Anti-Munsil E-Mail

The Data Port received a strange e-mail from “Len Munsil Facts.” It was paid for by an outfit called the Arizona Conservative Trust with money from the “Arizona Values Coalition.”

On the face of it, it seems to be the sort of piece conservatives would launch against another conservative in the primary season. They do realize that’s over, don’t they?

The e-mail note refers us to another site: LenMunsilfacts.com (link) which is rich in reasons for Democrats to vote against Munsil. What’s this all about?

This whole Arizona Conservative Trust thing seems as bogus as a three dollar bill.

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I’ve been very busy preparing for the opening of the next Rogue Theatre show—September 28. Happily, Data Port visitors have been keeping the site alive two cents at a time in the comments thread. Thanks… It’s all been fascinating!
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My view on the gun issue. My wife and I have been enthusiastic pistol shooters. We always found shooting relaxing—an hour or two of controlled breathing on the range really set us up for our quotidian trials.

I would be well and truly pissed if the government said I couldn’t do that. At the same time I don’t mind registering my guns, or waiting three days for delivery, or even having to take a licensing exam. Geez, I’m a biker. I register my scoot, license it, take a rider’s exam, and periodically retrain.

However, the “pro gun” folks's argument that somehow gun ownership is what protects us from government tyranny is absurd. Our nation is literally drenched in guns but creeping fascism and corporate control of our lives is a continued and continuing threat under Republican control of the government... Armed to the teeth we seem helpless in the face of it.

Unless , of course, we are ready for armed insurrection-- but that would interfere with Monday night football.

CD-8 Fun With Negative Attacks

Let the negative atacks begin, but lets have a laugh on the way. Here's Comedy Central's take on one of Randy's sillier proposals: Guns In Bars

Concessions

A telephone call or visit to your victorious opponent is an important part of American political tradition. Its most important, if informal, function is to legitimize the election; to acknowledge that the election process was legitimate and the result fair.

It’s also the way that any wounds of political combat are forgotten and forgiven, opening the path to future political cooperation and participation.

Patty Weiss’s appearance at the Giffords victory celebration was greeted by solid applause and the general feeling that it was a class act-- the first step in continuing a political career.

I know that some folks think I was just being a wise guy when I raised the “Patty For Mayor” banner, but it’s a suggestion that has been made to her by more than one political activist in town and I hope she considers it.

CD-8 6:50 am-- I Practice Citizenship

I got up early this morning and practiced citizenship. Threw a leg over my scoot and had a lovely, if short, ride to my polling place. There were seven or eight people in line ahead of me, but the line moved quickly even though the workers had to sort through 2 precincts.

I didn’t see anyone with ID problems; all the voters approached the officials with driver’s licenses dutifully clutched in hand.

CD-8 Latas Opposes Giffords Support of Troops

The latest Latas attack ad on Giffords strongly opposes her support for the 2003 Senate Concurrent Resolution 1026. Does that mean that if he had been in the Senate he would have refused to vote for the following language? I don’t think so, but that's what he criticizes Giffords for doing.

The Members of the Legislature express their gratitude for the members of the United States armed forces who are serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom and recognize their excellence, patriotism and exceptional bravery.

The Members of the Legislature extend their prayers and best wishes for the families of the United States military personnel who are serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The trouble with the “Die For a Lie’ ad is that in the last analysis it won’t get him elected this time around and it damages any hopes he might have for a future political career. (Personally, I hope he pursues those hopes by taking a shot at the legislature. We haven’t had a hell raiser since Kromko.)

CD 8: Patty Weiss Counting on Occasional Voters

Got a nice e-mail from Weiss’s campaign manager, Frank Costanzo, urgently requesting volunteers to turn out “occasional voters,” apparently the new secret weapon and the secret to Patty’s success.

Maybe attack ads aren’t working too well, but occasional voters? The thing about those rascals is that they only vote, well…occasionally. The late call for a volunteer base to phone unlikely voters seems to me to be a day late, a dollar short, and desperate.

But what do I know? Miracles do ‘occasionally’ happen.

ABC Agitprop

Let me again recommend David Kaiser’s blog “History Unfolding.” Kaiser is a well-respected historian who regularly publishes long, reflective, very un-blog-like, articles on foreign and domestic policy.

I hope you’ll grab a cup of coffee and click over to “History Unfolding” for his latest, on the ABC 9/11 Mini-Series.

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What are they thinking of? My very Republican next door neighbor has been sent an entertaining hit piece on Huffman. It shows him posed in a chicken suit and the theme is (surprise surprise) if you want a conservative you don’t want this guy…he’s chickened out six times on voting on illegal immigration.

The mailing is clearly labeled as from the Arizona Democratic Party. How will my neighbor take this? Will he think, “Thank God the Democrats have sent me this crucial information?” Or will he think, “Well, these Democratic rascals don’t want me to vote for Huffman so they must be really afraid of him. Guess I’ll vote Huffman?”

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Nothing is over ‘til it’s over and I can’t wait for the end of this primary season, which is one of the weirdest in my memory. For one thing I’ll be happy to see Democrats start attacking Republicans instead of one another.

Also, I’m not sure of the wisdom of spending money to play in the other guy’s primary, mainly because I have no idea if this is an effective use of campaign funds.

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I’m going to do the old fashioned thing on Tuesday and actually go to the polls. No vote by mail for me…that’s like going to church by mail.

In Arizona CD-8 The Beat Goes On

The Arizona Daily Star poll shows Gabrielle Giffords handily beating retired anchorwoman Patty Weiss by 17 points, a figure that’s basically unchanged since the Tucson Weekly poll. This probably explains why Weiss has recently pumped her own money into the campaign…she needed to pay for the latest hit-piece mailing against Giffords.

