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Republican Winning Equals Democrats Losing

November 17, 2011 By 18 Comments

By Jake Brown

How bad are things for the Arizona Democratic party these days? Apparently, it’s bad enough that they are celebrating Republican victories.

Democrat party chairman, Andrei Cherny, wrote of the recall of state Senator Russell Pearce, “Doesn’t it feel good to start winning again?” Sorry to rain on your parade, Andrei, but conservative Republican, Jerry Lewis, won that election. In fact, Democrats didn’t even bother to field a candidate against Russell Pearce.

I was always told you can’t win unless you play the game, but apparently that’s not how things work if you are an Arizona Democrat.

It is far-fetched to say the least that Democrats can claim this as a victory in Arizona, much less interpret the November 8th election results as foreshadowing Democratic victories in the 2012 election. No Democrat won in LD 18 because no Democrat ran in LD 18. Someone needs to help Andrei connect the dots.

Let’s be clear: Pearce lost because he’s an unlikeable guy who ran a lousy campaign fraught with dirty backroom games like recruiting sham candidate Olivia Cortez. Voters of all parties see through that—and no voter should stand for such tactics. Jerry Lewis’s victory was one for Republicans, who last week welcomed a thoughtful, fresh voice into their fold.

So, Andrei, celebrate our GOP state Senate victory all you want. We just hope you’ll be as thrilled when Jeff Flake gets elected to the U.S. Senate.

Filed Under: Campaigns & Elections, Guest Opinion, Liberals Tagged With: , , , ,

Democrats Launch Arizona Attack Ad on Mitt Romney

October 25, 2011 By 5 Comments

Here is a sample of a video interview used to create a campaign ad. In a day and age when every political appearance is assumed to be video taped, candidates should assume that anything they say will be spliced, diced and spun to benefit their opponent. In this specific case, the Las Vegas Journal Review recently conducted an interview with Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney. In the interview, they asked Romney what his proposal would be to solve the housing and foreclosure crisis. Once the clip went live, Democrats seized the opportunity to spin a campaign ad out of an abbreviated version of the clip. Watch both the ad and the unedited full version of the clip and see how Democrats take a statement out of context and use it against the candidate.

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And here is the full video response:

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You be the judge.

Filed Under: Campaigns & Elections, Liberals, Media, Political Parties Tagged With: ,

Violence is in the Eye of the Beholder

September 6, 2011 By 9 Comments

Statement released by Democrat and House Minority Leader, Chad Campbell:

“First, the actions of the Pima County Republicans are shocking, disrespectful and in poor taste at best. To raffle off the same brand of gun used to assault Congresswoman Giffords and kill and injure several others, including a 9-year-old girl, is unconscionable. 

“Arizona is still healing from these wounds. If any good could have come out of this horrific event, it would be civility in our state or employing sensitivity when needed, not reopening the wounds or making light of them. 

“I am gun owner myself, a supporter of the Second Amendment and I also believe in common sense. Their raffle is not common sense; it is sick, and the Pima County GOP should call off the raffle in respect for the Arizonans who died and were injured in the Tucson shooting. It’s time for all of us to check ourselves in mutual respect for one another so we can all work together to make our state stronger.”

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UPDATE: The White House made this official statement regarding yesterday’s speech by Teamster President, Jimmy Hoffa:

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Filed Under: 2nd Amendment, Crime and Punishment, Culture, Debates, Political Parties Tagged With: , , , ,

Keeping an eye on the political enemy – Arizona Democrats

August 16, 2011 By 7 Comments

You will rarely ever see us give the Democrats “ink” on the pages of Sonoran Alliance but I thought it might be a good lesson to show how Arizona Democrats are using talking points handed down by the DNC to raise money and dramatically adjust their messaging. Here is their latest message from their fear-spreading leader. You will see how Democrats are going to make the Tea Party the enemy in 2012:

