Hosts James Allen, Rachel Alexander and I discuss the primary election results with a conservative perspective.

Link to Monday, August 30 Roundtable Politics episode*

*this episode was NOT filmed with Horst Kraus’ camera nor was it filmed with the approval of the “Republican” Party or the self-aggrandizing McCainiac “Mafia” “leader” Jabba the Vath. No liberals, moderates, RINOs, or DIDs were harmed during the filming of this video…they were ritually sacrificed AFTER the program.

A m e r i c a n  P o s t – G a z e t t e

Distributed by C O M M O N  S E N S E , in Arizona

Conservatives planning to vote for any candidate but McCain Disgusted over $25 million “win at all costs” scorched earth campaign against JD Hayworth

Repulsed by the dirty tricks and massive amounts of money McCain used from his prior presidential run with Palin for smear attacks against JD Hayworth, conservatives are looking for an alternative candidate to vote for in the general election. Some are looking at the Libertarian candidate, David Nolan. Others are flocking to Ian Gilyeat, a conservative Independent candidate. Unlike McCain, he supports repealing automatic birthright citizenship for the children of illegal immigrants. He is opposed to gay marriage, which McCain flip-flops on. He is in favor of tax breaks, unlike McCain who opposed them twice as “tax cuts for the rich.” He would follow the Cato Institute’s model to cut government regulations, unlike McCain. He is opposed to Cap and Trade, which McCain co-sponsored with Joe Lieberman. Will be interesting to see how much support he picks up from Republicans and Independents as his campaign picks up speed.

Conservatives made some good gains in the Congressional races. I think conservatives had wins in the Congressional races because they’re sexier than state races. This is perhaps where we shined the brightest since we lost wholesale in the state-wide races and, as you’ll see in my next article, the legislative races were a real mixed bag. I’d argue that since the federal government is a government of limited powers and the states are governments of general powers, we need to be focusing a lot more on state races than we currently do. Same with city, county, school board and other elections. Again, there’s LOTS of work for the TEA Partiers to do if they’ll just apply themselves.

CD 1
I’ve got to admit, CD 1 isn’t my strong suit and I don’t know a ton about Gosar. Paul Gosar won in CD 1 with about 38% of the vote. Looking at the FEC reports, he had the money. He also had a Palin endorsement. In Arizona, that shouldn’t mean much to conservatives since she endorsed McCain too, but apparently it meant something to the district. It looks like from his webpage he had the support of Sheriffs Arpaio and Babeu as well.

Sydney Hay came in second with about 23% of the vote. Not too shabby since she’s run in the district a couple of times before. She had name ID and money that rivaled Gosar’s. However, Sydney threw her hat in the ring late in the game. Sydney has been a movement conservative for a long time. To my mind, the fact that she was Alan Keyes’ campaign manager is all I need to know about her. Keyes is a consummate conservative, but in recent years, he’s acted on the crazy side.

The surprise in the race is that newcomer Bradley Beauchamp beat Rusty Bowers. Bradley was nice enough to come on Grassroots Interviews. He styles himself a constitutionalist and is passionate about his beliefs. As a constructive criticism, his passion often comes across as anger and that can be off-putting. I’d like to see Beauchamp run for office again.

Rusty Bowers of course is a lobbyist and former state legislator. The lobbyist Mike Williams once told me that being a lobbyist pretty much precludes you from winning office. He was right in Matt Salmon’s case and in Rusty’s case, but I remain skeptical about his adage.

The others might be good guys, but this was a crowded field and they failed to broach even 10% and to be frank aren’t worth mentioning.

Simply by looking at Gosar’s webpage, he seems like a relatively conservative guy. I hope that he truly is. It would be a ray of hope for conservatives and one of the too few wins in our column. The next test will be for Gosar to beat Ann Kirpatrick, but then comes the REAL test: will he have the spine to be a conservative icon like Mike Pence, Jeb Hensarling and to a lesser extent Paul Ryan or will he be subverted by the RINO McCainiacs like Flake and Shadegg. I pray he has backbone.

CD 2
No surprises that Trent Franks annihilated Black by an 80-20 margin. Since Shadegg and Flake abandoned conservatives, Trent Franks has been our lone conservative in Congress. He has made some missteps, like endorsing the RINO Sen. Nelson in LD 12and endorsing McCain before JD Hayworth got in the race, but again, right now, he’s the best we conservatives have in Congress and he’s a darned good Congressman. We’re lucky to have him.

CD 3
I’ll be the first to admit that I called this race incorrectly. With Niecegate, dirty.com, the hint of nepotism and inexperience and all the old Bush-Quayle establishment money flowing into Ben Quayle’s coffers from out of state, I thought he was going to be beat. I was wrong. I think the Quayle win was the most impressive of election night.

Many commenters have said money and name ID were the most key in this election cycle. The Quayle win would seem to prove that assertion correct. Apparently, he was able to paper the district with mailers. Again, since I haven’t been back in the state long enough to be considered a high-propensity voter, I wasn’t targeted by many campaigns, so I didn’t see all the campaigning many candidates in my area did. By many accounts, the Quayle effort could be compared to a deluge.

Luckily, Quayle can fundraise. Hulburd, the Democrat nominee has around three quarters of a million dollars. While the Democrats may THINK they’re going to have a field day smearing Quayle, this will NOT be a repeat of Harry Mitchell vs. J.D. Hayworth. This is a Republican year and CD 3 has a strong Republican registration advantage.