A short quote from the Star report:

(Weiss) Campaign spokesman Andrew Myers said the campaign is betting on "occasional voters," those who did not vote in the 2004 primary but are enthused by the competitive race and Weiss' local celebrity status.
"I think the strategies of the campaigns have been very different," he said. "We know that we're going to live and die by occasional voters."

Provided those voters don't turn out, Weiss would need to claim 93 percent of the undecideds in order to win, which would be a rarity, pollster (Carol) Zimmerman said.

Read the entire Star report here.

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Still, everyone thought Dewey would beat Truman. It’s best to wait until the fat lady sings next Tuesday and for the Giffords campaign to keep its nose to the grindstone. Here's an odd thought: Perhaps, thanks to early voting, someone has already won.
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I caught the DCCC anti-Huffman ad on the tube yesterday. Does that mean Rahm Emanuel thinks Huffman would be the CD-8 Republican hardest to beat? Must be…and the Star poll would seem to indicate that. Yes, but which
Huffman, the middle-of-the-roader or the newly minted super conservative?
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Incidentally, there’s some very interesting commentary and debate going on over at Arizona 8th.

Essay For The Labor Day Weekend

Everyone loves Labor Day. It's a great three day weekend, with a paid day off. The weather's fine and the back yard and patio look as good as they have all year. If you're not going to the mountains, lakes or seashore... kick back, light the grill, and suck down a brew.

You might also remember to thank the men and women of organized labor many of whom were beaten, murdered, or run out of town so that we could enjoy the eight hour day, paid vacations, pensions, and guarantees that women and children would not be exploited in the workplace.

You may have forgotten, but the eight hour day and the paid vacation are not part of the natural order of things. They represent labor union victories.

I am now about to use a certain word. It's not a bad word, it's just a simple noun. I guarantee you I do not freight it with any nasty emotional overtones. Ready?

Capitalism. Our economic system is Capitalism. It is a nifty system; it really works. But it is intrinsic to that system that it treats labor like any other raw material and will always try to buy it as cheaply as possible. It will go overseas for it; it will confine it in little cubicles; and it will buy a lot of it part time so it doesn't have to pay benefits.

That's the way the system works...for labor. It doesn't work quite that way for other kinds of raw material. Sure, a contractor will try to buy cement cheaply, but he has to dicker with the cement guy, who will raise or lower his price until the two can agree to do business.

In the sports world, when a college basketball star hires an agent to negotiate with team owners we think nothing of it. The agents bargain with the owners for the players' services and the athletes refuse to play until they have a contract. But if a group of carpenters gets together to do the same thing it's socialism, or worse.

On the 2nd of November in 1909, during what became known as the "Uprising of the 20,000," female garment workers went on strike in New York. Many were arrested and a judge told those arrested: "You are on strike against God."

Wow...who'd have guessed?

There's nothing unpatriotic about the union movement; it's as American as apple pie. Boston carpenters walked off the job in April of 1825 in the interest of a 10 hour work day. Ten years later, children working in the silk mills in Patterson, New Jersey went on strike. Of course they had an outrageous demand: A six day work week of eleven hour days.

Sweatshops, eleven hour days, inadequate wages and wretched or dangerous working conditions are largely a thing of the past. The result is we tend not to notice or care about Capitalism's continuous attack on the power and even the existence of the union movement. This may not be a good thing.

A union is the average hourly worker's only defense against the economic power of a system that always tries to buy raw materials at the lowest possible price. It's not dumb, if you're an hourly wage person, to remember you're just so much raw material to that system.

The union maid and her guy aren't opposed to Capitalism. If you stop and think about it, the fact is that just the opposite is true. These folks simply want to behave exactly like all the other links in the capitalist chain of supply and demand. All they ask for is the right to bargain for the price they get for their labor and the conditions under which it is supplied.

Why should they be the only players in the game denied that right?

But for now, enough. Get the ol' hammock swinging, pop another brew, and dribble mustard from a hot dog on your shirt. Enjoy the day off with pay. It looks like we've all profited from the American labor movement, even if we've never belonged to a union.

On Labor's special holiday let's all heed the old organizing slogan and "Take it
easy, but take it."

Art Jacobson
..................First published in the Desert Leaf

Politics Free

Tomorrow morning I’m running away from home for two days. I’ll fire up the Yellow Peril (left) and trace a relaxed, looping, blue highways route up to Jerome, Arizona. I will set no speed records. As a matter of fact I intend to set some slow records, proving that any ride worth five hours is improved by taking seven hours.

I will look at things, pull off to read historical monuments, see the clouds and enjoy the way the world smells. You’d be surprised how much more you see from the saddle than you do sealed in an air conditioned car. (There’s a reason that bike people call cars ‘cages.’)









My destination is not the purpose of the trip, the ride is the purpose of the trip and the Jerome Grand Hotel above is just a nice place for the ride to end. The hotel was once the hospital serving the mining community of Jerome and the Verde Valley.

The restaurant, called The Asylum (no straight jacket required,) is located in what used to be the hospital’s pharmacy. I like the bar.

The hotel is supposed to be haunted.

CD-08 NRCC Makes Major Media Buy

The CD-08 primary wars are going to be getting hotter.

With two weeks to go the National Republican Campaign Committee has made a major media buy, in the neighborhood of a quarter of a million bucks. That’s some neighborhood, and the street talk is that it’s a neighborhood in which Randy Graf is not welcome.

Will the NRCC also be dipping a toe into the CD-08 Democratic primary? Guess we’ll have to start watching TV.

Campaigns and Scorpions

Is it just my imagination, or have folks on the Democratic side of the aisle (and their loyal opposition) stopped beating one another up about which Democrat is…should…or will be their entrant in the CD 08 race?

It feels very much as if they have all fallen face forward into their keyboards in a state of emotional exhaustion. We’re all just waiting now for the “inevitable victory” or the “miraculous upset” on the day, two weeks from today, when the fat lady sings.

Across the aisle the Republicans are managing to focus everyone’s attention on their squabbles and what seems to be their only issue…illegal immigration and all that that entails.