  1. Associate Republicans in Congress to the Tea Party
  2. Make the Tea Party Movement look unreasonable
  3. Make the Tea Party Movement appear obsessed with frivolous obsessions
  4. Associate the Tea Party with Russell Pearce
  5. Make Russell Pearce the new bogeyman
  6. Present Arizona children as victims of Republican policy via education, health care
  7. Refer to congressional Republicans as hostage takers and extremists
Once they whip up their supporters into a frenzy based on lies, they go for the exploitation of their dollars. Sadly there supporters are too ignorant to discern fact from democrat fiction. This ought to make your blood boil, especially if you belong to a Tea Party.
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Friend– 

Next year’s election is already shaping up to be an incredible opportunity for Democrats. 

New polls every week show that Americans are tired of the Tea Party Congress and its inability to lead. 

I’m confident we can win critical races throughout the state – but not without a fight. 

Last year was bruising — here in Arizona and all over America. 

The truth is, last year we were playing defense when we should have been on the offense. 

This election is going to be different – we have nothing to be scared of. The Russell Pearce Republicans are stuffing more kids in each classroom and kicking kids off healthcare. They’ve wasted time on Tea Party license plates and hunting for President Obama’s birth certificate, but haven’t lifted a finger to help create jobs. 

Believe it or not, the Tea Party Congress in Washington is even worse. These politicans held our economy hostage in order to advance their extreme agenda. 

We know most Arizonans are with us on the issues, but we can’t win without a strong grassroots organization to support our candidates. 

As chair, I’ve seen the incredible work that our dedicated volunteers, field organizers and country organizations do. 

We are now working together like never before to fund voter registration drives, candidate trainings and vote-by-mail programs. 

But you and I know these programs are expensive. I need your help to fund the early work that will allow us to win next year. 

The Arizona Democratic Party has launched a monthly giving program, DEM-AZ. This exclusive group of supporters is directly funding our grassroots organization. Every dime that we raise through this program is invested right back into voter registration, training volunteers and contacting voters on the phone and at their door. 

DEM-AZ members have committed to donate $20 per month to make sure Democrats have the organization we need to reelect President Obama, win a U.S. Senate race, take back critical House seats, and make historic gains at the state Legislature. 

Timing is critical on this – we can fight hard next year, but if we don’t build the organization we need now, we aren’t going to be able to get past the finish line. Having strong county organizations, well-trained volunteers and more voters is critical to our success. 

We’ve set an ambitious goal of signing up 50 new members to DEM-AZ this month. I hope we can count on you to be one of those new members. 

Click here to sign up and become one of the DEM-AZ members who have committed to building the organization we need to win in 2012. 

Thank you for your continued help and support. 

Andrei Cherny,
Chair, Arizona Democratic Party

Filed Under: Political Parties Tagged With: , ,

Obama Law Firm Targets John Huppenthal

June 24, 2010 By 11 Comments

Obama Law Firm Targets John Huppenthal

Democrats Appeal To Arizona Supreme Court To Take Conservative Candidate Name Off Arizona Ballot

PHOENIX, ARIZONA. JUNE 23, 2010.  Perkins Coie Brown & Bain, an international law firm that represented the Presidential campaigns of Barack Obama and John Kerry, has set its litigation gun sights on stopping the people of Arizona from having the opportunity to vote for John Huppenthal in the Republican Primary Election for Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Last week,  Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Robert Oberbillig dismissed a Democratic Party lawsuit that sought to have Huppenthal’s name removed from the ballot based on claims the signatures were collected too early.  Judge Oberbillig stated it would be an “extreme remedy” to throw out signatures that everyone agreed were not collected in a fraudulent or irregular way.

Yesterday, the law firm of Perkins Coie Brown & Bain filed an appeal with the Arizona Supreme Court, again seeking to have Huppenthal’s name removed from the Republican Primary Election Ballot.