To my mind, Moak coming in second was also a surprise. His fundraising was second only to Quayle’s. Moak seemed to be a relatively conservative guy when he came on Grassroots Interviews. I’ll also assert, as many have, that immigration was also a key issue this cycle. I believe his opponents were successfully able to label him as a supporter of the DREAM Act, a measure that upset the anti-illegal immigration crowd. After my interview of Mr. Moak, his answers about the DREAM Act seemed to be less than a direct and emphatic, “No, I don’t support the DREAM Act.” If he had not been successfully characterized to the voter’s mind as a supporter of the DREAM Act, he might have edged out Quayle. There was only about a 3,000 vote difference between Moak and Quayle.

Waring coming in third was also a surprise. I had picked him to win this contest because I know he was knocking on doors every day. While I may have picked him to win, I did not want him to win. He was a McCain staffer and while some have said he’s shown some independence, I would never have trusted him not to carry McCain’s water in the House. If McCain subverted our Arizona delegation, he wouldn’t have even had to try with Waring. I am happy with Waring’s loss simply because I worry about his politics. To my mind, he’s not conservative enough. Mark my words, Jim will be back. I believe he’s ambitious. He’ll run for something else soon and trust me, he’ll win because he knows how to campaign and he campaigns hard.

I never understood the hype around Vernon Parker. Vernon was a Bush appointee. Bush was a liberal Republican so it might stand to reason that Vernon is a moderate or liberal too because he was tapped by Bush to serve in the Administration. One bit about Parker that even he did not publicize, to his detriment, that would have helped him shake off the mantle of moderate or liberal, is that he worked on the nomination of Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court. I also felt like Vernon got Arpaio’s endorsement simply because both are Jason Rose clients. It didn’t seem like a sincere endorsement to me. I mean, really, when you think of stopping illegal immigration, is Vernon Parker’s name the first that pops into your head? Don’t get me wrong, I have come to like the Sheriff and I honestly do appreciate the fact that he endorsed so many candidates. I’ve thanked Arpaio in person for that. I think three other things killed Vernon’s chances. First, he seemed wishy-washy or inconsistent when he dropped out of the governor’s race and ran for Congress instead. I was thankful he dropped out of the governor’s race because I supported Dean and I thought Vernon was a distraction. Since CD 3 includes Paradise Valley, I sorta felt like his switch in races was cynical in that he decided to abandon the Governor’s race for a seat that had his constituency as a larger percentage of the electorate. Second, I’m skeptical of anyone who’s in city government. City government is not a bastion of conservatism, of belief in de minimis government. Unless someone in city government is really making waves slashing and burning unnecessary city services and being a total junkyard dog attacking wasteful city spending, they’re likely moderate or liberal. Third, the playing of the race card in was desperate and perfidious. Calling someone a “poster boy,” isn’t racist in the slightest. Calling a black man, “boy” is. The term was used to assert white dominance over blacks in the South. I’m a Southerner by birth and the grace of God. Vernon wasn’t called, “boy” by anyone…except maybe me. Before the “poster boy” flap, at the Sheriff’s birthday party in Cave Creek, I asked Vernon when he was coming on Grassroots Interviews. Without thinking, I addressed him as “boy.” I truly meant it in a jocular and familiar sense. I realized later that the term had racist overtones and I sought Vernon out to look him in the eye and sincerely apologize about any unintended connotations. Vernon said he hadn’t heard me call him that and said he wouldn’t have taken offense. That told me that Vernon’s “outrage” at the “poster boy” comments was manufactured. We’re in a time where the leftists have shrilly cried “racist” at every turn. We’re in a time where the term has been so overused, we’ve started to turn a deaf ear to it and dismiss the claims. We’re not letting the leftists shut down the debate anymore with that now meaningless and overused brand.

Gorman and Crump were two LD 6 conservatives that likely split the votes of their constituencies. Pam Gorman certainly campaigned harder than Sam Crump. Crump certainly had a hard time raising money. Not only did I vote for Sam Crump, but I had hoped he would have remained in the Attorney General’s race. Had he stayed in that race, with Thomas and Horne destroying each other, he might have been the victor…but more than likely, he would have split the conservative vote with Thomas and assured Horne’s victory. My trouble with Gorman is her support of moderate or liberal candidates. She supported Tony Bouie over Carl Seel and Sam Crump for the LD 6 House. Tony is a nice guy, I appreciated the fact that he came on Grassroots Interviews, I’m just hesitant to believe he’s a hard-core conservative and I hope he doesn’t hold my comments against me because I’d like to remain friends with him. Gorman also supported Peggy Neely. To my mind, conservatives should NEVER, EVER, EVER support moderate or liberal candidates. To me, it’s unforgiveable. Gorman did it not once, but twice. I think both Gorman and Crump are ambitious and we’ll see them run for office again. I can honestly say I wish them both the best of luck.

I’m SO happy that the Jan Brewer-loving and pro-death Paulina Morris finished near the bottom. She had an organized and ardent pro-death constituency. I can only hope she and Hull, the two pro-death candidates, split the pro-death vote. But more than the Life issue, Paulina Morris’ ads were atrocious. Find out who did her commercials and avoid them like the plague. The impression I was left with after her first TV ad was that she was an angry woman marching around behind a desk stabbing her finger at me. That’s not a way to PERSUADE me to vote for you. Her “frank” assessment of the other candidates was also a colossal disaster. There’s a certain decorum that’s expected of Congressmen. It’s why Joe Wilson got reprimanded for correctly stating that Obama is a liar during the State of the Union address. Saying she “damned well approved this message,” violated that decorum. So did Quayle’s ad stating that he’d “knock the Hell out of Washington.” However, sexist or not, I think we generally still expect ladies to act like ladies and Morris’ ad was not lady-like. I truly hope this is Morris’ political obituary, at least in terms of running for office. We Republicans don’t need her for much more than voting for our nominees. Otherwise, she needs to register as a Democrat.

