Dennis Durband26

DENNIS DURBAND

2008: Goin’ through the candidates to date

By Dennis Durband, Editor
May 27, 2006

We need a new frame for viewing elections. Let’s face it: “election days” and “election years” are misnomers. There are only “election seasons” – and these seasons never end. They are perpetual motion machines. The year 2008 is well in play and has been for several years already.

Conservatives need to participate vocally throughout these ongoing marathon election seasons in order to let certain political parties and future candidates know who we will and will not support. With the implosion of the Republican Party leadership – namely the White House and Congress – those who have gone off the great reservation of conservative principles can no longer assume that we are a safe constituency. They cannot take us for granted. We have no vested interests in supporting the candidacies of people who do not champion our values and priorities.

If we wait until 2008 to let parties and candidates know our allegiances and our distastes, it will be too late. For the reasons stated, this columnist is going to begin ranking the candidates, declared or mentioned as potential candidates.

1. U.S. Representative Tom Tancredo, Republican, Colorado – Cong. Tancredo has a 99 lifetime rating with the American Conservative Union, including a score of 100 in 2005. He is the undisputed heavyweight champion of congressmen in leading the fight for sane border control and demanding that immigration laws be honored. He is solid on all the social issues. A lot of people want Tancredo to run. He’s not a favorite of the neo-con/RINO power structure within the party, and he would be a refreshing change from the calculating politician mold we are constantly force fed. Tancredo is a long-shot, but he is best qualified.

2. James Gilchrist, Constitution Party – A Vietnam veteran and recipient of the Purple Heart, Gilchrist is a co-founder of the Minutemen Project. He ran unsuccessfully as an Independent candidate for Congress in California earlier this year. One does not get the blessing of the Constitution Party without the right conservative credentials, including a deep appreciation of the nation’s founding fathers and religious heritage, along with social and fiscal soundness. Gilchrist said that if Sen. John McCain enters the presidential race, he will definitely run. And he gained the blessing of the Constitution Party in April.

3. U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback, Republican, Kansas – This is the most disappointing story of the 2008 presidential election season. Brownback is a champion’s champion in standing up for the sanctity of life, opposing abortion, human cloning and destructive embryonic stem cell research. Brownback could have been the No.1-ranked candidate, but he shot himself in both feet by supporting the recent Senate amnesty bill which punishes taxpayers and threatens the nation’s safety and sovereignty. Conservatives cannot support anyone who is solid in every area but illegal immigration.

4. U.S. Sen. Bill Frist, Republican, Tennessee – Sen. Frist’s stock has plummeted in the past year. He lost control of the Senate to the “Gang of 14” and he foolishly came out in favor of destructive embryonic stem research, which has never treated a single illness (adult stem cell research is used in the treatment of at least 65 illnesses). Conservatives are looking for a candidate with leadership skills and commitment to conservative principles.

5. U.S. Sen. George Allen, Republican, Virginia – Allen is a conservative who is rated highly on many social and fiscal conservative accounts. But he has compromised too often in the past to be fully trusted by conservatives. He voted for NAFTA and for CAFTA. He supports three-strikes crime laws. Allen skipped the 2005 National Federation of Republican Assemblies convention because the host Arizona Republican Assembly had censured Sen. John McCain. He worked hard for passage of the Fair and Equitable Tobacco Reform Act which provides billions of dollars to traditional tobacco farmers and quota holders. Allen does not stand out in a crowd the way a Reagan Republican would.

6. Governor Jeb Bush, Republican, Florida – Bush is the most respectable office holder of the Bush family, but two presidents from this family were two too many and we certainly don’t need a third. One more President Bush would qualify the family for a dynasty. Bush is pretty conservative and pretty good on most issues, but he is soft on illegal immigration.

