He voted for HB 2218 which would allow concealed carry permit holders into restaurants that serve liquor.For those of you that remember, this was the bill that Graf was famously ridiculed for on an episode of the Daily Show. You can check it out here. A part that was my particular favorite was when Graf compared the United States Constitution to the rules of golf. I'm not sure how publicizing his vote on this bill helps him, the bill was roundly criticized even by Republicans. The folks that like it are allready with him. This must be why he hasn't broken 40% yet.|W|P|116230869902361538|W|P|And This Will Win Him Votes Because...?|W|P|prezelski@aol.com
THERE IS NO EBB IN THE WAVE: With the election just eight days away, there are no signs that this wave is abating. Barring a dramatic event, we are looking at the prospect of GOP losses in the House of at least 20 to 35 seats, possibly more, and at least four in the Senate, with five or six most likely.|W|P|116230432798980706|W|P|CD 5 - Charlie Cook Revises Rating|W|P|prezelski@aol.com
Deport GrijalvaAh, classy guys. If you don't get the joke, you see Raúl Grijalva is Hispanic, so we can send him back to Mexico, right? There are also bumper stickers being circulated around town that say "Deport Grijalva" as well. Before anyone claims that this is about policy and not about race, why haven't there been any "Deport Pederson," "Deport Giffords," "Deport Napolitano," or "Deport Flake" for that matter? Well, Napolitano could sound Hispanic, but, she's of Italian descent. God knows, the Republicans wouldn't mock people of Italian descent, would they? Just so you know, Grijalva was born here, his family having moved from Canoa (near where Randy Graf's favorite Green Valley golf courses are now). His father had come to Arizona as part of the bracero program, the World War II program to bring Mexican farmworkers here to fill the gaps for Americans that were fighting overseas. Funny, no one was asking for them to be deported then. This, along with the earlier "American Name" incident, tells me that many of the folks that come out for Drake don't seem to understand that merely having a Spanish surname doesn't make you less American. I find this particularly insulting, given that my Hispanic ancestors were here one hundred years before any significant Anglo population was here. I guess they all needed to be deported.|W|P|116200125573551114|W|P|More Assinine Humor From Our Republican Friends|W|P|prezelski@aol.com
He told the National Taxpayers Union in their candidate survey that he supported Social Security privatization. This is from his answer in their survey:As for federal health-care programs like Medicare, Graf said that after years of government involvement, the time could be right for citizens to “take control” in an effort to combat rising costs. “Perhaps government needs to get out of it,” he said.
Asked if he would support the elimination of Medicare, Graf did not reject the idea but said, “It’s not going to be done over-night.” And asked about what should happen in case of poor families who can't afford costly medical care, Graf said “hard decisions” will have to be made.
I recognize that Social Security will default on its obligations to future retirees unless fundamental reforms are made. Therefore, I will work and vote for a system of Social Security Choice that will allow younger workers to have the choice of investing much of their Social Security taxes in regulated individual retirement accounts. Current retirees and those nearing retirement would not have any change in their Social Security benefits. Social Security Choice will give younger workers the option of ownership of personal Social Security accounts, with higher rates of return and better benefits than are possible under the current system.Graf voiced his opposition to federal funding of stem-cell research as recently as August in an article about the issue in the Tucson Weekly.