Ed Winkler had an amazingly tin ear. He committed suicide in front of the Arizona Republican Assembly by stating that he thought Jeff Flake was on the mark on illegal immigration. He had neither the district-wide name ID or the money or the position on illegal immigration necessary to win. I knew he’d be an also-ran and he finished just about where I privately suspected he would.

Bob Branch came in second to last. Sad. He’s a good guy and my impression is that he’s genuinely conservative. The only black mark I know about on him is that he apparently dislikes Prop. 13. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, I hope Bob Branch stays involved in politics and I hope he runs for something else soon, like perhaps the state legislature. If he does, I’d be happy to support him. Ultimately, he didn’t have a lot of cash, he didn’t have a lot of name ID, and he didn’t have an Arpaio endorsement. Though negatives to overcome.

LeAnn Hull never had a chance. She came in dead last and had I publicly made predictions before the primaries, I would have stated that she would come in last. She’s a passionate woman, but comes across as crazy. Her ad done in the toilet where she says we’re flushing money in Washington just looks thoroughly insane. She’s pro-death and when I asked her about amnesty, she at first said that she didn’t believe in it, then explained in a round about way that she thought there should be a path to citizenship. She should have started her political career running for the state legislature, but I would not counsel her to run for anything at all ever again. Her positions on the Life issue and amnesty and her inability to raise money should be clear indicators that she’ll never go anywhere in politics. LeAnn said she didn’t want to raise money. That’s a cop out. While having the most money is not a guarantor of a win, have NO money guarantees defeat. Her position on fundraising is more proof of her lack of a grasp on reality.

Is the Quayle win a win for conservatives? I’m undecided. He has at least one conservatarian on his staff that truly believes Ben is conservative. I hope he’s right. If the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, we need to remember that Bush picked Dan Quayle as his VP running mate to appeal to the conservatives. I truly hope Ben Quayle makes his dad look like a sissy liberal. I’ll be voting for Ben in the general election over Hulburd and I’m confident that Ben WILL win a seat to Congress. Get used to saying, “Congressman Quayle.”

CD 4
Janet Contreras smoked admitted progressive candidate Jose Penalosa by almost 19 points. Yes, Janet is my client, but I can truly say CD 4 made a VERY wise choice by nominating Janet. I’m sure Janet will want me to be nice to Jose because that’s just the type of classy woman she is, but I’m going to take a moment to talk about Jose Penalosa’s campaign strategy. That I can tell, Jose’s strategy was to show up on just about every Spanish speaking media outlet and put campaign signs in downtown Phoenix which has a very transitory population of workers that come from a multitude of districts. He wasn’t targeting constituents at all by doing that. His signs should have been in the residential areas of CD 4. As for targeting the Spanish-speaking, I don’t see the logic in that either. Even Hispanics will admit that Hispanics aren’t high efficacy voters as they should be. Now, there’s been speculation that Penalosa might be a Pastor plant or even a McCain plant, but there’s also speculation that Penalosa ran for Congress just to advertise his law firm which defends illegals. His campaign strategy sure seemed to target those same illegals who listen to Spanish radio.

This is a win for conservatives. Now we need to really help Janet get the 9K or 10K more votes she needs to topple Ed Pastor. As Janet says, we need to stop spreading the lie that pastor is not vulnerable. In this Republican year and with a stellar candidate like Janet, he IS vulnerable.

CD 5
Conservative David Schwiekert beat moderate Jim Ward by slightly more than 12 points. Schweikert had name ID, money, and a strong stance on immigration. It was a recipe for a win.

Ward’s ads were pure perfidy. Attacking Schweikert as a career politician? It’s been a while since he’s held office. Attacking Schweikert for losing to Mitchell in a year when Republicans lost across the board? I guess in bad years for Republicans no one should challenge the Democrats? I think the voters saw through Ward’s thin logic.

Now, it’s time for some frank talk with Susan Bitter Smith. How many times have you run for office and lost? You’re now officially a perennial candidate and perennial loser. Arizonans have you figured out as a moderate or RINO and you’ve been outed as such on this blog innumerable times. Please, stop running for office. You can’t win. We want you in the party to vote for our nominees, but your ambition has been soundly rejected time and again. I’d suggest taking the hint.

Some TEA Partiers supported Chris Salvino. He came in fourth and garnered less than 10%. I have friends that worked for his campaign and were supporters, but I have to think that Dr. Salvino might have fared better if he had run for a legislative seat out of the gate.

The other also rans aren’t worth mentioning their results were so poor.

This is a total win for conservatives. Almost 59K people turned out to vote in the Republican primary. Only 24K, less than half of the Republican votes, turned out to vote for Mitchell. That’s a heartening statistic in a Republican year. I’m sure the Leftists will argue that Mitchell hasn’t bothered to run a campaign yet since he wasn’t facing a primary.

CD 6
That Jeff Flake beat Jeff Smith by a 2-1 margin is no surprise. I believe I predicted Flake’s win, not like that was too difficult to predict. Despite all the black marks against Jeff Flake, he is a leviathan in the district. He certainly had the name ID and money to command the field. Even Russell Pearce had the wisdom not to challenge Flake. Flake started out his Congressional career as a staunch conservative, but he has been subverted by McCain and the open borders crowd. He has voted for ENDA, he sponsored the STRIVE Act, he has proposed Cap & Trade legislation and he broke his term limit pledge. Flake has become a disaster.