Since Democrats have temporarily stopped fighting with one another they ought to take aim at the November Enemy. Are these guys hot for the great Republican policies or not? Tax breaks for the rich? Privatizing Social Security? Health plans that favour insurance companies and big pharma? The notion that Iraq was a great idea and an enormous success?

At the risk of damaging The Data Port’s reputation for balance and even-handed reportage… We’d be suckers to vote for any of those clowns.


Now about the scorpions. Katherine and I share our home with two cats. We are also sharing our home with a plague of scorpions. Of the two cats, the oddly named Mr. Squeak is 19 pounds of “live and let live” but Ms Deborah, our the little gray huntress, has a nose for these rascals. She prowls around the house staring at electrical sockets, looking for long minutes under the desk at the tangle of computer cords, and into clutter on the floors of closets.

This started when she hopped to the top of the fridge and stared fixedly at a ceiling light fixture. Sure enough, when I turned on the light there was a scorpion trapped in the glass shade. Scorpion died of heat. Four days later another scorpion…and then one skittering across the bathroom floor.

Scorpions I can see don’t bother me, but the ones I don’t see are really upsetting. I was stung in bed one night…in the face, thank God, and not in any more tender location…and that really hurt.

What the hell is that cat staring at now?

The Data Port Margarita

Here is a recipe for joy or despair. Regardless of whether your candidate wins or loses in the CD 08 primary you may wish to consider the (therapeutic or celebratory) virtue of a fine Margarita.

I believe that devotion to this drink has been expressed by several Data Port visitors. Our prejudice here is that the only drinkable Margarita is hand made. I’ve never had a decent one in a bar.

Equipment:

One lime squeezer. (Use only fresh limes that you squeeze yourself.)
One box of coarse salt to rim the glass.
A solid cocktail shaker. Never blend a Margarita. If you want a slushy go elsewhere….maybe Eegees.
Real limes. Never use bottled lime juice.
Tequilla. It must be good, but need not be great.
Sugar. Make your own simple syrup. 3 oz. water in which 3 oz of sugar has been dissolved. These are volume measures. Make as much as you want.



Recipe for 4 Margaritas

9 oz. Teguila
3 oz. Triple-sec.
4 oz. Freshly squeezed lime juice
2 oz. Simple syrup.

Shake very vigorously in cocktail shaker and pour into glasses rimmed with lime and salt. Repeat as needed.

CD 08 Tucson Weekly Poll

Here are the results from the Tucson Weekly web site:

Democrats:
Gabrielle Giffords: 45 percent
Patty Weiss: 27 percent
Jeff Latas: 6 percent
Alex Rodriguez: 1 percent
Bill Johnson: 1 percent
Francine Schacter: 1 percent
Undecided: 20 percent

OK, so the numbers add up to more than 100 percent. We rounded Francine Shacter’s .3 percent upward.

Republicans
Randy Graf: 36 percent
Steve Huffman: 13 percent
Mike Hellon: 10 percent
Mike Jenkins: 1 percent
Frank Antenori: 1 percent
Undecided: 39 percent

The poll, conducted by Margaret Kenski of Arizona Opinion, surveyed 300 Democrats and 300 Republicans in CD 8. It has a margin of error of plus/minus 4 percent.

Why Conservatives Can’t Govern

That headline is the title of a major article by Alan Wolfe that appears in the July/August issue of the Washington Monthly. Wolfe teaches political science at Boston College and is the author of Does American Democracy Still Work published by Yale University Press.

Wolfe lays out a neat pocket history of conservative thought in America from the time of the American Revolution to the era of the Goldwater revolution and beyond. It’s a nice referesher course.

The heart of Wolfe’s argument I take to be this—and if I mis-take it, you can get it straight by reading the article—you can’t govern efficiently while you are committed to the notion that government is an evil.

As an example consider Wolfe’s analysis of the prescription drug fiasco:

“It is significant that in America's recent debates over prescription drugs, no one, not even the Cato Institute, argued that government should simply not be in the business at all. A political party which consigned to death anyone who could not afford to participate in this medical revolution would die an early death itself.

“But Republicans were just as unwilling to design a sensible program as they were unable to eliminate the existing one. To prove their faith in the market, they gave people choices, when what they wanted was predictability. To pay off the pharmaceutical industry, they refused to allow government to negotiate drug prices downward, thereby vastly inflating the program's costs. To make sure government agencies didn't administer the benefit, they lured in insurance companies with massive subsidies and imposed almost no rules on what benefits they could and could not offer. The lack of rules led to a frustrating chaos of choices. And the extra costs had to be made up by carving out a so-called "doughnut hole" in which the elderly, after having their drug purchases subsidized up to a certain point, would suddenly find themselves without federal assistance at all, only to have their drugs subsidized once again at a later point.

"Caught between the market and the state, Republicans picked the worst features of each. No single human being could have designed a program as unwieldy as this one. It took the combined efforts of every faction in today's conservative movement to produce a public policy so removed from common sense.” (My italics)

Read it all here.

Roguish Behavior

The cast of the Rogue’s opening show is solidly into rehearsal now. Today’s gathering at our rehearsal hall, affectionately known as ‘the clubhouse,’ marks the end of our third week.

The Clubhouse is an echoing industrial space located between a humming electrical transfer station and the railroad tracks. When the trains howl their approach to the street crossing with their diesel horns all rehearsal, particularly work on the show’s music, stops.

There’s a corny old saying that there are no small parts, only small actors. It’s particularly true at the Rogue since performers wander on stage even as the audience enters…and never leave.

You don’t enter at the opening of the first act with some classic line like, “Oh, oh, oh…Eight o’clock and the master not up!” and then exit to the green room for twenty minutes. You’re always there, being there, even if you have no lines.

