FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 15, 2010
The Honorable Juan Zarate, Deputy Assistant to the President for Counter Terrorism for George W. Bush, has endorsed Rich Davis for the Arizona State Senate. Zarate said in a prepared statement, “I got to know and work with Rich Davis during his time at The White House when he served as the Director of Terrorism Prevention on the Homeland Security Council. In Rich Davis, the people of Arizona and the country have a recognized and committed leader on our most important national and homeland security issues. Rich understands the threats we face as a country – at our borders and beyond – and will do everything he can to keep Arizona and the country safe.”
In response to the endorsement, Rich Davis said “It is an honor to have the support of our former chief of counter terrorism who so ably led our country to many safe years. The endorsement has significant meaning to me and I am grateful to Juan for his friendship and support.”
Border security remains a critical issue in Arizona and Davis’ expertise on the topic would be a tremendous asset to the State Legislature. It is one of the reasons Davis has also been endorsed by Sheriff Joe Arpaio and State Senator Russell Pearce.
To learn more about Rich Davis and his campaign, please visit www.richdavisforarizona.com.
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We shouldn’t have to wait too long for the Driggs supporters to appear here and attack this in one of their usual two ways. First, they claim that Davis is exaggerating his work because if he did it, then why isn’t anyone from DC supporting his campaign? Then, after someone from DC supports him, they’ll attack him for being a DC insider. I get the feeling no matter what he says, they’re going to attack him. So sit back and grab some popcorn, its almost time for the show.
p.s. Zarate is a real-life stud, so it will be interesting to see if and how they choose to attack him.
No need to “attack” Davis on anything, just point out the facts:
He filed for a tax exemption this year that can only be granted to residents of Washington DC.
He misused a photograph of Gen. Petraeus (a real-life stud) several times in his campaign literature, implying that he was being endorsed by the General.
He went from being a “chancellor” of a school to an amorphous position in the Homeland Security Department (heckuva job Brownie?) where he lasted for a little more than a year.
He parlayed that into the formation of two companies that consult to the Federal Government.
The DC tax break alone should end his campaign. He falsely claimed to live in DC so he could get a huge tax exemption, then pled ignorance about it when he got caught.
Yawn. Same ol’ tired attack lines guys. So according to you, its not possible that he made a mistake on a tax form? If it was in error then it was a deliberate attempt to cheat? I’m not sure I agree with that, but you have every right to set that as the standard.
I have to admit though, I’m still unclear why you keep posting the “heckuva job Brownie?” deal on your comments. Brownie was at FEMA, not Homeland Security. Is “cinqo” the same idiot Driggs supporter who showed up at Davis’ event and didn’t know the difference between Robert Axelrod and David Axelrod? The M.O. seems the same.
And your timeline seems messed up too, since you claim he lasted at Homeland Security for a little more than a year. You mean, before he was promoted to THE WHITE HOUSE? Funny, Driggs left that little nugget off of his attack mailers too. Goodnight Adam.
“heckuva job Brownie” reference to unqualified appointees in Homeland Security…. A tradition that continues.
Actually this is a good reason to NOT vote for Rich Davis, proving Rich NOT to be a conservative.
What is a good reason to NOT vote for Davis? Being endorsed by a top anti-terror guy? I don’t get it. Logic would then dictate that being endorsed by a pro-terror guy would be your reason TO vote for Davis.
And why would the Brownie reference refer to Homeland Security if Brownie was at FEMA? And is it really true that every single appointee at Homeland Security is just some kind of hack? Or are you just smearing the ones you don’t like? Seems like an overly broad statement on the qualifications of what must be hundreds if not thousands of people.
Homeland Security is in charge of the border. Homeland Security obviously hasn’t done their job. Why brag about working for Homeland Security and that you know what it takes to secure our borders when while you were working for Homland Security we had a mad dash of illegals coming over the border that continues today. If Davis can point to something he did while at Homeland Security that actually benefited us here in Arizona great. Or maybe if he felt so strongly about the border issues and felt like he could make a real contribution to fixing the problem, why not stay in Homeland Security. He left Homeland, and with the knowledge and contacts gained there won millions of dollars in DOD contracts to “study” terrorism. Looks like the only knowledge and experience he gained at Homeland was how to milk the goverment at the taxpayers expense.
Don’t tell us that you are a panacea of all our problems at the border because you worked for the government agency that failed us.