I HAVE to chalk this up as a win for moderates and a loss for conservatives. CD 6 was presented with a conservative alternative to Flake and they rejected him. Flake will continue to move left. He’s lost his way. We’d love to have Flake back in the conservative fold, but I’m not holding out hope.

CD 7
Myers may have had some money, but that didn’t help him beat Ruth McClung. Ruth campaigned hard. I saw her everywhere. I saw Myers once. Granted, I don’t live in CD 7. Let me ask, if we should have voted for Myers because he’s a millionaire and he had the cash to beat Grijalva, then why didn’t he spend the cash to defeat Ruth? Myers ran a poor campaign. I’ve also got to ask if Myers is dedicated to defeating Grijalva, is he going to max out to McClung now?

The shocker here was that Robert Wilson, who made an attempt at campaigning, lost to perennial candidate and nut job Joe Sweeney.

This has to be counted as a conservative win. The real test is for Ruth to run hard against Mr. “Boycott Arizona” Grijalva. He’s utter leftist scum and hates America and his own state. Democrats should be ashamed for electing this guy and returning him to office.

CD 8
Jesse Kelly, a newcomer, beat a former state legislator with more money. This is proof that money isn’t everything, but it’s helpful. Jesse campaigned hard. For a while at the beginning, I thought he was the only guy in the race. Something else that may have hurt Paton was his late entry into the race. Paton has never been a conservative legislator in the mold of Harper or Gould or Seel or Burgess. I bet we see Paton run for something else in the future.

If Jesse makes it to Congress, and I hope he does, I hope he is unwaveringly conservative. I hope he resists McCain’s attempts to subvert him. We need him to stand strong.

I have to chalk this up to a win for conservatives due to Paton’s middle of the road record. Since Giffords is considered vulnerable, I expect Jesse to get a flood of cash from the RNC.

WRAP-UP
Conservatives and TEA Partiers, you did OK. I give you a B+…but that’s not an A+. There’s work to be done. You need to STAY involved and be involved in ALL races and elections. Don’t give up!

As I predicted, Arizona TEA Partiers and conservatives did not produce stellar results. While conservatives utterly failed to cut the head off the RINO snake in Arizona, they did undercut McCain by defeating some of his allies in some more local races and I’ll be writing post-mortems on the Congressional and legislative races soon. The net result for conservatives for the state as a whole may be a wash.

Conservatives and TEA Partiers should not give up hope. We need to now start looking forward to the 2011 local elections. We need to recruit and vette candidates. We need to work tirelessly to get the candidates we favor elected by knocking on doors, carrying petitions, distributing literature, making phone calls, and asking voters to donate money. Staying involved in the party to drag it to the right is the answer. Abandoning ship is not.

U.S. Senate

I’ve got to admit, I never thought that the utter RINO McCain would beat J.D. Hayworth by such a wide margin. Yet again, he was able to hoodwink Arizona’s voters by falsely claiming the mantle of conservatism. He was one of a multitude of liberal candidates this cycle that lied to voters about being conservative while their voting records clearly demonstrated otherwise. Let me ask, if conservatives are so horrible, why campaign as one every time you’re up for election? If being conservative is so great for winning elections, why did McCain give ObaMao a pass? Clearly, the conventional wisdom is flawed and being conservative in BOTH the primary AND general AND in deed as well as word is the recipe for winning elections and maintaining majority status.

Another correct prediction I made was that Deakin was not even a factor. He is demonstrably insane and he and his wife were alienating rather than persuasive, that is what rendered him a non-issue in all but the closest of races. Even adding Deakin’s votes to Hayworth’s, Hayworth would not have won due to McCain’s wide margin of victory. I truly do like all of Hayworth’s campaign staff, I am friends with and know many of them, but I’ve got to say that Hayworth’s commercials (at least the ones I saw), and therefore his messaging, were lackluster. McCain was able to land more telling blows, regardless of their veracity, like labeling Hayworth a “huckster.” Hayworth’s camp was convinced that once J.D. began his media buys, Deakin’s paltry support might actually make a difference in a tight race. I remained skeptical.

This race was a win in the moderate column. Moderates do not excite conservatives because moderates have no principles. Expect conservatives to concentrate their attentions and efforts to other races. They could sit out the 2010 Senate race as conservative voters did nationwide in 2006 & 2008 because Republicans had abandoned their core principles. Conservatives could even vote for Libertarians or other candidates in an effort to show their utter displeasure with the election of McCain.

Arizona Governor

As many have said, Jan Brewer owes her victory entirely to Russell Pearce. Without him delivering S.B. 1070 to her desk, the tax and spend Brewer would have been slaughtered by the likes of conservative Dean Martin as the earliest polls showed. 1070 was the game changer. I had hoped that Arizona voters would have been astute enough to see through her cynical support of 1070 since the woman has NO record on illegal immigration before 1070 and supports amnesty.

Another win in the moderate column. Again, the tax and spend Brewer and her special interest cronies will not ignite the conservative base. Expect conservatives to focus on other races and consider Libertarians as an alternative. The Dems will have a field day excoriating Brewer as unintelligent. Just dig up some of the videos about her on YouTube to see what I’m talking about. Luckily, Goddard’s campaign has proven that it has no clue what the voters are interested in. His commercials are on topics that no one cares about.

