Arizona Politics for Conservatives: Sonoran Alliance
Arizona Politics, News, Commentary and Information with a Blatantly Conservative Worldview Presented by an Alliance of Writers, Activists, Consultants and Government Insiders.
While we were busy sniping at each other about who would lead the state party Mitt Romney was putting together his Arizona team. While it is a little skewed toward Maricopa County (what’s new) it is an impressive group.
If I was supporting the current Republican front-runner I would be more worried about this crew than about a certain district chair or even the state chairman.
Thanks to Espresso Pundit for alerting us to this development.
Finally someone writes a positive story about the future of the Republican Party. Kudos to Len Munsil for talking about a brighter tomorrow.
Wednesday 1-31-07, 7:40 am
What can one say about this photo snatched off the front page of Drudge?
During the AZ CD 8 general election Gabby ran a get tough on the border ad. The ad lives on at You Tube. This weekend the Border Patrol apprehended some more economic refugees (future guest workers) that were here for more than just regular work. We know Gabby has only been on the job for 3 weeks but we are waiting for the specifics of that plan for “tough new border security” that she talked about during the election.
Just in case she forgets about the promise we will be happy to remind her every few months.
Tuesday 1-30-07, 11:00 am
It’s that time again. Sonoran Alliance is now accepting writers to this blog.
Here are the requirements:
1) You must be willing to write/contribute often.
2) You must be a conservative Republican who adores the party platform.
3) You are not allowed to post profane, vulgar or false posts.
4) Any posting must contain reliable and credible third-party source references (No ultra-liberal sources) if necessary.
5) You should be able to compose a coherent, grammatically-correct sentence/paragraph/essay.
If you are interested, please submit your contact info and a sample writing to the website for consideration.
Thank you!
DSW
I know you are thinking; But Pullen won. Randy did not so much win as receive the responsibility of watching over the state party for 2 years, a big task to be sure. He should take a deep breath and pray for the party to come together, we all should. Early reports are that he is working closely with the executive committee and building consensus, a good sign.
Sonoran Alliance would like to congratulate Lisa James on a well-run and hard fought campaign. We hope that Lisa and all of her supporters will stay involved and help move the party forward. We have some city council elections in 2007 but the main focus is getting Republicans elected in 2008.
This was my first state convention. I did not realize how long the speeches went and how brief the voting was. The main attraction was the election for Chairman. Things were going fine for Randy until Trent Franks spoke for Lisa. For a conservative, leaving the auditorium and walking over to vote for Pullen after hearing Trent was like having lead weights around your ankles. It was tough to fill in the arrow for Randy with Trent’s words still fresh in my mind. Also tough was trying to remind others why they had planned on voting for Randy after Munsil and Franks spoke.
When they announced the final vote I was stunned. The party was split down the middle. I hope that some of the dire predictions made before the elections do not come true. I think some people will be surprised at how well Pullen actually does as chairman. We certainly wish him all the best.
The final vote count was:
Chairman
Pullen – 408
James – 404
Treasurer
Lee – 635
Kraus – 166
Members-at-Large (please correct my spelling if in error.)
CD 2
Phil Corbell
Debbie Lesko
(First Name) Rohn-Nelson
CD 3
Rob Haney
Marne Haney
Mark Zemel
CD 4
Milton Wheat
Constantin Querard
Charlotte Reed
CD 5
Chris Dahm
Tom Morrissey
Donna Reagan
CD 6
Web Crockett
Steve Johnson
Leo Mahoney
CD 7
Gene Chewning
Phil Townson
C.R. Waters
CD 8
Cyndi Collins
Randy Graf
Stephanie Johnson
Sunday 1-28-07, 9:15 pm
I do apologize if this post is too reflective. If you need something a little stronger here is some real red meet to read (see Jury Still out on Shadegg, Jan. 28, 2007.)
Framer at Arizona 8th was not a voting delegate to the convention but he wrote a nice piece about what it was like to be there.
I know Hillary Clinton is not running for American Idol but my goodness, this woman cannot sing. But I bet she can sure do the Hustle.
Results are in and the new chairman of the Republican Party of Arizona is Randy Pullen. After one of the most hotly contested races in recent history, Randy Pullen won by only four votes.
I’m guessing our staff of bloggers will have more details to report…
1. Start with the list of endorsements provided by both campaigns. No, not the entire list of everyone who claims to be a supporter, but just the names of people who are also State Committeemen.
2. When a husband and wife are both State Committeemen and only one appears as an endorsement while the other does not, we assume that the spouse WILL vote for the same candidate.
3. Where both candidates claim the endorsement of the same person, we try to contact that person and determine who they are actually supporting.
As of Thursday, January 25th, the vote count stands as follows:
Randy Pullen – 379 of which 1 is questionable
Lisa James – 131 of which 1 is questionable
Unclaimed – 330
Both candidates claim the support of the same 5 people, but Pullen has the signatures of 2 on support cards while a third person tells West Washington that he did not tell Lisa he was supporting her and that he is supporting Pullen. We have resolved one of the remaining two cases who says that she is supporting Pullen. The other one remains unreachable, so we have left their vote on BOTH vote counts.