Congratulations on the endorsement from Homeland Security…they’re dong a real bang-up job up there.
Confused, I’m a Davis guy, the others are Driggs guys. And you can tell a lot about the candidates we like based on the logic, or lack thereof, in our arguments. They want you to believe that guys like Davis and Zarate are just political hacks, someone’s crony, who got their job just like every single other person at Homeland Security (and possibly FEMA judging by their comments). Through political patronage. Apparently, everything Bush did to “fight terror” was just a political ruse to pad the resume of future state legislators, at least according to their arguments. Which raises the incredible proposition that we suffered no more attacks on our homeland after 9-11 as a result of dumb luck alone, with no credit going to anyone at any of these departments, all of whom were just political cronies of Bush & Co.
Of course, that’s a stupid argument to make. But that’s why they’re voting for Driggs. They don’t see any political patronage in the son of the former Mayor using family connections to try and build his own political career. And anyone who has heard Driggs speak knows that we’re not talking about the sharpest pencil in the box. Still, a recognizable last name has been more than one person’s ticket to elective office, so oh well. But don’t expect them to be the slightest bit critical of that. It doesn’t fit the story they’re trying to spin.
So remember, their version is that Driggs is a brilliant fellow with an accomplished career. And Davis is running some sort of scam, complete with a cover story that includes time at the White House and work all over the world — just so he could come back to Arizona and make $24k a year as a State Senator.
My version is that Davis is a brilliant guy with an accomplished career and Driggs is a moderate lawmaker trading off of his family name. He likes to work with Democrats, vote with Democrats, even raise money for and campaign with Democrats. So I like Davis as the conservative alternative.
T Johnson, your argument actually fails in its simplicity. Davis worked for DHS. DHS was in charge of the border. So Davis was in charge of the border. I suspect that Terrorism Prevention had a lot more to do than simply work on border security. From what Davis himself has said at the district meetings, the focus was on global hotspots, terror groups, domestic cells, etc.
Your boy Driggs has a lot he could have done here in Arizona where he actually had a vote. But other than wimping out on SB1070 and voting Yes when he really wanted to obstruct it as he had for so long, he has assembled quite the long open-borders list of votes. No wonder the Chambers of Commerce and all the fast-food, car-wash, and construction types are rooting for him.
No, pretending that you’re interested in border security isn’t going to work if you’re pimping for one of the Sanctuary Six.
http://seeingredaz.wordpress.com/2009/07/01/your-legislators-hard-at-work-taking-a-dive-we-name-names/
Davis cannot prove or provide one SHRED of evidence of having “prevented terrorism” nor of helping to secure the border.
Neither can you, PV “Conservative”.
Pretending that Homeland Security is a badge of honor only works in bizarro-world.
Made a mistake on his tax form? You mean Davis accidentally applied for a homestead exemption for a house he didn’t live in? Then accidently forgot to read his tax bill for the last several years showing him getting a huge tax break he legally wasn’t entitled to? Are you kidding or being serious?
PV,
Do you even look at Davis’ mailers? His last piece “Border Security IS National Security…and no one knows that better than Rich Davis.” He is telling us he is an expert in border security. How else am I suppossed to read that? What has he done to secure our borders?
You claim Davis is brilliant and accomplished. Tell me, what has Davis accomplished? Has he created jobs? No, he created a research company in order to secure millions of dollars in taxpayer money. Very conservative indeed.
You say Driggs votes with Democrats. Give some examples, don’t just state it. He voted against sending the tax increase to the voters when many other Republicans voted for it. So how can you say he is in the pocket of the Chambers of Commerce, etc? I’m sure they were lobbying him to vote yes, but he voted no. He voted YES on 1070 and many more illegal immigration bills but to you he’s still an open border guy. Don’t let the truth get in the way of your thinking!
I’m not sure where your beef with Driggs could be other than you have a crush on Davis.
Juan Zarate is a “Policy Fellow” at Artis Research & Risk Modeling of which Rich Davis is the CEO. Mr. Zarate (in his prepared statement) should have properly disclosed that he currently works with or has an appointment in Mr. Davis’s company, regardless of whether or not he is receiving any stipend or compensation relating to one of Artis’s lucrative government contracts.
