driving in golf - like spectacular drives, incisive press releases and position papers can generate media buzz, and impassioned speeches can bring out huge crowds, but even the best drives just put the player in position to putt.

And in elective politics, actually governing is most like putting - it calls for a deft touch and pinpoint control, but it doesn't generate the excitement and public interest that campaigning receives. However, in most ways that count for anything, it is far more important to the public;s interests than campaigning.


We know that Senator, now President-elect, Barack Obama, can win over crowds of tens of thousands (and 65 million voters) with his intelligent, well thought out positions and his inspirational speeches.

Over the next four years, we will find out if he plays politics like Robert Garrigus plays golf - spectacular off the tee (2nd in driving distance), atrocious around the green (125th in putting). leading to hard times - only 141st in winning$) or if his performance will be more like Padraig Harrington (32nd in driving, 5th in putting, and 8th in money winnings).

Over the next four years, we will find out if Barack Obama can putt as well as he can drive.


NB - I wanted to cite Tiger Woods in this analogy as someone who performs outstandingly well in both aspects of his profession, but his injury-shortened season put a stop to that notion. Paddy Harrington serves quite well though.

NB2 - The selection of Rahm Emanuel as Chief of Staff is a solid15-foot putt for birdie - he knows the Hill and can wrangle votes/kick asses in Congress, and anything that moves him farther away from the Democratic Party's grassroots is a good thing. We dislike him almost as much as we like Governor Howard Dean.

Later!

We're waiting for you, Jack.

From PolitickerAZ -

Harper first to file for 2010
By Wally Edge

State Senator Jack Harper (LD-4) is the first candidate to form an exploratory campaign for 2010. Inside Edge has learned Harper has formed a committee to look at running for Secretary of State.

Current Secretary of State Jan Brewer is finishing her second term and is expected to run for Governor in 2010.

Ummm...if it looks like the hyper-partisan Jack Harper will end up as the Rep nominee for Secretary of State, Democrats from all over the state will jump at the chance to face him and kick his ass.

As one interested bystander observed upon hearing the news, "Harper is just a nail begging to be whacked. A lot."

Moves like his bill last session to open up Democratic primaries to Republican voters or his Senate rule-skirting bullying tactics last session or his contempuous demeanor toward people testifying before his committee's hearings or...well, all that can be saved for the campaign.

One person who might like the move (besides Harper himself) - the current AZSOS.

Harper is one of the few people who can make Jan "sure I'm the chair of Bush reelection campaign in AZ, but you can still trust me to count the votes fairly. Really. [wink]" Brewer look unbiased and professional.

Which is a perception that she will need when she campaigns for governor in two years.

BTW -the "exploratory" committee concept needs to have a time limit on it, perhaps 120 or 150 days. Fourteen months? Waayyyy too long for a legitimate exploration of a run for a particular office.

Right now, all "exploratory" means is "I don't want to resign from my current office."

East Valley Election Results

Well, East Valley, with some statewide and county races included...

Most results still unofficial, but most are still clear. All results courtesy the websites of the AZ Secretary of State, Maricopa County Recorder, and the Scottsdale City Clerk.


In CD5, incumbent Democratic Congressman Harry Mitchell is returning to D.C. with a comfortable margin of victory. With 245 of 248 precincts reporting, Mitchell leads David Schweikert 118,849 to 97,569.

In CD3, Democratic challenger Bob Lord fell short of defeating incumbent Republican John Shadegg (R-Club for Growth), receiving 92,614 votes to Shadegg's 117,439.

While Lord was able to significantly cut into a daunting Republican registration advantage, much like Mitchell did in CD5. However, unlike Mitchell, he's not, well, Harry Mitchell.

In the race for Corporation Commission, Democrats Sandra Kennedy and Paul Newman and Sam George are leading the race with 2219 of 2239 polls reporting. This one is close enough that one of them, Sam George, could be overtaken by Republican Bob Stump as provisional and early ballots are counted and added to the tallies.

In LD8, Republicans Michele Reagan and John Kavanagh were easily returned to the lege over Democratic challenger Stephanie Rimmer, 43,385 and 39,865 votes to 30,189, respectively. State Senator Carolyn Allen was unopposed for reelection.

In LD17, incumbent Democratic State Senator Meg Burton Cahill easily won reelection over Republican Jesse Hernandez, 28,510 to 18,106 while Democratic State Representatives Ed Ableser and David Schapira defeated Republican challengers Mark Thompson and Wes Waddle, with 24,242, 26,469, 19,081, and 15,030 votes respectively.

In LD18, Republican Russell Pearce (R-Nativist) handily won his race for the State Senate over Democrat Judah Nativio 19,510 to 15,250 (100% of precincts reporting) and Republicans Cecil Ash and Steve Court defeated Democrat Tammie Pursley and Independent Joe Brown.

It seems that the residents of west Mesa have to look forward to another two years of not having people in the lege who are there to represent *them*, not an extremist ideology.

In LD20, in a bit of an upset, Democrat Rae Waters will probably be joining Republican John McComish in the Arizona House of Representatives - she's got a small lead over Republican Jeff Dial. On the Senate side, sign-slashing and elderly-woman pushing incumbent Republican John Huppenthal defeated Democratic challenger Ted Maish.

In LD21, Republicans Warde Nichols and Steve Yarbrough stood off the challenge of Democrat Phil Hettmansperger, 45,757 and 37,403 votes to 36,232. Republican State Senator Jay Tibshraeny was unchallenged for reelection.