Privately, Pullen’s campaign is indicating that they now have well in excess of the number of votes needed to win. Some of these votes do not wish to be seen publicly endorsing Pullen because they do not want to upset their Congressman or district leadership, so they have asked not to be listed on Pullen’s website. We do not include those figures because we believe that the most accurate count is of those who will publicly stand with a candidate. Those who do so privately may well be making the same promise to both candidates. Nevertheless, Pullen would need only 40 votes out of the 330 votes still outstanding to win and it is highly likely that he has those commitments already. Furthermore, his already substantial lead would strongly suggest that even if he had no additional votes at this time, he would not have troubling attracting the support of a mere 12%-13% of the remaining voters.
At this time, Eyes on West Washington is calling the race for Randy Pullen.
If Randy does in fact win, then we will have invented “Entrance Polling” and we will be considered very cool. If Randy does not win, then we shall never speak of this again!
Next week, we shall turn our eyes back to West Washington for more news!
Over the last few weeks, Sonoran Alliance has received quite a bit of attention both here in Arizona and across the country. I originally conceived the blog as an opportunity for well-written conservatives in Arizona to report on news and to promote conservative thought and principles in our area of the country. The objective was to provide a forum for those who don’t have the resources to buy time and space in major media outlets. Every Arizona conservative knows that the Arizona Republic and Arizona Daily Star could care less about the conservative perspective let alone provide equal balance. Thus, in February of 2006, Sonoran Alliance arrived in the blogosphere.
In the beginning, there were only 2-3 of us posting as I sought out talented contributors to add more depth to the blog. My vision was to see the blog develop into one rivaling others around the country. Today, about a half dozen contributors write when they have time. While I am most identified and associated with the blog, others have asked to use pseudonyms in order to protect their privacy. Some are and have been very prominent in Republican politics and would prefer to avoid personal, professional and political assaults by being identified. I have respected their privacy and more importantly, given them my word that I would not reveal their identity even if we have a falling out. For me however, my identity is not an issue. After being the Executive Director or Arizona Right to Life for six years, I figured how much more controversial could I get? Yes, I did change my posting name to “DSW” but even the most amateur internet sleuth could figure out who I am.
So in the last two years, I have essentially fallen into the role of a “senior contributor, “senior editor” or whatever fancy or derrogatory name readers want to call me. And because of this, I have taken a lot of heat and barbs. I knew what I was getting into but also knew that my skin was thick and if I couldn’t take it, I should get out of the kitchen (excuse the mixed metaphor). I especially expected this after criticizing Senator McCain, but that is another long story that you can read up on throughout Sonoran Alliance.
My point in exercising a point of personal privlege is to stand in the middle and take a few bullets from both sides as we ready to elect a new chairman. No, I don’t claim to be a wise old elder in the party, but I think I have learned some things watching the comments go back and forth on this blog and I’d like to issue a reality check.
1) While it is a very good thing that conservatives have this means to exercise their First Amendment Right to say whatever they want, their is a price to pay by making irresponsible or volatile postings. I learned this when I got angry with a certain Republican consultant over an endorsement in a certain legislative race. It’s always best (but very challenging) to wait and sit on a posting or comment until after your passion subsides. My request to the readers is to refrain from name-calling and try to stick to the facts.
2) While anyone can find just about anything on the Internet about others, my strong advice is to be careful what you post. It only takes one false or sloppy reference to a third-party source to bring doubt and discredit on the entire blogsite. The individuals who post on Sonoran Alliance at one time have all asked me if they can refer to specific sources. My answer has always been that if it is in the public domain from a credible source, they can use it. News or stories on other website are fine. Official documents with government entities are great. I prefer not to use liberal websites as a source because can we really believe everything liberals say? I will also say that I won’t let this blog turn into a conspiracy theory blog with discussions about the New World Order, aliens or Halliburton. I’ve heard it many times already and I’m pretty sure no one else wants to hear it either.
3) We have an election this Saturday and there are two imperfect but willing and qualified candidates running. The good news for pro-lifers like me is that both candidates have asserted their dedication to the party platform. Neither candidate embraces the pro-abortion anti-family agenda. Each has offered their vision for the party and we’ll all have to face the reality that whoever wins, we are going to have to get along with each other. I noted in an earlier blog that this is really the first time that the AZ GOP Chairman’s race has been taken to the internet. That means a lot more time and information has allowed everyone to throw roses and mud. I hope that when the election is called Saturday afternoon, something good will grow out of it. I have a lot of friends on both sides of this race and my desire is that we walk away from this stronger and better prepared to win city council races this year and state and national elections in 2008.
Does this “can’t we all just get along” tone mean I am compromising on principle or the platform? Absolutely not! There are those of us in the party and who write for this blog that need to play the role of North Star and keep the party true to its course. I believe like others, that this is my purpose in the party. Our party will always need “North Star” Republicans because without them, it will turn into what the Democrats have become – coalitions of liberal special interest groups.
With all that said, I hope I’ve cleared the air to the point we can all go back to our political jousting only doing so in a much more chivalrous manner.
DSW