Attorney General

Dean Martin beat Tome Horne back in 2000 by successfully casting himself as a hard-line conservative and exposing Tom Horne for the RINO he is. While I have disliked Andy Thomas in the past, my support has grown for Andy over time and I voted for him. That Thomas might actually be losing to the RINO Horne, someone who has a reputation for being a lech at the Legislature, someone who lost his SEC license and had to admit wrong-doing, is unfathomable. Granted, Horne is one of those candidates that lied to the public and claimed a mantle of conservatism when he’s anything but a conservative.

This is a win for the RINOs. Horne couldn’t be a less inspiring candidate. On the stump, he looks and sounds like a doddering old man. We’ve had Democrat Attorney Generals for how long now? Just like the other RINO candidates who won statewide nomination, Horne will fail to ignite the passions of the conservatives and he may lose.

Treasurer

Last night, I told Doug Ducey that he thoroughly surprised me. He’s a likeable guy and I thank him for showing up on RoundtablePolitics.com with James Allen, Rachel Alexander and me, but I never would have predicted that he’d be our nominee. I expected him to come in third behind Verschoor and Leff because he was a newcomer.

I voted for Thayer. Verschoor had the most conservative record. Leff sponsored the tax increase, had a more moderate voting record and I’m glad she ended up being held accountable for it. As for Ted Carpenter, he used to be my Senator and is a nice guy. I had several conversations with him during the primary, but he really did seem to run a nigh non-existent campaign.

I had serious concerns about Ducey when many blog commenters began to indicate that Ducey has strong ties to McCain. He bundled campaign contributions for McCain back in 2008. He was also apparently involved with the pro-big government and command economy group Greater Phoenix Leadership (this group is in turn supported by former McCain Chief of Staff and former RINO legislator Deb Gullet). GPL supported RINO Republicans and Democrats in state legislative races via the Twelve in `10 fundraiser. GPL also supported Expect More Arizona, a group dedicated to protecting the failed status quo in education. One can only ascribe the same philosophies to Ducey. Why else would he be associated with the group?

If one might be concerned that Ducey supports McCain and favors government tailoring an economy and picking winners and losers via special breaks, then one should also be concerned that a McCain supporter would have a position fourth in line from being Governor. Will we be seeing a Governor Ducey down the road?

While I like Thayer and voted for him, I heard many express concern about his competency to do the Treasurer’s job (clearly I was not swayed). Dean Martin, our current state Treasurer, endorsed Ducey, ostensibly because he felt Ducey was the most competent to do the job. Leff’s camp loved to reiterate the fact that Ducey had to take Coldstone through bankruptcy and I’m sure the Democrats will fling this at Ducey in the general election.

In the end, we have to chalk this race up as a moderate win as well. If that’s the case, then moderates made a clean sweep of the statewide races. Even though I may have concerns about Ducey, I’ve already invited him to come on Grassroots Interviews and I hope to help him draw bright-line distinctions between himself and the Democrat nominee. I’d be pleased to have him on the show.

**edit**
Corporation Commission

Of course, the Corporation Commission race is the only ray of hope for conservatives in the elections results for statewide races. Gary Pierce and Bredna Burns were our two most conservative choices in the race. Pierce and Burns won. I don’t think anyone would disagree that Barry Wong killed his own chances. His voting record is demonstrably to the left of Burns’ and Pierce’s records. He tried, like many moderate candidates, to run as a conservative. I think everyone knows that in an effort to pander to the anti-illegal immigration crowd, he disingenuously stated that utilities should shut off electricity and water to illegals in Arizona. This statement turned many off to Barry. Why anyone would consider Verry Wrong in the first place is beyond me.

This might be conservatives one win, but it’s not very exciting. The corporation is a cesspool of government regulation of the economy. We can’t expect Pierce and Burns to reverse ages of command economy regulation and install a free market. The best we can hope for is for them to hold the line. However, these are elective positions, so, Pierce and Burns, to hold power, will have to pander to consumers. That being the case, I don’t expect them to hold the line without fail. Still, better these two than Mr. Wrong.
**edit**

Final Analysis of Statewide Races

This does not bode well for igniting the passions of the conservative base. Again, individual conservative voters will likely focus on the smaller races where some conservative candidates won while the Party pushes establishment moderate candidates in the general election. Some have said that money and message matter. That’s certainly true in the Senate and Treasurer’s race, but not the case in the Governor’s race. Money is definitely helpful, but it’s not everything. If it was, Buz Mills would be our nominee.

Seemingly, as the races go upticket and more voters actually pay attention to the races, the more purple or blue the voters get. That analysis would certainly hold true for our statewide races since it was a clean sweep for the moderates and RINOs.

It is of paramount importance that the TEA Partiers stay engaged. They need to continue to infiltrate the Republican Party and drag it to the right. The TEA Partiers need to become Republican PCs and dictate to the party who its leaders will be. Granted, all movements die, but there’s plenty of room for them to be relevant for years to come if they choose to remain relevant. One might question that desire considering the statewide results.

Phoenix, AZ – August 25, 2010 – “The time for debating and tough words in the Republican Primary is over.  The time for vote counting is upon us. I appreciated Tom Horne’s words earlier in the campaign and just last night when things were not looking his way that he would support me were I to be the nominee.  Likewise, if Tom prevails I don’t want there to be any doubt that I will support him against the Democrat. Let’s see where the vote counting takes us knowing that in the end the Republican Party will offer a nominee that is vastly better than a Democrat counterpart who opposes Senate Bill 1070 and who refuses to challenge ObamaCare by joining other Attorneys General across the U.S.”

by Nick Dranias
Goldwater Institute

Last week, the Goldwater Institute filed a formal appeal to the Supreme Court to strike down matching funds once and for all. The appeal follows the Court’s decision on June 8, 2010, to suspend temporarily the distribution of matching funds to taxpayer-funded “Clean Elections” candidates.