In LD22, Republicans Andy Biggs and Lauren Hendrix defeated Democrat Glenn Ray, with 48,157, 46,132, and 35,211 votes, respectively. On the senate side, Republican Thayer Verschoor was unchallenged for reelection.


In Maricopa County races...

In the four contested County Supervisor races, all four Republican incumbents were returned to office easily, with none of the Democratic challengers surpassing 46% of the vote inteir race.

Republican County Attorney Andrew Thomas defeated Democratic challenger Tim Nelson 514,820 votes to 440,197.

Republican Sheriff Joe Arpaio defeated Democrat Dan Saban 588,550 votes to 444,551.

Guess this means another four years of invaded libraries, shackled journalists, and unbridled corruption.

In the race for the Maricopa County Special Healthcare District, 3 out of the 5 candidates that were endorsed by the Maricopa County GOP lost, including District 3's Colette Rosati, who was spanked by Sue Gerard 85,369 votes to 43,909.


In the races for Scottsdale Mayor and City Council...

The race for Mayor is tight, but challenger Jim Lane has a nearly-800 vote lead over incumbent Mary Manross, 41,255 votes to 40,663. As for the City Council, it appears that incumbent Ron McCullagh will be returned to the council with newcomers Lisa Borowsky and Suzanne Klapp joining him. Incumbent Betty Drake is in fourth place, less than 900 votes behind Klapp.

Both the Mayoral and Council races could change slightly as the final mail-in and provisional ballot totals come in, but it appears that the face of Scottsdale's municipal government has changed.

However, there will still be a huge number of issues decided by a 4-3 margin.

(Wayne Ecton, Klapp and McCullagh on one side, with Lane, Tony Nelssen, and Bob Littlefield on the other. Lisa Borowsky will be the wild card. Expectations seem to be that she will mostly side with the Chamber of Commerce crowd, Ecton, Klapp, and McCullagh. We'll find out for sure starting in January.)

As for the ballot propositions, Prop 100 (barring a sales tax on real estate transfers) passed by a more than 3-to-1 margin; Prop 101 (Health Care Choice, aka 'banning all public health insurance plans') looks to be going down to defeat by a margin of approximately 2000 votes; Prop 102 (constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages) passed by nearly 240,000 votes; Prop 105 (Majority Rules, aka "not voting counts as a 'No' vote) was easily defeated by a nearly 2-1 margin; Prop 200 (Payday Loan reform, aka 'permanent legalization of loan sharking'), was defeated by 400,000 votes; Prop 201 (Homeowners' Bill of Rights) went down to defeat by a more than 3-1 margin; Prop 202 (Stop Illegal Hiring, aka 'Protect Big Business' ability to depress wages and hire cheap labor') was defeated soundly (400K+ votes); and Prop 300 (legislative pay raises from the current salary of $24K to $30K) was also soundly defeated.

More later!

Quick update from Tempe

Things are looking good for Congressman Harry Mitchell, State Senator Meg Burton-Cahill, and State Representatives Ed Ableser and David Schapira.

Unfortunately, the Maricopa County races are going totally Republican, with Arpaio, Thomas, and their entire slate of supes appearing to be well on their ways to victory.

...Big cheer as Virginia is called for Obama...


9:01 p.m....Senator Obama wins the Presidency!

It's Election Day...

Time to Get Off Your Ass And Vote...

Madelyn Payne Dunham passes away

In a sad final note to the most historic presidential campaign ever, Senator Barack Obama's grandmother, Madelyn Payne Dunham passed away Sunday evening.

She was responsible for most of the Democratic presidential candidate's upbringing, and Sen. Obama credits her with instilling the work ethic and values that have helped propel him to the verge of the presidency.

From the AP story -

Obama announced the news from the campaign trail in Charlotte, N.C. The joint statement with his sister Maya Soetoro-Ng said Dunham died late Sunday night at her Honolulu apartment after a battle with cancer.

"She's gone home," Obama said as tens of thousands of rowdy supporters at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte grew silent in an evening drizzle.

"And she died peacefully in her sleep with my sister at her side. And so there is great joy as well as tears. I'm not going to talk about it too long because it is hard for me to talk about."

My condolences go out to Sen. Obama and his entire family. While tomorrow may otherwise be one of great joy and spectacular achievement for him, it will do little to assuage the heartache of their loss.


(pic courtesy USA Today)













.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

...And to the wing nuts who cried about some sort of conspiracy when Senator Obama took a break from his campaign to visit the woman who so inspired him when she was ailing (documented at HuffingtonPost here) -


Bite me.


(Hey - Senator Obama and his family have to be tactful, civil, and restrained. Me? Not so much.)

Barack Obama and his sister Maya Soetoro-Ng have asked that people make donations to a search for a cure for cancer in lieu of flowers (CNN) If any of the wingers have even a shred of conscience, they'll make just such a donation.

I'm not going to hold my breath on that one.

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...

One day...

From the Tempe coordinated campaign office...

Higher priorities

Posting will be light until Tuesday night after the polls close.

No hypocrite I, so I will be involved with the GOTV efforts that I've urged everyone to help with. (Just read that sentence. I think an after-election grammar refresher is in order. :) )

If all goes according to plan, posting will pick up from the election night parties of Harry Mitchell (Fiesta Inn in Tempe) and the Arizona Democratic Party (Wyndham Phoenix).


Later!

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!