Esquire Endorses Napolitano, Giffords, and 502 Others

Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated. What can’t be exaggerated is my declining interest in continued jousting in an arena where political junkies on both sides of the aisle seem to have run out of new stuff to say.

I find political TV advertising particularly discouraging. Much of it is so outrageously mendacious that it seems almost designed to discourage political participation altogether. Perhaps that’s what it’s intended to do.

On the other hand I am encouraged by what I sense to be an awakening of political interest in great numbers of Americans whose past political passivity has been noteworthy. It is almost as if the political genius of the nation is stirring and the process of self-correction and re-adjustment is underway. We’ll see.

As evidence of this political interest in unexpected areas I offer the latest edition of Esquire. In addition to a spread on the sexiest woman alive (Scarlett Johanson,) there’s the usual pretty good fiction and features, along with fashion advice for men who are as rail thin as the models in Vogue.

And this month: Something entirely different, a “Get Out & Vote” feature. Esquire chips in with endorsements, and their rationale, on 504 races.

Here are the endorsements in Arizona: Napolitano, Pederson, Simon, Thrasher, Shadegg, Pastor, Flake, Mitchell, Giffords and Grijalva. There is a short justification of each choice here.

To read all 504 endorsements, their justifications, a statement of Esquire’s method, and short sections on the best and worst in Congress click here.