“Being there” may mean being part of a tableau vivant, singing Debussy choral music, miming, or all three at once. I find it damned near impossible to leer like a satyr and sing prettily at the same time.

The music sounds great and as an old Barbershop singer I can tell you I’d like to get the cast together in a small room where we could really hear the chords ring. Singing in this show has been about as much fun as I’ve had in a long time.

Visit the Rogue here.

CD 8: Arizona Daily Star Will Endorse…

...No one! Nope, not in any primary election race, according to the rumor trolls. Could that possibly account for why Fitz’s August 17th Lisa Simpson cartoon is missing from his archives?

(Or am I simply too dense to find it? Help me out here.)

All the campaigns will be giving this the “no news is good news” spin until our collective heads spin.

CD 08: Another Giffords Endorsement

21st Century Democrats is an organization whose mission is to be:

“--- the catalyst for a new progressive movement in the United States through which we ensure the next generation of elected officials are bold, forward-thinking leaders. We seek out, train, and support extraordinary leaders who are courageous risk-takers and who inspire Americans to take action.”

21st Century Democrats has endorsed 33 candidates in this election cycle including Gabrielle Giffords. Visit 21st Century Democrats here for information about the organization and its recommended candidates.

The Giffords Campaign press release is here.

DCCC and Arizona 05

I have received an interesting e-mail from Karin Johanson, Executive Director of the DCCC asking for my vote. My task, should I choose to accept it, would be to choose three candidates from a list of thirty six in the DCCC’s “Candidate for Change” contest. The top three vote-getters would receive special assistance from the Campaign Committee:

# A fundraising email from Democratic House Leader Nancy Pelosi or DCCC Chairman Rahm Emanuel to our list;

# A phone bank run out of the Democratic National Headquarters for their campaign;

# The feature spot on our Web site to get their message out,with a link to their campaign contribution page;

# An online chat with the DCCC community to exchange ideas on the campaign and the future of our country.

There is only one Arizona contest on the list, Harry Mitchell in AZ 05. Very interesting, huh? You can vote for Harry Mitchell here.

CD-8 After The Primary, What?

I was given a copy of the Latas CD. It’s a nifty strategy for getting a candidate’s message out and I believe it’s the first time this has been done in Arizona politics. A tip of the hat to the Latas campaign.

Salette Latas, who also appears on the disc, is an excellent spokesperson for her husband’s campaign and would make an appealing candidate in her own right. Will the disc make up for a shortfall in other advertising strategies? Probably not, since I imagine that bulk mailings in sufficient numbers would be prohibitively expensive.

The disc is a nice compilation of video clips we’ve pretty much seen before and lays out positions we already know.

Both Latas and Weiss inveigh against “professional politicians” and offer themselves as “citizen legislators.” Of course once they are elected they will be professional politicians…the job, after all, that they have been campaigning for. I would certainly hope that once elected that they would stick around, season politically, rise in seniority and wisdom and serve the district for more than a term or two.

This “citizen legislator” pitch is pretty, but nothing more than a rhetorical flourish.
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The Arizona Republic has endorsed Gabrielle Giffords to be the CD 8 Democratic candidate. The Republic had this to say about Weiss and Latas, her two most prominent opponents:

"Patty Weiss has high name recognition after three decades as a news anchor with Tucson’s NBC affiliate. Her views on the issues are thoughtful but not substantially different than those of Giffords. Her work as a journalist has made her an informed observer of Arizona government and politics, but there is significant difference between reporting the issues and crafting public policy to address them.

"Jeff Latas, is a pilot with a hero’s record in the Air Force. His stridency about the Bush administration’s handling of Iraq may appeal to angry Democrats in the primary, but he will lack the necessary appeal to moderates in November."

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With less than a month to the primary election it’s time to speculate about what will come after. Let me cut to what I take to be the heart of the matter, as unhappy as Data Porters of whatever camp, may be.

I’ve noticed that there is an assumption amongst Democrats here on TDP that when the hurly-burly’s done, and when the battle’s lost or won, the Democratic Party is going to pour money on the anointed head. Doesn’t matter who it is, or how much money they’ve raised, all shortfalls will be overcome and we can press on to victory with other people’s money.

Well, it ain’t going to happen. Yes the party has money, and some will find its way in support of various campaigns, but after the election the DCCC will evaluate the winner of each campaign and only on the basis of that evaluation call major donors and say, “Listen, you have to send Jones 2100 bucks.”

Simply winning the primary will not be enough. What is the candidate’s fund raising record? Can he help us out with the financing of the campaign in the general? What about breadth of support in his community? Are organizations representing a variety of interest groups supporting him? How does his political record, if any, measure up against the general demographics of his district? And so on, and so on, and so on.

Disappoint the DCCC in some category or categories and suddenly the race in your district, which before was one of the leaders, will drop down toward the bottom of the list of possible winners and eyes will be turned elsewhere.

Suppose for a moment that Patty wins. She wasn’t endorsed by Emily’s List, for whatever reason. Do you think those folks are now going to ask their members to send money to Weiss? I don’t. I think they’re going to think they have many other candidates they like better.

Remember that no matter how much money there is, there is a limited amount of it.

I believe that Giffords, by virtue of her background, temperament, experience, and fit with the people of Congressional District Eight, is our best chance to beat the Republicans in November. Vote your heart, vote for anyone you like, but remember that this is a fight to control Congress, a fight to defeat the New American Century people, and remember that winning in November is all that f-ing matters.

Now what about the losers after the election, whoever they may be. My guess is that Latas doesn’t want a state job. He might want to take a shot at Congress in two years, when incumbency has not yet become an advantage that is so hard to overcome. Kolbe came back and defeated McNulty the second time around.

If Patty doesn’t win, I’d like to see her run for Mayor. She would make an ideal spokesperson and front man for Tucson. I have no idea what Gabby might do, run again for Congress would be my hope. But, who knows?

