DENNIS DURBAND

2006 Primary: Cause for Celebration and Concern

Sept. 20, 2006

And now there is one.

With the 2006 primary ouster of State Sen. Toni Hellon last week, Sen. Carolyn Allen remains the only RINO in the Arizona Senate. Mainstream media tried to make the case that Colette Rosati’s loss to Allen is a big defeat for conservatives, but the truth is Legislative District 8 (Scottsdale, Rio Verde and Fountain Hills) is a stronghold of liberal “Republicans” and Rosati faced an uphill battle from the beginning.

Nevertheless, the outing of Hellon is a major coup for the Arizona conservative movement. Hellon is a Planned Parenthood liberal who repeatedly voted against women and children. Equally important, it means that she won’t be chairing the Senate K-12 Education Committee any longer, where she blocked commonsense conservative legislation.

The loss of Hellon is a major defeat for the pro-abortion WISH List. WISH is the Women in Senate and House infestation of the Republican Party directly opposed to the GOP’s pro-life platform plank. Two of its three Senate members have been outed in the past two elections. Linda Binder chose not to run in 2004, rather than face the more popular pro-life Ron Gould, who will begin his second Senate term next winter.

In all, three of the four Senate RINOs have been removed from the Senate in the past two election cycles. Slade Mead got hammered by conservative John Huppenthal in the 2004 GOP Primary. Mead more recently showed his true colors by deciding to run as a Democrat for state superintendent of public instruction. He had previously masqueraded as a Democrat in Republican clothing during one term in the Senate.

Each legislative seat is vital to over-riding the outrageous assembly line of vetoes surely to be served by leftist Gov. Janet Napolitano if she is re-elected in November.

Of course, Len Munsil has a legitimate shot at preventing the disaster of another Napolitano term. Munsil won handily in the GOP Primary race for governor.

This should be a tougher election for Napolitano than her 2002 run against Matt Salmon, who succumbed to a major Republican revolt. The RINOs he defeated in the primary four years ago, Betsey Bayless and Carol Springer, helped Napolitano win. In fact, many members of the Arizona Federation of Republican Women helped her beat Salmon. The Cactus Wrens women’s club cheered the loss of their party’s candidate.

This time, the loser in the GOP Primary, Don Goldwater, is solidly behind the winner, Munsil. The Goldwater name has weakened in recent decades, but will still be of use to Munsil, a Reagan conservative.

The growing “big tent” movement within the Arizona Republican Party is a red alarm for conservatives. It portends that any warm body is a welcome Republican body. If this trend continues, the GOP may just as well toss its platform in the trash can; it won’t be worth the paper it is printed on. In fact, the platform was weakened in 2004 when President Bush strong-armed a guest worker amnesty plank into it. A big tent welcomes anybody and everybody – regardless of beliefs and positions on the issues. Principle is lost in the process. If Planned Parenthood activist endorsees, social conservatives and everyone in-between are welcomed, the Republican Party becomes little more than a social club with no soul. Pass the wine and cheese; there will be no reason to discuss issues or what is best for the nation.

The day may be coming when conservatives, Right to Life Party members from the East Coast and the sprinkling of Constitution Party conservatives from around the nation will unite into a well defined coalition of conservatives.

Meanwhile, hard-leftist Democrats and those now known as Republicans In Name Only would make it official and lock arms in broad daylight. We are already seeing this brazenness in Arizona. Greens and Libertarians would fight for the scraps.

The national GOP and the state GOP are wiping egg off their face for supporting tax-and-spend/social liberal Steve Huffman for Congress in District 8. Fortunately, conservative Randy Graf defeated the RINO. This primary race is emblematic of the Potomac Fever gripping GOP leadership in Washington. The RNC and the White House supported RINO Sen. Lincoln Chafee over conservative challenger Stephen Laffey in Rhode Island. And they are supporting former Democrat-turned-Independent Sen. Joe Lieberman instead of the Republican Senate candidate in Connecticut. Sacrificing principle and integrity, the GOP is going mad with a “who-can-win” lust. This is no way to run a private business, but this madness suits GOP leadership just fine.

None of this is lost on Sen. Jon Kyl, running hard for re-election. He supported Huffman and Allen in their primary battles. Furthermore, he broke bread with the liberal RINO women to appeal for their votes come November. Kyl tried to hitch his wagon to John McCain’s popularity with those in the center-left. Cong. J.D. Hayworth also supported the abrasive Allen over a platform Republican, conservative Colette Rosati. These truly are the sell-out days of the Republican Party.

The best we have to look forward to is another legislative session dominated by good conservative lawmaking. If we are fortunate, Len Munsil will ride the ninth floor and sign those bills. And Napolitano will be working in the private sector.

We conservatives shudder to think of the choices we will face in the 2008 presidential election. The next occupant of the White House may make George W. Bush look like George Washington.

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