I have no doubt that Mr. Davis gained great experiences in his job at Homeland Security and in the White House where his actual title was “Director of Prevention Policy for the Homeland Security Council”, and not as “Director of Terrorism Prevention” as stated in Mr. Zarate’s prepared statement. However, simply inquiring into the effectiveness or knowledge gained by such experiences does not demean the service or efforts made by Mr. Davis, Mr. Zarate or any others in such positions as Mr. Davis has previously suggested. Look, I imagine that any job in the White House is dynamic and filled with all sorts of opportunities to do good and serve our country, but we shouldn’t accept that lofty sounding bureaucratic positions necessarily translate into “leadership” qualities or “conserve” ideologies…or even knowledge on how to protect our borders.
Here is a link to President Bush’s first (of many) “Homeland Security Presidential Directive” that outlines the organizational structure and operations of Homeland Security. http://www.dhs.gov/xabout/laws/gc_1213648320189.shtm Without the intimate knowledge of the agency and how it interacted with the White House, I am guessing that Mr. Davis worked within one of the eleven (11) Homeland Security Council Policy Coordination Committees. There is no “Director of Terrorism Prevention” position listed in the organization. There was, however, a White House position titled “Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism”, but that position was held by Frances Townsend and later by Ken Wainstein during Mr. Davis’s time at the White House. Both Townsend and Wainstein had many years of experience in the Justice Department dealing especially with national security and intelligence issues prior to their appointments to the White House.
I have never met Rich Davis, but he sounds like he has done some interesting work. I have also read some of the articles he has co-authored with some of his Artis colleagues, which I have found to be pretty interesting. However, Mr. Davis’s and the other authors’ analysis and theories seem to be more academic and liberal than practical and conservative. While I find many of Mr. Davis’s theories persuasive, I doubt that Sheriff Arpaio would agree with any of Mr. Davis’s academic theories to deal with terrorism. Perhaps Mr. Davis is more comfortable in the world of academia than in the world of politics.
On the other hand, I do know Adam Driggs, and, frankly, I am surprised that some people would characterize him as being a “liberal”. Being a “liberal” myself (I can’t vote for Mr. Driggs in the primaries), I find this assertion almost humorous. As far as I can tell and his voting record would indicate, Adam Driggs is pretty darn conservative. People know what Mr. Driggs has been up to the last four years…he has a record….seems like the wise choice would be to have him continue the good fight.
Erratum: “…or ‘conservative’ ideologies…” in last sentence, 2nd paragraph.
Thanks Tom, that is what I have suspected all along. Davis has come in saying he held all these lofty positions of power in the White House and it just doesn’t add up. People don’t breeze in from nowhere, with little credentials, after a career as a small school administrator, and become the President of the United States main man on Terrorism.
When I read the post last night, my first reaction was that I didn’t know that there was someone higher up than Davis in the Terrorism command chain. Then Tom writes that Zarate is on the ARTIS Research web site as a senior fellow??? What a scam. The Isreali General he brought in for a fund raiser is also on ARTIS’ site.
The more we learn about Davis, the scarier he sounds. His political ambitions are enormous. He came from nowhere and he is embraced by all the people who don’t like John McCain. Don’t they see a little irony there? McCain also was unknown and said all the right things. If Davis wins, I predict they will all regret their votes in a few year. Davis has a long paper trail of liberal thought. His followers don’t bother to read up on him. He has not campaigned as a conservative, he only says he is.
People need to read his writings that he wrote with Altran and Axelrod. Wow!!! He says he is Pro-Isreal???? His buddies Altran and Axelrod are not conservative. They are traditional liberal academics.
But a huge point should be when a candidate puts “New Principled Leadership” on his signs, and then he tells the world he was the “Director of Terrorism Prevention” at the White House of all places, and then there is no such position??? That is dishonest. I Googled “Director of Terrorism Prevention” last week and only found Rich Davis biographys. There is no government web site that shows that title. He was not the Director of Terrorism Prevention. And then when Driggs points it out, Davis goes on a tirade, saying Driggs mocked his service to our country in a time of war. That was over the top. Davis has never worn the uniform. He should be ashamed of saying such a thing. To me, he mocks the men and women in the military by trying to equate what he did, wearing a suit and tie as an obvious low level staffer, to those who put their life’s on the line for all of us.
As J.D. Hayworth would say–”Caveat Emptor” or should we all say: Voter Beware!!!!