Whoever the losers are, does anyone think they will put their shoulders to the wheel and hit the campaign trail? No, me neither. Maybe Francine would God bless her.

This has been a very long post. Sorry…now let the blog wars begin.

CD 8 Playing in the Sandbox

Although it’s hard to believe, there is more to life than politics. I had to get out of the sandbox for a couple of days and when I returned discovered a veritable sandstorm.

Giffords’s ‘Quorum Queen’ ad blew up a whirlwind of commentary. Patty’s defenders fired off the ol’ “Liar, Liar Pants On Fire” attack and the Giffords campaign responded with an explanation from democratic legislative leaders saying that she had, indeed, accomplished exactly what the ad claimed. link

In continuing developments

## A new Giffords ad is running now, you can see it on TV as well as on her web site. link

## Patty’s ads are posted on her website, in case you missed them on TV. link

## The Latas campaign has started robo-calling, still flying under the radar. It makes political sense to remember that CD 8 is still essentially a multi candidate race.

Waiting for Connecticut

The most interesting domestic political event for some time is going down in Connecticut today. A pretty fair blow-by-blow can be followed on the Connecticut chapter of Lefty Blogs.

Lieberman’s web site went down and his campaign accused Lamont forces of a denial of service attack. Bull-Pucky! The explanation, and an account of Lamont’s honorable response, is on Kos. Link

ABC’s The Note reports:

There are no pooled network exit polls. The Connecticut Legislation and Elections website (Link) will be updated continually, as soon as information comes in. The state is using a brand new system, which may or may not work. Should the system not work, officials are prepared with a spreadsheet and the site should be updated at roughly fifteen minute intervals with results.

Lever machines will dominate in today's primary, with a smattering of optical scan voting places. And here is a chart, courtesy of the excellent folks at the AP, detailing the timing of the reporting of results on election night in 2004 to use as a guide for tonight.

First Reports from Counties: 8:35 pm ET
20% of Precincts Statewide by: 10:00 pm ET

Speaking of voting…I wish I believed in the tamper-proof character of optical and electronic voting, but I don’t. I would much prefer to mark my X on a paper ballot which was counted at the voting place under the watchful eyes of judges from the major parties.

In CD 8 news Patty Weiss has two TV commercials up on her web site for your viewing pleasure. Good production values, very slick, just what you would expect from an old pro. Link

Arizona CD 8: A Few Quick Notes

Liza, x4mr, Dave, Framer, and Kralmajales have been engaged in an interesting discussion of Lebanon, Hezbollah and Israel in the comment thread to the Data Port post of July 31. I have nothing to add, but I think the exchange might be of interest to a broader audience. Here’s a link.

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And on the CD 8 front the Giffords campaign has posted a new TV ad, which you can see here. Incidentally this was the occasion that earned Giffords the title of Quorum Queen… link.

“The GOP attempt to move the bill took place after most Senators had left the Capitol for the night on May 12, 2003. Giffords blocked the bill, which would have reduced health care coverage and hurt senior citizens, by invoking a legislative rule requiring that a majority of the senators be present before the budget could be voted on. A majority of Senators was not able to be convened.

Giffords’ action forced the Republicans to withdraw their after-hours bill and go back to the negotiating table with the Democrats to craft a better budget for Arizona. Thousands of people who currently have health care in Arizona would have had their coverage eliminated had Giffords not taken a stand against the Republican majority that night and forced a new budget to be negotiated.” (Quote from Giffords’s website.)

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The link to Jeff Latas’s blog seems to be missing from his web page. Has he moved it elsewhere?

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Looking for the “bug,” the Union Bug, that is. I always check campaign material to see if it was printed in a union shop. Most, but not necessarily all, Democratic candidate material carries the bug on the bottom of the last page. It’s rare on Republican material, but I may see less of that.

If you’ve found the bug, or found it not, drop a note in the comments section. And what about yard and road signs? Anyone found the bug?

Fight Warrantless Wiretapping

What follows is a notice from FCNL [Friends'(Quaker) Committee on National Legislation] on a constitutional matter of great importance to ACLU. If you wish, you can go to the first FCNL website to send a message to Senators Kyl and McCain on the matter: link


Sen. Arlen Specter has struck a deal with the White House on a bill to allow the president to proceed without limits on his warrantless wiretapping program covering both telephone and electronic communications.

Under the new version of Specter’s bill, S.2453, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) would no longer be the "exclusive means" for governing domestic surveillance. The bill would ratify the president’s self-described "inherent authority" as the Commander in Chief, exempting him from seeking FISA court approval, either for the entire warrantless wiretapping program or for individual cases.

The Senate Judiciary Committee will take up this legislation on Thursday, August 3. If they take a vote, the bill will probably pass. But many senators, even supporters, have a number of questions about this complicated deal.

Take Action

We need your help to persuade the members of the committee not to approve the bill this week. The committee should proceed carefully on a matter that affects the privacy of so many people in the United States. Please urge your senator to ask for more substantive hearings on the legislation. They should ask to hear from constitutional scholars, technical experts, private citizens, and organizations dedicated to protecting individual privacy, before they proceed with this or any similar legislation.

Islamo-Fascism

The terms “Islamo-Fascism” and “Islamo-Fascist States” are cropping up in the conservative press, and media outlets like Fox News. The term “Fascism” is clearly being used as a derogatory epithet intended to marshal all our negative emotional energy in the war on terror, or whatever it is exactly that we are making war on.

As a rhetorical device I suppose we have to take it for exactly what it is, an essentially meaningless expression of disapproval, something like a good juicy curse, and move on.

But if we take the term “Islamo-Fascism” as somehow descriptive, rather than merely expressive, we may make the mistake of thinking we know something when in fact we don’t. We may think we know something about the government or social structure we are facing.

Theoretical fascism was a system of government in which individual representation was replaced by representation of corporate bodies within society. (These were not corporations in the business sense, but rather something more like feudal guilds, or interest groups within society. The clearest statement of this might be in the writing of the English fascist Sir Oswald Mosely.