Matching funds seek to “level the playing field” between taxpayer-funded and privately-funded candidates by showering taxpayer-funded candidates with matching subsidies for every dollar that an opposing privately-funded opponent raises or spends above a specific spending limit.

Imagine if this concept were applied to the media in general, news websites that get “too many” visitors could trigger subsidies to bail out failing newspapers. To provide “balance,” talk shows with ratings that spike “too high” could spawn access to tax dollars for their struggling competition.

Sounds pretty far-fetched, right. The Federal Trade Commission recently published a report urging more funds to public broadcasting, creation of a government program to pay reporters and fund local news, and taxes on electronic devices and online news aggregators. Columbia University President Lee Bollinger wrote this summer in the Wall Street Journal that there is nothing to fear from government subsidizing the media – highlighting China’s CCTV and Xinhua news as examples of unbiased journalism.

If these ideas gain momentum, the government could easily shape the marketplace of ideas through triggered subsidies. Stopping the government from silencing candidates with the threat of massive subsidies to their political opponents is a necessary step to preventing the government’s wider expansion of fiscally-engineered censorship.

Nick Dranias holds the Clarence J. and Katherine P. Duncan Chair for Constitutional Government and is Director of the Joseph and Dorothy Donnelly Moller Center for Constitutional Government at the Goldwater Institute.

PHOENIX, AZ — U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) will deliver the following remarks, as prepared for delivery, at the Phoenix Convention Center tonight, August 24th, in Phoenix, AZ:
 
“Thank you, very much.  I’m very grateful for the honor – and it is a distinct honor – of being our Party’s nominee for re-election to the United States Senate.
 
“I’d like to thank my wife Cindy and my children for their tireless dedication and support.
 
“We won an important victory tonight, for which I am truly thankful.  I promise you, the Republicans and Independents who voted for me, and those Arizonans who did not, I will do my best to prove worthy of the honor.  I have never and will never take your support for granted, or feel I am entitled to your trust without earning it.  For it is your trust, and not the office I hold, that is the great ambition and privilege of my life.
 
“I’ve often said I consider myself one of the most fortunate people in the world.  Everyone’s life has its ups and downs, but I’ve had the honor to serve our country in good times and bad since I first swore an oath to defend her as an seventeen year old midshipman at the Naval Academy.  I know of no higher honor than that.  And I thank you, and all Arizonans, with all my heart, for allowing me the privilege to represent in Congress our beautiful state, and the interests, rights and dreams of the people who are blessed to call it home.
 
“This was a tough, hard-fought primary, and my opponents, Jim Deakin and Congressman Hayworth, and their families and supporters, deserve credit for having the courage to enter the arena, and give so much of themselves to the candidate they believed in.  I wish them well in the future.
 
“As gratified as I am for the support I received today, we all know this election isn’t over.  We have more than two more months of hard campaigning ahead of us, and I’m sure we will face a spirited challenge from the Democratic Party’s nominee.   I promise you, I take nothing for granted, and will fight with every ounce of strength and conviction I possess to make the case for my continued service in the Senate, and the policies and principles I will advocate and defend if I’m fortunate to be re-elected.
 
“This will be a consequential election.  No one should have any doubt about that.  No one is satisfied with the current condition of our country.  I know Arizonans, like Americans elsewhere, are rightly concerned with the direction we seem to be heading in – staggering unemployment; a devastated housing market that shows little sign of improvement; a river of red ink that threatens your prosperity and the prosperity of future generations of Americans, who will struggle to pay the costs of mistakes made before they were born; and a government that doesn’t seem to realize the trouble we’re in, and do what is necessary to confront it forthrightly and fix it effectively.
 
“I’m convinced that Republicans will win in November and we will regain the majorities in both the Senate and the House.  And we will win House seats here in Arizona.
 
“And when we do, we will stop the out of control spending and tax increases and repeal and replace Obamacare. We will keep families in their homes, we will create new jobs and we will allow our businesses to grow without Washington interference. We will secure our borders, defend our nation and bring our troops home from Afghanistan with honor and victory.
 
“We must act always and only on your behalf.  We must share your concerns and understand your frustrations.  We must help bear your burdens; fight your fights; defend your rights; and support your dreams. And I will fight to do the one thing every American generation has done: to leave a better country to their children than the one they inherited.
 
“Americans can’t afford to continue on the course we’ve been on.  We can’t continue to ransom your futures, steal from your children for the sake of growing government beyond the size that is necessary or wise or wanted.  You should be trusted to make the right choices for your families, with your own money, your own industry, your own dreams.  
 
“There are things that only government can do, and we must do them better and at less cost to you.  And we must trust in the freedom of Americans to do those things for themselves that no government could ever do better than they can.  We must trust in the principles of free people and free markets to recover the strength and innovation of our economy.  We must make it easier not harder for small businesses to help our economy grow.
 
“We have never confronted a problem we couldn’t overcome.  And we never will.  If I’m privileged to win re-election, I will continue to work night and day to help Arizonans and all Americans to overcome our present difficulties, and succeed, as we always have, in building a better country.
 
