Wed 5 Nov 2008
A Governor for Secretary, A Secretary for Governor
Posted by Candie Dates under Campaigns & Elections[13] Comments
Rumors are abounding that Governor Napolitano will be heading to Washington DC to head up a cabinet post for the Obama Administration. Of course, the Governor is keeping it pretty close as she usually does. Any time within the next few weeks we could expect to hear her call a press conference to make some big announcement. We first speculated that Governor “51-Foot Ladder” Napolitano would be heading up the Department of Homeland Security but given her experience as a District Attorney and Attorney General, she may even be pulled for THE Attorney General.
The good news is that we will finally rid the State of Arizona of her mismanagement and political chicanery. Unfortunately her replacement and the Legislature will have to clean up her mess she made with the State budget.
There’s also the speculation that Governor Napolitano is also eyeing Arizona’s US Senate seat in 2010. Another blog called For Which It Stands has even started a “Draft Janet” movement to get the campaign started. (Strangely enough the writer of that post uses the pseudonym “Publius” which just so happens to be the same name used by one of our writers. Coincidence?)
Despite the rumors, Janet is keeping pretty quiet and denies she will be leaving any time soon.
Nevertheless, we would tend to wager that the Governor would jump in a heartbeat at the opportunity to serve in an Obama Administration. She may even be eyeing an appointment to the High Court years from now.
Bailing on the Governor’s post would obviously turn the State of Arizona over to the Republicans and Secretary of State Jan Brewer for two more years but Democrat operatives aren’t really worrying about a Brewer Administration especially with Terry Goddard waiting in the wings to run for Governor. Democrats believe that the temperamentally-challenged Brewer is entirely vulnerable and with a half-dozen Republicans ready to jump into the Primary and beat each other up, Democrats believe that they would return the 9th floor to the Democrats.
November 6th, 2008 at 6:27 am
Not only do I not want Janet to leave, for the reasons you state, but I think she’d be a fool to do so.
She has been mentioned for Attorney General. Some aspire to that position and retire, Janet is young. I can’t think of a modern Attorney General that went on to do anything real in politics afterward. Bobby Kennedy may be the last.
As for Homeland Security. That is a career killer too and is even less profile a position. Chertoff is on the speech circuit…Ridge…not sure what he is doing.
She should finish her term and start campaigning for McCains seat…the battle royale vs. Flake or Shaddegg.
November 6th, 2008 at 7:48 am
I don’t think that 2010 will be so easy for Dems to win the race for Governor.
But you did say something that scares me to death! An Associate Justice Napolitano of the United States Supreme Court is one of the worst things I could possibly imagine.
It would leave us with the extreme gay agenda having one of their own on the Supreme Court, that would have to be something that Republicans must be willing to fight.
But overall, I am very optimistic about getting good legislation passed in Arizona that Napolitano has vetoed, like a 24 hour waiting period on abortions.
November 6th, 2008 at 8:32 am
She has not been a judge, so no chance of going directly to the SCOTUS. Perhaps a circuit appointment, but again, she’s never been a judge. Both of those require Senate confirmation.
She’s an administrator and bureaucrat, not a robe.
November 6th, 2008 at 8:42 am
Hey, thanks for the shout out!
November 6th, 2008 at 10:01 am
Just some food for thought, Ted Olsen was awarded with Solicitor General for the US after he argued the Bush v. Gore case and won it for Bush. The Solicitor’s job is to represent the US in cases that make it to the Supreme Court. It’s a possibility for the pink gorilla (but I’m not sure if the gorilla is a member of the Supreme Court bar or if she’s argued cases before SCOTUS), but I’m going to agree with kral on this one: Solicitor would be too low a post for her. I think she’s got her sights on higher office, like Senate. She may well turn down Obama posts so that she could run for Senate against McLame. Remeber, McLame has NOT indicated that he’ll step down, nor, IMHO, will he. He’s too in love with power to retire. He’ll die in office. the next senate match-up may well be McLame vs. the gorilla.
November 6th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
Well seeing as McCain beat the bananas out of … hey wait a minute, I was going to say “her gorilla” but that’s starting to sound weird. Anyway, McCain won the state against Obama, so I don’t think she’d be smart to go for a virtual rematch.
Once you’ve been a Governor who can snap fingers twice a day and have the media fawning all over, it’s probably tough to go downstream to a job no one cares about. She’s going to swap seats with someone like Mary Peters? I don’t think she could say the federal oath of office again with a straight face.
November 6th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
Wooden,
I think you’ve made cogent points. However, I want to point out that McLame only won AZ by 54-45 vs. NObama (my wife has taken to calling him OCrapa). I bet Janet has won the state by wider margins (I don’t have historical data in front of me). If Janet has gotten higher vote totals than McLame has (and I’d be willing to bet she has), challenging McLame may be viable, ESPECIALLY if the Republican party continues to be ruled by lackluster and failed moderates/RINOs/neo-cons.
November 6th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
Actually, the party lately has been run by failed conservatives like Salmon and Pullen. Conservatives will be successful when we figure out It’s not all about faith and policy. Gotta have money and talent as well. And good looks never hurt.
November 6th, 2008 at 2:54 pm
Do you all really think McCain’s going to run again in 2010? I don’t. Especially with the Palin-ization of the party that will begin starting next year.
November 6th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
If money was all it took, the Dems would have a majority on both sides now.
No, what you need is a grassroots that believes the candidates they’re voting for are actually what they say they are. Note how all of the Republicans that stressed the fact that they were conservative are now sitting pretty in the legislature, while all the liberal Dems, with their short ton of money behind them, claiming all the while to be “moderate”, are looking for work. As are the so-called “moderate” Republicans, which quite a number of voters reffered to as “Democrat lite”, “confused Democrats”, etc.
Veritas Vos Liberabit
Oh yes, the GOP needs a change of direction alright. It needs to collectively remember what it means to be a Republican, and everyone who calls themself one needs to start acting accordingly.
November 6th, 2008 at 6:32 pm
Veritas Vos Liberabit:
Leadership that understands Big Tent versus Big Talk.
You take a job in the party, even without pay, that means you keep your trash talking garbage at home.
Here are a couple more for the readers to decide who it applies to but I know who/what I’m thinking of:
The bully in the room usually is the biggest coward.
You don’t drill your well downhill from the outhouse.
November 10th, 2008 at 7:34 pm
I find it unusual that we have such a high regard for this governor. Her usefulness to the Chicago machine now running the executive branch is minimal. She brings them little or nothing and they are smart enough to know it. There’s a long line of Democrats with far more equity and ability than Janet. Maybe a third string ambassadorship or asst secretary at HUD. That’s about her correct pay grade. Plan on having her on the ballot in 2010 folks.
EF
November 11th, 2008 at 8:11 am
heard from a very strong source that Nelson Diaz is up for Secretary of HUD. He was HUD’s General Counsel under President Clinton and knows the terrain. What’s more, the Brookings Institute is publishing a book on Housing and it cites the Diaz Opinion as the cause for the success of the HOPE IV (hope 6) program. Judge Diaz’s opinion allowed leveraging of public and private financing and partnerships with private sector by the Public Housing Authorities that was never done before. He’d be a great choice.