The Wikipedia entry under Fascism is extensive and the variety of definitions so great that the free floating use of the term to refer to a social or governmental form in the absence of detailed analysis is meaningless.

For your amusement I offer you this, followed by this.

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Or, if you're tired of politics, try the latest entry at DataPort Motorcycles.

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An Inconvenient Truth

I saw Al Gore’s movie, “An Inconvenient Truth,” Friday night. As I assume most readers know it’s about the very real near-term consequences for our planet of the fact of global warming.

The film does three things. First it explains in detail how and why global warming takes place. Second, it shows, through simply astonishing pictorial evidence, the effect of the warming that is now taking place and establishes that this process is not merely some natural cycle but the unique result of Man’s effect on the environment. Finally, it spells out the disastrous consequences with which we may be faced, not in some far off future but in the lifetimes of our children and grandchildren.

Gore’s message of hope is that we need not resign ourselves to an inevitable disaster. There is something we can do, but it requires a political will that has so far been lacking.

Immigration, reform of health care, and facing up to the energy crisis are certainly important issues that require political will to resolve. The inconvenient truth is that it may be that the greatest potential threat, not only to the United States, but to the whole world, the greatest potential killer, is climate change.

The home page for the film, which contains trailers and info, you can get to here: An Inconvenient Truth. This is a fascinating web site. And, finally, it seems that three out of four conservatives agree. (link)

CD 8 Opening the Media Barrage

The Giffords camp launches a major media campaign today. The first TV ad is available on the Giffords web site. (link)

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Jeff Latas’s financial report has been posted on the FEC site and shows cash on hand of a tad more than $20,000. Of course the FEC report covers only up to June 30th and we can reasonably expect that fund raising continues, but it compares to Giffords’s $588,000 and Weiss’s nearly $145,000. Even conservative Democrat Bill Johnson reports fifty grand. (His own money in the campaign.)

Latas is a determined candidate and his supporters are both energetic and devoted. Jeff is not likely to throw in the towel and that’s what makes this campaign an interesting test: Can a net-roots campaign and shoe leather make up for under funding?...or is the concept of under-funding simply too last century for words.

If Latas wins the primary he will face a serious financial challenge from his Republican opponent.

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There have been several news stories lately about the importance of the CD 8 race, as evidenced by the fact that the national Democratic Party has reserved 8 weeks of media time for the general election campaign.

The operative word here is “reserved.” The time was not bought and banked, to be parceled out for the benefit of the Democratic primary winner. Whoever that is will still have to buy his, or her, own time.

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A short note on the war on terror and terror's war on us.Oh, I know the chaos seems healthy but there are still people who are not doing their part. Where are the Rational Humanist terrorists? Why are there no Suicide Reasoners or Logic Bombers?

A Night Ride

The ghost of a river runs in every desert dry wash, a faint dampness that you feel or smell as the road dips into it and then vanishes as the road lifts back into the unrelieved heat. You don’t notice this if you’re in a car.

We took the Yellowjacket for a ride last night, an old fashioned stylin’ run in the dark desert heat. Riders in other parts of the country probably can’t imagine what this is like. If you’re not a low desert rider you’re used to a night that cools off some and that’s why you ride then…to escape the day’s heat in the cool of the evening and a sixty-mile-an-hour breeze.

Desert rats know something altogether different. A sixty mile wind is a blowtorch. When we rode out the temperature was just a scattering of degrees below blood heat. It was 92 when we got home some hours later. That’s not ‘comfortable,’ not ‘warm,’ that’s just plain too hot to ride in anything but a T-shirt. No jackets, no riding pants. We courted road rash in shorts and sandals.

We wore helmets and gloves of course, because there are limits to our willingness to gamble with the laws of natural selection but, still, ours was a riding style that would be a scandal to the Motorcycle Safety Foundation.

After a stop at Bookman’s we decided that we would make a nostalgic run down the length of Speedway. When we first came to Tucson a kind of styling parade down Speedway was a regular occurrence on a breathlessly hot Saturday night.

Kids would gather in parking lots, folks brought beach chairs and coolers and watched the parade of fancy cars and bikes. Proud owners would pull into parking lots, kick a tire or two, and be back on the street. It was great fun and, I thought, basically harmless….but the police, or the city fathers, or property owners, or folks afraid of the young decided these were dangerous people and the whole wonderful spontaneous event was closed down.

Last night we were the parade. There were a few bikes in front of one coffee house but no bikes at all in front of the Bashful Bandit. We would have waved at people in lawn chairs but there were no people in lawn chairs. We went for ice cream and sat out in front and chatted with a guy who arrived in a Mini.

Still, the night was fine and the hot wind of our riding blew sweat dry, leaving salt lines on our shirts before we felt wet.

It is sometimes said by folks back east that they couldn’t live in Tucson because we have no changes of season. Not so. Some hot night ride in September we’ll feel the slightest softening of the heat, a barely perceptible edge of cool…and we’ll know that fall has arrived.

Az LD 28: Heinz on Health Care Reform

The Data Port got a note from Dr. Matt Heinz announcing that his campaign web site is up and finished. This is Heinz’s first run at elective office and although his primary motive for running is health care reform he has plenty to say on other issues.

Matt’s web site is here.

A Therapeutic Rant

I’ve found it hard to comment on our collective “vie politique” for the last few days. Things don’t seem to be going well in the “Man’s Inhumanity to Man” department, and at least part of the blame seems to settle on the doorstep of three of the world’s most populace religions.

Here at home, welcome to the faith-based administration. The President believes that a collection of as yet undifferentiated cells in a petri dish is a little human being. (If that’s the case let’s give it a birth certificate, a social security number, and the last rites when it dies.)

His recent veto of stem cell legislation on religious grounds strikes me as a violation of the separation of church and state.