"It's not eliminating embryonic stem-cell research," Graf says. "It's just making sure that taxpayer dollars are not going into it."Let me get this right: when Graf himself declares these positions, it makes him a man of principles. When Giffords points out that he has those positions, it is a distortion. Let me take some time to wrap my head around that and I'll get back to you.|W|P|116192537962425090|W|P|CD 8 Debate Report: Principles Above Politics Except When Those Principles Don't Poll Well|W|P|prezelski@aol.com
Gabrielle Giffords (D-Tucson) - 48.2% Randy Graf (R-Green Valley) - 38.2% Undecided - 10.5% Jay Quick (I-Tucson) - 1.6% Dave Nolan (L-Carpetbagger) - 1.5%
Graf has gained slightly since the last Zimmerman poll, but given the hammering that he has been delivering Giffords in radio and television ads, you'd think that she'd have some significant slippage. 39.4% of the district's voters are registered Republicans. It is hard to judge this without looking at the crosstabs, but it seems like Graf's support among independents and pinto Democrats is negligible at best since his polling number only barely reaches this. Giffords, on the other hand, is doing far better than the Democratic registration of 34.0%. I suppose I'll read on the Republican blogs that:
I cannot believe the Citizen has chosen Ted Prezelski over Bruce Murchison for state legislator. Hasn't Murchison shown good potential with his three education proposals? His district and education, as a whole, are his passions. What is Tucson becoming when we fail to elect the best and the brightest? Jade StokesThe funny thing is, the Citizen didn't endorse me in either one of my runs for public office, so I don't know what he's talking about.|W|P|116188272706842154|W|P|Note: He Wears Chuck Taylors, I Wear Sambas|W|P|prezelski@aol.com
I just absolutely could not like this guy any more than I do. Jeez... Finally, a man I trust and respect. Love, love, love.|W|P|116178357092502291|W|P|"That Cute Goth Chick From NCIS" Endorses Obama|W|P|prezelski@aol.com
In fact, our staff has learned that one of the nation's leading non-partisan political experts, Larry J. Sabato, of the University of Virginia, is now predicting Randy will win, keeping CD8 in the Republican column. As recently as late September, Sabato had called the contest between Randy and Gabrielle Giffords "a toss-up."Well, that would certainly be a problem for Giffords, 'cept it ain't totally true. They are correct in as much as Sabato had, at one point, called the race a "toss up." Only a complete moron would have thought otherwise. As of Friday, Sabato moved the race over to "Leans Democrat." So, the only movement in the race, according to Sabato, has been away from Graf. As for the claim that Sabato is about to move the race back into the "toss up" category, exactly what is it that is supposed to have gone on since Friday that would make Sabato do that so soon after moving it the other way? Hey, Graf may be pulling ahead for all I know. After all, there is that secret KUAT poll, right? But guys, couldn't you phony up a source that, I dunno, isn't so easy for wags like me to debunk?|W|P|116166622147762577|W|P|I Think It Is Called Truthiness|W|P|prezelski@aol.com
If this trend holds up in multiple polls, this might be a tightening of the race, though representing mostly a drop-off from Gabby [Giffords] to undecideds, rather than any meaningful gain for [Randy] Graf. I've heard rumors of a as-yet-unreleased poll from UofA's KUAT showing the gap between Graf and Giffords as narrow as 6%, which would confirm a trend, but I haven't got solid sourcing on that as yet and am looking into it.At least when that was put up, it was put up as a rumor. But, this morning, Arizona 8th not only put up the rumor as Gospel, but further asserted that KUAT is also supressing the results of a second poll and fired a producer for leaking the results. So, I called the Arch-Duke of KUAT's award winning news operation, Bill Buckmaster. Buckmaster told me that there is no poll and no producer has been fired. KUAT has not hired a pollster and does not have an in-house polling operation. From the beginning, the CD 8 race has been rife with rumors like this one based on a rather faulty premise: that a media organization would spend 'round about $10,000 on a poll, then not use it. It is especially silly here, since the claim is that a local public television station would waste money on two polls that they don't make public. Heck, they are so tight that I couldn't even keep my snazzy KUAT coffee mug after my appearance on their flagship news program. I found it funny that the rumor was that Graf was only six points behind. If you remember, local Republican bloggers were gushing about another "secret" media poll a while