7. Governor Mitt Romney, Republican, Massachusetts – Romney is a calculating politician who was ranked eighth on Human Events’ top 10 list of RINOs (Republicans In Name Only). He recently flip-flopped on a key culture war issue in favor of the homosexual agenda. Additionally, he endorsed legalization of RU-486, an abortion drug which has claimed at least a dozen lives. Has said, “I believe that abortion should be safe and legal in this country.” Romney supports civil unions and stringent gun laws. It’s obvious he tried to appear moderate in a liberal state. That strategy got him elected for state office, but conservatives will see through it when he runs for president.

8. Condoleeze Rice, U.S. Secretary of State – Rice has two big checkmarks against her. She is pro-choice, which automatically eliminates her from voting consideration. More recently, Rice ordered her subordinates at the United Nations to support the application for NGO status of the International Lesbian and Gay Association of Europe – an organization which had harbored the North American Man Boy Love Association, an openly predatory group of pedophiles. Fortunately, the United States was on the losing side in this issue, and the organization was again denied NGO status. The last time the organization applied for NGO recognition, the U.S. opposed it and Rice got a lot of criticism from the radical left. This time she went along with the homosexual agenda in order to avoid criticism. This indicates her inability to weather the criticism that comes with the job at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. More troubling, it indicates her lack of fundamental principles. Rice would have children be exposed to pedophiles if it means less criticism for her. This transgression fails to delineate her from Bill Clinton.

9. Senator John McCain, Republican, Arizona – McCain disdains conservatives and conservatives hold him in contempt. He legislates with liberal Democrats, as evidenced by campaign finance reform, which should have been declared unconstitutional. Lacking an appropriate temperament, he openly and angrily ridicules and mocks conservatives. McCain supports destructive embryonic stem cell research, has worked against gun rights, supports the United Nations, NAFTA, CAFTA and amnesty. He recently voted for the alarming comprehensive Senate immigration monstrosity. The list goes on, but you get the picture.

10. Rudy Giuliani, former mayor of New York City – A true RINO, Giuliani is pro-abortion and supports same-sex “marriage.” He will probably serve in the administration of a future presidential administration, but he will never ignite the GOP base without a sincere conservative transformation.

To say that this list is less than impressive is high understatement.

Dennis Durband is publisher and editor of The Arizona Conservative, is also a freelance writer and webmaster and a longtime journalist.

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Napolitano Ripe for a November Beating

Aug. 12, 2006

Popular Grand Canyon State wisdom seems to be that Janet Napolitano is a cinch to win re-election. This type of thinking ignores political realities, the governor’s weak first-term record and the strength of her Republican opponent.

In handicapping the November gubernatorial election, let’s cover the most quantitative aspect first.

As of March 6, the secretary of state reported 1,042,000 registered Republicans in Arizona, compared to 890,000 registered Democrats and 17,700 Libertarians. Most of the GOP advantage is centered in Maricopa County.

Based on numbers, a Democrat can only win the governor’s race in a close heat, such as 2002 when Napolitano nipped Republican Matt Salmon by one percent of the vote. Even then, it was liberal “Republican” RINOs who made the difference in Napolitano’s favor.

Enough liberal Republicans crossed over to put Napolitano in office four years ago. She over-performed more in Legislative District 8 – Scottsdale, Fountain Hills and Rio Verde – than any so-called “Republican” stronghold. Despite its GOP leanings, District 8 leans left and elects mostly fiscal/social libs to the legislature, like Michele Reagan and Carolyn Allen. Pulled by the strings of Planned Parenthood, these leftist puppets routinely legislate with the Democratic minority.

Pro-abortion “Republicans” will again vote for Napolitano, but they may not be able to overcome the GOP’s voter registration advantage this time.

Recent news reports also indicate that northwest Tucson has gotten more conservative with recent newcomers. Pima County is the state’s second-most populous county and may not support the liberal incumbent quite as well this time around. Normally, liberals run up the score in Pima County and Republicans run it up in the more populous Maricopa County.

The high cost of vetoes

During her first term, Napolitano smashed the state record for most vetoes by a governor. Despite good legislation paralleling her term, the governor killed many a solid, commonsense bill. She went against public opinion in practically every instance. The past two years have been particularly outstanding legislative sessions. The House and Senate have passed dozens of responsible social and fiscal bills, only to have them swatted down by a liberal hell bent on gifting her minority base.