What we have here is another step toward the destruction of secular government …Christian Nationalism anyone? You might take a look at an interview of Michelle Goldberg that appears in AlterNet currently. (link)

Meanwhile, In Iraq, the Sunnis and Shiites are having at one another, largely on the grounds of a centuries-old animosity based on theological disputes.They are willing to kill their fellow citizens on the ground that heretics couldn’t possibly be their fellow citizens. So much for the possibility of a democratic Iraq.

In Lebanon and Gaza the Israelis seem to be following the rule I once saw posted in a company break room: The Beatings Will Continue Until Morale Improves. Hezbollah…The Party of God…wants to create an Iranian-style theocratic state in Lebanon and in passing destroy Israel.

The Israelis, who believe that God promised them the land thousands of years ago, of course want to hang on to it and are willing to destroy large portions of Lebanon to do it.

What a world!

More Fun Than a Comment Thread…

…And possibly more violent. Had a great night out last night at Blade World, taking in the Roller Derby contest between FTW (easy, now, that’s the Furious Truckstop Waitresses) and the Vice Squad. I’ve always been a Roller Derby fan and only discovered a couple of weeks ago that the women were skating like demons right here in Tucson.

Read all about the WFTDA here.

CD 8 Talking and Talking and Talking The Talk

The dust-up between Giffords and Weiss at yesterday’s Nucleus Club debate came as a surprise to some, not the least of whom was Patty’s recently hired communications guy who was actually heard to blurt out his surprise that Giffords had defended herself.

What did they expect? Weiss has been piously proclaiming the wickedness of support from special interests and implying that was a brush with which she wasn’t tarred.

Well, you all already know she’s accepted money from these special interests:

United Transportation Union Political Action Committee (utu pac)
American Psychiatric Association Political Action Committee

Add to those:

The CEO of Aetna, our largest HMO provider. (John W. Rowe)
The CEO of JDS Pharmaceuticals, (Phillip Satow)

The Data Port has also learned that she approached the Pfizer PAC for support but was turned down; and finally she asked for (and received…her legal entitlement) a delay in filing the complete financial disclosure required by the House Ethics Committee. We don’t yet know where her personal financial interests may lie.

My guess is that the Weiss holier than thou game is over.

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And a good thing, too, as Francine Shacter observed. (We should all be grateful for Francine, who is acting as the Party’s gad fly.) Francine reminded the gathered throng that we should be careful in our campaigning lest we elect a candidate who is ‘damaged goods’ as the result of primary warfare.

Shacter also offered a perceptive analysis of the Bush regime that went beyond all our particular criticisms to the heart of the damage that Bush has done to the American political system. The government has broken the basic social compact between the government and the governed, which is embodied in the sense of mutual responsibility for the general welfare. When the government treats its critics as traitors the system is on the verge of collapse.

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I was pleased to hear Jeff Latas, who was at his angry man best in the finest tradition of Harry Truman. It’s easy to see why “charismatic” is the adjective used by his supporters to describe him.

Latas pledged to fight oil interests and refused to accept campaign contributions from them. So far none have been offered, but if he wins the primary I hope he takes anything that’s offered. He’s going to need the money and I think he’s quite capable of taking it and still making independent decisions.

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All the candidates were asked to pledge their support for the winner of the primary. All said they would. Can’t wait to see if they do.

CD 8 Election Finance Reform

Reporter Blake Morlock, writing in the Tucson Citizen, recently noted:

“The first real dust-up among Democrats seeking to replace retiring Republican congressman Jim Kolbe is turning on who pays for campaigns. Patty Weiss, a former newscaster, accused former state Senator Gabrielle Giffords of coming late to the idea that government should fund federal Campaigns.”

That could be a powerful indictment, except that while it makes tough-sounding campaign rhetoric it falls short of accurate reporting.

On the occasion of Giffords’s signing of the “Voters First Pledge,” which calls for public financing of election campaigns, the Giffords campaign published excerpts from a letter by Charlene Bozack who served as the Executive Director of the Clean Elections Institute from 1999-2001. The letter praised Giffords’s record of strong support of campaign finance reform.

The letter says, ““without your strong commitment to seeing that the [Clean Elections] law not be overturned, the State of Arizona would not have such a system today.” The letter hailed Giffords for having “stood firm in your support of the system when it was under challenges at the state legislature,” and noted that Giffords “helped strategize with me to make sure the system did not get overturned in the legislature.”

The Giffords campaign continued: “Giffords also has a record of fighting to preserve fair elections by ensuring that a paper trail exists for voting machines. In 2004, Giffords authored a Senate floor amendment to the Help America Votes Act (HB 2083). Her amendment required all voting machines purchased after April 1, 2004 to provide a paper statement of each person’s vote. The amendment was approved and the Senate passed the bill with Giffords’ amendment.” (Reference link.)

Now what are we to make of all this? Either Weiss knew Giffords's record and deliberately ignored it for purposes of political aggrandizement, or she didn’t know Giffords’s record of support for election finance reform and simply said what sounded good without checking. Take your choice. Odd behavior for a “journalist.”
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Giffords was on NPR today. Check her interview out here. Link

A Weekend Without Politics

A friend sent me Alan Furst’s most recent espionage thriller, “The Foreign Correspondent,” and I have been lost in the Europe of 1938 and 1939---the final collapse of Republican Spain, Germany’s entrance into Czechoslovakia, the anti-fascist Italian resistance, and a Paris filled with the displaced.

It’s easy to “get lost” in Furst’s novels because they are so meticulously researched. The look and feel and emotional tone of a Europe tuned cold and gray by what has been called “the banality of Evil” surrounds the characters… to which small, yet terrible, things happen. In such a world love is sad, heroism sometimes accidental, and tension unrelieved.