back that showed that Ron Drake was six points behind Raúl Grijalva. What is so magical about six? It was claimed that that poll had been commissioned by the Tucson Citizen, who were of course, supressing it. Actually, it really depended on who you talked to. I think it was claimed that every media outlet in Southern Arizona except for maybe 110° and Soda Pop had commissioned the poll and burried it. As it turns out, the poll was an internal campaign poll conducted by a firm that has in the past done work for the Citizen, but not commissioned by them. The "down by 6%" was only after recipients heard a list of negatives about Grijalva, and a series of positive statements about Drake. So, in other words, the poll said that if everyone hears Drake's message, he still loses by six points. Not exactly something to brag about. Of course, these little fables are being told to give these candidates the illusion of momentum. Well, that's all they've got right now, I guess.|W|P|116130561958323727|W|P|Another Moronic CD8 Rumor Disembowled: A Public Service I Provide Free of Charge|W|P|prezelski@aol.com
Vote for the American nameSo, what exactly are y'all saying there? Funny thing, an early appearance of the name "Grijalva" in our little part of the Americas was way back in 1775, when a guy named Juan Pablo de Grijalva was part of the Juan Bautista de Anza expedition that travelled from Mexico, helped settle Tubac and Tucson and eventually made it all the way up to San Francisco. I can't imagine there were too many "Drakes" out here back then, 'cept maybe for the ones that were waddling on the banks of the then-flowing Santa Cruz river. (Far as I know, Raúl Grijalva wasn't related to this guy, but I had one and possibly two Spanish surnamed ancestors that made the trip.) I certainly hope that these people were not trying to suggest that people with Spanish surnames are not qualified to be "American." If they do, I suggest a quick perusal of this website. Where does this stop, exactly? If we don't allow Spanish names, what about those of other romance languages, say, Italian or French? Why stop there? Have you looked at my crazy Polish last name lately (A worse tongue twister for most than "Grijalva")? I suppose we should only elect folks of good Anglo-Saxon stock. NB - I saw one Drake supporter leaving the debate with a rosary in his hand. I guess he anticipated that Drake's performance was going to be so bad that he needed intercession from the BVM (it didn't work). This particular supporter was obviously Catholic, which leads me to believe that he probably is not one with an English last name. Did he see the irony in this?|W|P|116128271449009192|W|P|And They Wonder Why Hispanics Aren't Falling Over Themselves to Vote for Them|W|P|prezelski@aol.com
Now Kathy Dong (who is not an elected board member) is wrecking havoc on the board as revenge for Mama's dismissal as President. BTW, is 'Dong' a North Korean name? (North Korea was testing Taepo-Dong missiles recently) This is not NORTH KOREA. We live in a democracy. If you don't agree with how an elected official is acting...you vote he or she out of office! That is exactly what Dong's fellow board members did and you should not act in retaliation against democracy.Nice. The e-mail also accuses Eva Dong of being connected with people who slaughter goats. I don't get it either. I suppose if this was the fifteenth or twentieth comment, I could see that a discussion could degenerate into this sort of ugliness. But, this was the very first comment. I've seen this sort of thing with many of the on-line comments on Star stories. What is it about the comment section that seems to bring out the racists?|W|P|116128107858081642|W|P|The Star's Comment Section Brings Out the Best in Everyone, Doesn't it?|W|P|prezelski@aol.com
Pick almost any major national issue - illegal immigration, the war in Iraq, the No Child Left Behind Act - and Raúl Grijalva is ready to challenge the status quo.Of course, the online version of the editorial is immediately followed by the de riguer racist response.|W|P|116127946141118936|W|P|I Don't Know, It May Have Helped Drake a Wee Bit if He Showed Up to the Editorial Board|W|P|prezelski@aol.com
Cobb is from Avondale. Grijalva is an incumbent.Way to be classy there, fella.|W|P|116123618841496117|W|P|Mallard to Students: Stop Stealing Pell Grant Money!|W|P|prezelski@aol.com