“I promise you I will act always and only in what I believe to be the best interests of the state and country I love.  And I will always be indebted to you for the privilege of serving you.
 
“Thank you, again, for your support and encouragement.  We’ve had a good night.  Now let’s get back to work, fight as hard as we can through to November, and get our country back to building a future as great and honorable as our storied past.”

Last night on Roundtable Politics, Rachel Alexander and I discussed the statewide and legislative races. We made our picks and predicted the winners in every race.

Link to pre-primary Roundtable Politics

A m e r i c a n  P o s t – G a z e t t e

Distributed by C O M M O N  S E N S E , in Arizona

By Sylvia Allen

In Response to Bill Konopnicki’s Last-Minute Publicity Stunt

It is quite clear that the stress of masquerading as a conservative has finally taken both a physical and mental toll on Bill Konopnicki. Our first indications were his accusations that our campaign consultant had been kicked out of his country of birth (the USA) where a warrant was out for his arrest. Or that he had been banned from Colorado (where apparently Bill thinks the medieval practice of banishment is still practiced.)

Today, Konopnicki’s Hail-Mary pass was a bogus complaint alleging campaign finance violations that are not supported by any facts, and that was presented to the world in the form of a press release, the hallmark of any serious legal complaint, no doubt.

Those of us who have watched Bill Konopnicki craft debt-laden state budgets are not surprised to see him having trouble with budget numbers and mathematics. He also ignores a number of other facts, including the fact that he is speaking about a number of expenditures that occurred after the last finance report and yet is complaining that they have not yet been reported. He is also making assumptions on quantities and timing that are nothing more than guesses.

Even stranger was his complaint that any mis-filing was “depriving candidate Bill Konopnicki of a fair election process. There will not be a meaningful opportunity for Mr. Konopnicki to timely respond in kind to these flyers.” Of course, thanks to his Maricopa County special interest buddies, Mr. Konopnicki will spend between two and three times as much as Senator Allen will, and he has produced a substantially greater number of flyers, as well as ads, billboards, radio ads, television ads, etc. For him to complain that he has been denied the opportunity to communicate with the voters in any way is a complete joke.

No, what Bill Konopnicki is doing here is trying to get some desperately needed publicity. Perhaps his polling is predicting an outcome that is prompting this desperate behavior?

Whatever the case, we are going to continue to campaign hard until the final bell rings, undistracted by Mr. Konopnicki’s and his legal team’s bizarre complaint.

In the meantime, we would recommend that Mr. Konopnicki respond to the campaign finance complaint that was filed inquiring where the expenditures were on his own reports for the radio ads, billboards and other expenses that have been running since March.

          Kelly Townsend, candidate for LD22 GOP legislator, as well as owner and founder of Greater Phoenix Tea Party Patriots has been the focus of some troubling ethical questions due in part, to her website.  Kelly, along with the 912 Tea Party Project Pinal County co-owners with Sassia Niederste-Hollenberg , Stephen (a candidate for Casa Grande School Board)and Melinda Kohut, have acted in ways that contradict the Glenn Beck’s 9 Principles and 12 Values prominently featured on the Pinal County website.

          On these two websites, some of the most incredible blogging activity has occurred over the past six months since JD Hayworth announced his candidacy for Arizona’s US Senate seat in Congress.  It has culminated over the past three weeks with some phenomenal attacks on numerous tea parties in our state, a blog post by a Senate candidate’s wife calling an avowed racist JD Hayworth’s “best friend’ and discovery that one of Jim Deakin’s strongest supporters, and wife of the co-owner of a Pinal County TPP website, pretending to be interested in endorsing a candidate.  Lastly we’ve discovered the completely duplicitous and hypocritical actions by two Tea Party websites and their owners.

           Beginning last April there was growing group Tea Party groups who started working together to form a coalition of Tea Parties for creating resources, sharing ideas and providing a stronger voice in Arizona.  While there was considerable difference as to the shape and form of this coalition, there was complete unanimity in recognizing the need for such an organization.  One of the key issues that developed was the recognition to determine a legal way to endorse candidates.  This culminated on August 2^nd, with a group of 16 statewide and national groups endorsing JD Hayworth for US Senate as the Tea Party candidate.  You would have thought all hell broke loose among Jim Deakin’s supporters, both on the blogs and in Deakin’s campaign.  Jim and his wife Adonia began making posts, attacking all this coalition, calling them “Fake Tea Parties”.  Also Deakin sycophants began making accusations of law violations and threats to file complaints with the Federal Elections Commission.

          One such supporter, Stephen Kohut, co-owner of the 912 Tea Party Project of Pinal County website, has been extremely vociferous, threatening to file complaints with the FEC.  So outspoken has Stephen been speaking out, that you’d almost forget that, at least according to his own words, Kohut did not ‘make up my mind’ until after the July 16-17^th, debates.  Stephen claimed on various Tea Party websites and in his voluminous comments on Sonoran Alliance that he was “undecided” as to his choice for the US Senate.  Kohut EVEN claimed that while his wife Melinda had decided to support Deakin, even contributing $500 to his campaign, he remained “undecided”. Yes, and I have oceanfront property in Quartzite, Arizona for bargain prices!