Napolitano has been relentless in working to expand the size of government and take bigger tax bites out of Arizona families. She has been erratic on border invasion bills, and she has an abysmal record on social issues. While the legislature was passing outstanding bills, Napolitano obsessed on all-day kindergarten. The governor killed numerous bills which would have protected women and children from a myriad of social harms.

It is now time for the governor to pay the piper, to suffer the consequences of her outrageous and indefensible veto record.

Here is a partial list of just a few of the vetos Napolitano made:

HB 2577 – 2006; illegal immigration law
HB 2004—2006; tuition tax credit
HB 2102—2006; opposed state review of an office supply contract, deferring instead to her handpicked staff to prevent the public from gaining adequate oversight of state government
HB 2142 – 2006; prevents sale of human eggs; result is that women will be subject to health risks; anti-woman veto
HB 2254 – 2006; fetal pain
HB 2315 – 2006; increase the burden of proof for medical malpractice
HB 2650 – 2006; prevented legislative control of federal funds; insisting on one person’s right, the governor’s, to control half the state’s funding as opposed to 90 people in the legislature
HB 2666—2006; requires parental consent for minor’s abortion to be notarized; (previously a boy’s email was accepted by a judge; fraud potential)
HB 2701 – 2006; mandated National Guard troops on the border; she wants to wait for federal action—not the sign of a leader to wait when there is a crisis; counting her votes!

Additional blunders

In addition to answering for all those vetoes, Napolitano must answer for her autocratic, out-of-step-with-the-mainstream governing style.

This governor has an anti-family, anti-woman, anti-child record. She vetoed a bill that would have required abortion clinics to level with women on the risks associated. Thousands of woman are now at risk, as a result of this veto. Many women will suffer physical and emotional trauma. We have had deaths and sexual assaults in abortion clinics, and we probably have not seen the last of them yet.

Through an unpopular executive order, the governor made sexual orientation a protected designation in state government.

Napolitano made 13 line-item vetoes for the 2003-2004 budget. She also made line-item additions to the state budget, drawing a lawsuit from GOP leadership in the process. Only her liberal friends on the bench saved her bacon.

This governor incessantly tries to grab more and more of your hard-earned money, pushing for tax increases and a bloated, ever-expanding state government.

Last year, the governor underhandedly used a billboard campaign thinly disguised as PR for a state program. She has no shame.

All of these negatives are off the radar of the liberal mainstream media throughout Arizona. They love her for opposing the conservative legislature, one that has been selected by a conservative majority in this state.

While the majority of Arizonans believe in God, Napolitano was very slow in coming around to supporting the National Day of Prayer.

And let’s not forget her skirting of the law in re-naming Squaw Peak and Squaw Peak Parkway for political purposes aimed at maintaining support from Navajo Democrats.

We haven’t touched upon some biggies:

Crime in Arizona is ridiculously high, and this goes as a black mark on the governor’s record. She did nothing to cut down on the state’s worsening crime rate.

Education has not improved either. Like a good liberal, the governor keeps trying to throw more money at a failed system that produces far too many people who are illiterate, ignorant and inadequate for the labor force. Napolitano’s obsession with all-day kindergarten is just more feel-good-based liberal dart throwing at education, as well as an attempt to give the state more control over parents and their children.

Budget “negotiations” always showed Napolitano’s true nature – as a person whose word means nothing. Her promises and agreements often rang hollow.

This is a governor with an ego the size of the Jack-In-the-Box guy’s head. And she lacks the record to justify her massive ego. In short, she has been a disaster for this state. Change and a new direction are needed.

The governor’s campaign signs tell it all. They omit the fact that she is a Democrat, and they are dark blue … in a red state.

Dennis Durband is publisher and editor of The Arizona Conservative, is also a freelance writer and webmaster and a longtime journalist.

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