According to the Wikipedia article on Perkins Coie:

“Perkins Coie is an international law firm based in Seattle, Washington.   …The firm is counsel of record for the Democratic National Committee, and other political clients include nearly all Democratic members of the United States Congress, as well as several Presidential campaigns, including those of John Kerry and Barack Obama. …With its main office located in Seattle, Perkins Coie is the oldest and largest law firm headquartered in the Pacific Northwest.

…In 2009, President Obama appointed Robert Bauer, the Chair of the firm’s Political Law Group, to become his White House Counsel.  … The firm also represents the Democratic Leadership Council, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.”

Democratic party has a long history of unsuccessful attacks on Huppenthal

The attempt by the Democratic Party to have Huppenthal’s name removed from the ballot by litigation is just the latest in a long history of attacks.

Recently, the Democratic Party attempted to smear Huppenthal by promoting a doctored video that purported to show Huppenthal walking out of an interview with a high school student.  The political dirty trick was exposed when the student journalist spoke out to set the record straight.  An editorial in the Arizona Republic condemned the Democrat’s doctored video in strong language, stating “Sometimes, a lie really is just a lie.“

In 2008, the Arizona Democratic Party spent tens of thousands of dollars on independent expenditures that made wild claims about Huppenthal and implied he was responsible for child abductions, cancer-causing toxins, internet sex crimes and the release of violent criminals.  The Democrat’s spending on attack ads failed to produce results,  and Huppenthal went on to defeat the Democratic candidate by more than 15%.

About John Huppenthal

John Huppenthal is one of Arizona’s leading authorities on education issues. In addition to being the current Senate Education Chairman, Huppenthal has served for 17 consecutive years on the State House and State Senate education committees.

Huppenthal’s reputation for making policy based on the best research available is well established. A September 2008 editorial in The Arizona Republic stated:

“…Huppenthal is a veteran of the Legislature, having chaired five committees and being as knowledgeable about the bill-making process as any of his colleagues. He’s a pragmatic conservative who bases his positions on exhaustive research and works across party lines to get worthwhile bills passed. Huppenthal insists that legislation be based on best practices from around the country, and he’s prone to arcane dissertations based on stacks of studies he has compiled as he delves into state and district problems. It’s not sexy stuff but it’s necessary to guide a legislative process too often led astray by raw politics and emotion.”

Senator Huppenthal played a key role in helping create school choice for parents. In 1995, as Senate Education Chairman, his legislation took the caps off charter schools. This legislation moved Arizona to first in the nation in school choice (ALEC rankings). In addition, Congressman Trent Franks named Senator Huppenthal one of three legislators most responsible for creating and expanding tuition tax credits in Arizona.

During Huppenthal’s legislative career he successfully developed and passed over 200 bills – the most of any legislator in Arizona history. A substantial number of those bills were education related. Huppenthal’s efforts resulted in the creation of the Career Ladder program for teachers, improved measures of academic progress, and higher graduation standards. Huppenthal also worked closely with the disabled community to improve opportunities for children with special challenges, including creating a model summer school for children with autism, increasing resources for the blind and deaf, expanding textbook formats to accommodate children with disabilities and reducing mandates on teachers.

Huppenthal has been a leader in adopting performance pay in education. After reviewing over 700 studies and creating new concepts in performance pay, Arizona’s career ladder program has become the only performance pay system in the country resulting in statistically-verifiable academic gains. His legislation resulted in enabling Arizona to be the only state nationally where every teacher has a significant portion of pay dependent upon performance measures (Prop 301 Classroom Site Fund).

In 2010, Senator Huppenthal sponsored and helped pass major education reform legislation. Known as the “Truth in Advertising” bill, SB 1286 improves accountability by requiring the Arizona Department of Education to rate the performance of schools with easily understood letter grades (A, B, C, D or F). The grades will be based upon overall performance and academic gains over time. The “Truth in Advertising” law is modeled after similar reforms in Florida which significantly improved academic achievement.

For more information, please visit www.JohnHuppenthal.com or contact Emily Graham.

Filed Under: Campaigns & Elections Tagged With: , , , , , ,