          With Deakin’s utter failure to garner any Tea Party endorsements, Jim has taken to condemning those Tea Parties who have endorsed JD Hayworth.  This is where it gets interesting.  Kelly Townsend’s Greater Phoenix Tea Party Patriots is a 501(c)4 organization, hence cannot endorse any candidates.  Also, Sassia Niederste-Hollenberg and Stephen Kohut’s 912 Project Pinal County Tea Party Patriots “claims” to be a 501(c)4 group.  ‘Claims’ is the operative word; for last March when I questioned them about a video of some Massachusetts independent ‘endorsing’ Jim Deakin prominently on their front page, and I then repeated my concerns with another question, they suspended me from the website!  Stephen recently called my questioning, “cyber-intimidation”.  Yet, since they weren’t even a 501(c)4 group, my question was irrelevant, EXCEPT they claimed then and now to be a 501(c)4 group!  Why would they make such false statements?

          Here are the facts: when I recently checked the AZ Corporation Commission’s listing of corporations, there was nothing for Kohut’s group at the time.  NOT until May 7^th did a reservation for a group, “Pinal County Tea Party Patriots” appear, reserved by Melinda “Mindy” Kohut.  The reservation expires on September 5^th and to date there appears that no corporation exists.  Then on June 8^th, Kelly Townsend filed for a registration of trade name for “Pinal 912 Tea Party Patriots”; thereby intertwining the two Tea Party groups completely together.  Yet they use their websites to take a cheap shot at the Tea Party groups that endorse candidates.

          Both websites and the Tea Party groups’ leaders, Townsend, Sassia and the Kohuts have been solidly supporting Jim Deakin.  So imagine my surprise last week to find out that Mindy Kohut asked two months ago to join this coalition of Tea Parties.  For the last two months Stephen’s wife, Mindy a contributor to Deakin’s campaign, has been a member of the website, but failed to acknowledge her support for Deakin by joining the Jim Deakin group.  So, while being a member of the Association that was seeking legitimate avenues for endorsing candidates, Melinda’s Pinal County Tea Party Patriots is strongly opposed to endorsements of candidates.  She pretended to support the concept of endorsing a candidate, which WAS an option for Tea Party leaders for ANY candidate, as a result of the Association.  Needless to say, her membership has been terminated.  Here’s the link to their page look for their statement on endorsing candidates: http://thepinalcounty912project.ning.com.

          It’s interesting that Kelly, the Kohuts and Sassia, along with Jim Deakin, want the exclusive right to define WHAT CONSTITUTES A TEA PARTY!  THEN they dare to condemn anyone or group that doesn’t fit THEIR definition!! 

          Now with Kelly Townsend working with and closely allied to the Pinal County group, it’s not too surprising to find that her actions also clearly violate the 912 standards.  For example, over the past eight months numerous groups formerly affiliated with Kelly left her organization.  In most every case she refused to let them keep their name, since SHE was the registered owner.  The key reason for leaving was simply that Kelly concentrated the control and authority in the hands of herself and the members of the board, Les White, Charles McCain, and Chris Rossiter.  For example, after a national group, Tax Day Tea Party, endorsed JD Hayworth, Kelly immediately contacted Robert Mayer, Roger Boone and Patrick Beck of the Tucson, Flagstaff and Bullhead City “Tea Party” groups and issued a press release claiming to be the four largest Tea Parties and that they were NOT endorsing JD Hayworth for the Senate seat.  This press release garnered widespread press attention, thanks to John McCain’s powerful influence.

Two interesting facts about this press release: 1. one members of Kelly’s Board at the time was NOT even informed about the press release, let alone involving her, leading up to the press release!  2. While Kelly’s and Roger’s groups could NOT endorse ANYONE due to their status, the Tucson group had made the decision NOT to endorse any candidate for any race, not just JD Hayworth for the US Senate.  Lastly, Patrick Beck did not EVEN HAVE a Tea Party group!  Sure, he had organized a rally for April 15^th last year that attracted 400 attendees in Bullhead City. However, there were NO meetings, until he set up an ‘association’ last May, and THEN only ONE!  This was a concerted effort to mute the impact of any endorsements for JD Hayworth.

          Lastly, Kelly Townsend shows complete hypocrisy on her website in what she allows or censors in the discussion groups.  Specifically, when there were very heated discussions regarding the Senate race, in the West Valley and the Greater Scottsdale groups, causing several members to complain and leave the discussion pages.  Kelly rightfully set up a Senate discussion group on June 10th, and after she complained to me about ‘strong language’ (not foul, just forceful) she told me in a phone call that in the new group, “almost anything goes”.  Then on June 14^th, I used the term “Deakinistas” in reference to the more rabid supporters, given to insults and personal attacks.  Kelly suspended me, and another person who used the term “Deakinasses” for 30 days.  BY contrast, Adonia Deakin post the MOST despicable of blogs, claiming that JD Hayworth asked his “best friend” David Duke to get his friends to call on his behalf!!  She also posted this on Smart Girl Politics and it was quickly deleted!  Kelly simply asked Adonia to ‘revise’ the post.  SO, Kelly doesn’t mind blatantly false and despicable posts in a completely disgusting display by the wife of Jim Deakin.  Yet she is “offended” by the term “Deakinista”!?

          You have to wonder, DO the Kohuts believe it proper to make false claims of support for the Association, or being “neutral” and criticize all Tea Parties who do not agree with them calling them “Fake”?  Does Kelly Townsend believe that it’s proper to control over 3-5,000 Tea Party members in over a dozen groups, with just 3-5 board members, not giving the leaders of the various groups say in thei leadership?  Further, does she possibly believe that no one can see through the flimsy claim that they don’t really moderate the blogs?  One thing is for certain:  the voters in LD 22 and the Casa Grande School District need to take a very close look at these candidates’ ethics.  BOTH should be subject to a MUCH closer scrutiny, based on their actions over the past six months.