Republicans comprise a substantial minority in our District, yet we have not had representation for some time.Hmm. You know, years ago, I met with some Green Party leaders. They wanted to see if there was some way to push for alternative election systems, particularly proportional representation. They seem to have since abandoned the effort for proportional representation, but local Green Party matron Claudia Ellquist has been putting her efforts to instant run-off voting. It's sounding to me like Phillips is endorsing proportional representation (unless he is only angry about Republicans being "unrepresented" in Democratic districts). Maybe he can get together with Ellquist and revive her effort for European style democracy in Arizona. Let's do it!|W|P|116118126182726630|W|P|Bill Phillips (Hearts) Lani Guinier?|W|P|prezelski@aol.com
Russell Pearce is a good American patriot. We are of a like mind. I am proud of his endorsement.I don't only have a problem with this because he is standing by Pearce despite what we are all finding out about him, but also because Graf is trying to have it both ways. When the heat was on Pearce most heavily last week, Pearce's name disappeared from his endorsement list. It has since re-appeared. He also quietly shelved his ad featuring Pearce and Karen Johnson. The link to the commercial disappeared. (It can still be found here.) So, last week he distanced himself from Pearce hoping no one would notice, now they are best pals again. Is that principle or politics? I can't tell.|W|P|116114758834111054|W|P|Randy (Hearts) Rusty|W|P|prezelski@aol.com
Pederson has the nerve to compare an expert on terrorism and national security to Osama bin Laden and then he runs off to raise money for Hamas on the weekend we commemorate the worst terrorist attack in our country's history.Okay, when the heck did Jim Pederson "raise money for Hamas"? How is this not libelous? I know some ridiculous things get put in the comments on here, but they can be quickly responded to. Patterson got this e-mail, and chose to post it with little or no opportunity for someone to refute it. It may be silly and irrelevant to knock Pederson for his son or his wealth, but at least they have some basis, however tenuous, in fact. In essence, this e-mail accuses Pederson of treason. Is this the sort of thing we'll be treated to over the next couple of weeks? Nice. A less inflamatory e-mail went up over the last day or so, but once again, with an allegation that is none the less, shall we say, poorly documented:
Have you seen the latest Jim Pederson ad with what appears to be active duty military personnel criticizing John Kyle [sic] and President Bush’s handling of the war? It is not legal for active duty military personnel to be overtly involved in political campaigns, particularly when it involves criticizing their Commander-in-Chief . . . Which begs the question, are they active duty military personnel? Probably not, but this new misleading ad of the week has set a new standard. It leads the viewer to think that these men are active duty because they are shown in uniform with their name and rank.Here is the ad in question. Two contradictory allegations are made here: that military personel are campaigning in uniform, or that Pederson is being deceptive by showing them at all. Notice that one sailor, Andrew Vera, is featured wearing dog tags but not a uniform, and soldier Tomás Chavez is wearing something similar to a uniform, but it has no insignia on it. These men are not in uniform. Their rank is given because they served. My father can still go by Master Sergeant if he chooses, even though he's been retired for 20 years. They can use that rank for life because they earned that right. The fact is, these guys served in theater and saw the results of the administration's mismanagement of the war. That is all that Pederson is showing by giving their rank. At least the tempest-in-a-teapot crusade against the 9-11 memorial was actually based some facts. One has to wonder if the writer's objection has more to do with the views expressed in the ad.|W|P|116074439495021832|W|P|Silly Allegations About Pederson|W|P|prezelski@aol.com
Given the regrettable and disturbing nature of the e-mail Russell Pearce circulated earlier this week, I cannot in good conscience lend my endorsement to his candidacy for state Representative. While Russell has issued an apology for his e-mail, I nonetheless will not be associated with any communication that contains anti-Semitic remarksNext time Russell, make sure you only quote anti-Semetic remarks from Henry Ford. That seems to be okay with Rep. Hayworth.|W|P|116067195286275615|W|P|Now He Tells Us|W|P|prezelski@aol.com
For example, a racially mixed couple will be respected, liked, and socially sought after by other characters, as will a "take charge" Black scholar or businessman, or a sensitive and talented homosexual, or a poor but honest and hardworking illegal alien from Mexico. On the other hand, a White racist—that is, any racially conscious White person who looks askance at miscegenation or at the rapidly darkening racial situation in America—is portrayed, at best, as a despicable bigot who is reviled by the other characters, or, at worst, as a dangerous psychopath who is fascinated by firearms and is a menace to all law-abiding citizens. The White racist "gun nut," in fact, has become a familiar stereotype on TV shows.Yeah, he had no idea that might contain "insensitive" statements. It gets worse from there for those of you willing to read the whole vile thing. Pearce claims that he didn't know the contents of the article and doesn't agree with them. I find this incredibly unlikely. The local media should pursue this. This isn't a matter of him just using the word "wetback," this is a matter of asking questions about who he is associating with and what motivates him politically. Unfortunately, the media and political establishment is too quick to laugh this sort of thing off as "well, that's Russ." This guy has an awful lot of power, and was even talked about as a candidate for higher office. It's high time some one asks some tough questions. Of course, he could just be a moron that is sending articles to people without reading them. So, he's either a bigot or an idiot. Which is it, Russ?|W|P|116057733919482256|W|P|Pearce: I'm Not a Racist, I Just Can't Read|W|P|prezelski@aol.com
Computer Crash and Burn: In AZ 08, ex-State Rep. Randy Graf's (R) camp asked his volunteers "to re-register with the" camp, as " computer problems" made "a large portion" of their volunteer database "inaccessible." In a newsletter, Graf's camp said it is "extremely apologetic for the inconvenience" and said "the problem has been corrected."For all of the bluster that he doesn't need national support, he does need some. Hotline is read by national donors and the people that run PACs. This sort of publicity can't help.|W|P|116057582251664227|W|P|Oops!|W|P|prezelski@aol.com
Republicans comprise a substantial minority in our District, yet we have not had representation for some time. I believe there is a need for a different voice - a representative who appreciates limited government, lower taxes and fiscal responsibility. In the past four years our two incumbents personally introduced 68 bills of which only 5 became law. We deserve better. Each District has two members in the State House of Representatives. I am the lone Republican in this race. We have a golden opportunity to elect a represenatative who will be more effective on issues important to our District. Since there are two open seats, you are allowed to vote for up to any two candidates. There is no requirement, however, to exercise both votes. Consider exercising only one of your two available votes - just for BILL PHILLIPS. This is likened to casting two votes for one candidate. Using the second vote would necessitate your voting for the other party. I ask for the privilege of being your State Representative.Interesting that Phillips attacks Dave Bradley and Ted Downing for not passing gobs of bills. Given most of what has been passing the legislature, I would consider this a good thing. You'd expect him to then take the tack of, "Elect me, a Republican, so I can work with the Republican leadership." Instead, he takes the rather technical track of explaining the strategy of "single shoting." He even includes a helpful diagram to show how this is done. "Single shoting" is when a candidate for one reason or another asks that his or her supporters only use one of their two votes, so that the second vote will not help out one of the other candidates running. This can work very well in a partisan race where one candidate of the majority party is noticeably weaker than the other. This is a large part of how Jennifer Burns got elected in an otherwise decent Democratic year and also how Ted Poelstra was elected. Poelstra also had the advantage of a strong Green party candidate, Katie Bolger, who drew considerable numbers of Democratic votes. In this race, I wonder if this strategy will work. The last registration counts show a Democratic advantage of 43%-29%. With this sort of advantage, one of the two Democratic nominees would have to be considerably weaker than the other for Phillips to take advantage. If the primary results are to be believed, the two Democrats will probably capture both votes of most Democrats. The thing that is funny to me about this appeal is that it is pretty partisan. Why would you make a partisan appeal like this to independent voters? Independent voters are precisely the sort that don't like partisan messages. In addition, independents in Tucson tend to be left of center or even futher left than the Democratic party. It is difficult to believe that an appeal that says "let's mess with the Democrats by single shoting!" would find much support.|W|P|116053103155471180|W|P|Don't Waste Your Vote!|W|P|prezelski@aol.com