Reviewer Nancy Pate wrote in the Orlando Sentinel:

“Some books you read. Others you live. They seep into your dreams and haunt your waking hours until eventually they seem the stuff of memory and experience. Such are the novels of Alan Furst, who uses the shadowy world of espionage to illuminate history and politics with a gripping immediacy.”

Furst has a web site. Be sure to watch (and listen to) the opening montage. Link

Django, right?
(Photo by Shorma Valeska)

Hard Not To Love The Az Daily Star

It’s right there keeping us informed about the latest political news.Example: In this morning’s paper there was a front page headline that said, “Cluttered Nov.8 ballot is stirring concern.”

Well, no. There is no Nov. 8 ballot. On Nov.8 no one will have his concern stirred. The Election is Nov 7.

Can’t wait to read the correction.

Arizona LD 26

Lena Saradnik, Democratic candidate for State Representative, announced today that the AFL-CIO and the Arizona Education Association have endorsed her.

In a brief statement Saradnik said:

“I am indeed honored the two major Arizona unions organizations support our efforts. As your elected State Representative, I will fight for quality public education, honor for our public school teachers, affordable healthcare for families, and well paying jobs and prosperity for all Arizonans.

Together we can win in 2006!”

A Test For Net Roots?

In Connecticut a battle is going on for the soul of the Democratic Party. On the right is Senator Joe Lieberman and on the left is a newcomer, Ned Lamont, who is challenging Lieberman in the Democratic primary.

Lamont represents, and is supported by, the left/progressive/ ‘Democratic wing of the Democratic Party.’ These folks hold that on issues like Iraq, universal health care, the partial privatization of social security, school vouchers, and other issues dear to the Democratic heart, Lieberman has been too close to the President.

Lieberman is sufficiently worried about the outcome of the primary that he has announced that, should he lose, he will run as an “Independent Democrat.”

This seems to be a wonderful situation for a casebook study of the Progressive belief in the efficacy of net-roots organizing. Will they be able to knock Lieberman off in the primary by flooding the Lamont campaign with street soldiers and, more importantly, with money.

Secondly will they be able to negatively impact Lieberman’s petition signature gathering? He must submit his signatures to run as an independent the day after the primary.

Will Progressives, playing a tit-for-tat strategy, conduct their own signature drive so that in the event of a Lieberman victory Lamont could also run as an Independent Democrat?

There is always the chance that with a three way race the two Democrats would split the vote and allow a Republican victory. A chance, but according to current polling Lieberman would win a three way race.

Connecticut is the testing ground for a Progressive net-roots strategy. It will be fascinating to see how it plays out.

CD 8 The Candidates' Independence Day

Latas

Sierra Vista 4th of July Celebration
Meet Jeff at Veteran's Memorial Park at 11:00 a.m.

Veterans of Foriegn Wars Open House, Tuesday, July 4, 2006
Jeff will speak at 2:00 p.m. at the VFW Hall, 1884 S. Craycroft Rd.

Oro Valley 4th of July Celebration
Celebrate in Jeff's home town at Canada del Oro Riverfront Park Amphitheater, 551 W. Lambert Lane, at 5:00 p.m. Park at Casas Church, 10801 N. La Cholla Blvd., or the Home Depot at Oracle Road and First Avenue. The air-conditioned shuttle costs $1 per adult; children ride for free. Admission to the park is free with a donation of a nonperishable food item that will be donated to Catalina Community Services.

Marana 4th of July Celebration
Meet Jeff at 6:00 p.m. at Ora Mae Harn Park, 13250 N. Lon Adams Road. $5 to park


Weiss

Weiss will be on hand at 10am for the Douglas Parade and follow that up an hour later with an appearance at the Bisbee Parade.

From 2pm to 4pm she will visit park activities in and around Tucson.

From 5pm to 9pm she will spend her time with the good folks in Marana, where she will be joined by the Patty Weiss for Congress "Independence Day Celebration Squad."


Giffords

Giffords is celebrating the 4th observing the scheduled lift-off of Discovery.

Shacter

Nothing planned, according to her web site.

Pederson Signs

I've just noticed the first political signs of the season. Jim Pederson has signs at major intersections in the foothills. (Non-Tucsonans: That means they're in Pima county but not inside Tucson city limits.) Looks like he made the first strike in the pre-emptive sign wars.

The Political Blogosphere--How Useful?

An interesting comment made by anonymous blogger x4mr is buried down at the bottom of an 87-comment thread to the June 23 Data Port. I’ve brought it up here because I think it’s well worth our discussing. Here ‘tis:

"I may be out of my depth here, and if so, apologies in advance.

How many people are we really talking to here? How many people are really reading/listening? How much do these blogs really influence elections? Who does this discussion really serve?

Make no mistake, I enjoy doing this and actually TDP is my favorite place.

If we are 50 people, or even 100, that perhaps get watched by another 100, we mean what?! This is over 80 comments deep and I am really not trying to start anything, but I think these blogs serve the bloggers, all 200 of us (or whatever) that might actually vote in CD8.

I think campaigns need to watch what is happening, but blogging is not an effective way to get votes."


What do the Data Port political junkies think?

CD 8-- Weiss and PACs: Pot Calls Kettle Black

Everyone seems to be rumbling with political indigestion (or should that be indignation) over campaign finance issues. Apparently no one who accepts PAC money can be free of bondage to “special interests.”

This lets the Weiss campaign out since it is already tainted. It has accepted $5000 from the United Transportation Union Political Action Committee. Patty has also accepted two ‘in kind’ contributions from the National Committee For An Effective Congress valued at $3000.

The National Committee, in turn, is the recipient of funds from PACs like the American Federation of Teachers AFL-CIO, the International Association of Firefighters, and the Machinists Non-Partisan Political League. Hence the campaign sucks in what I suppose you might call the ‘second hand smoke’ of PAC contributions.

Oh, Patty…Patty…Patty

CD 8 Note

The following comment landed in the Data Port's mail box with a date of June 27, 2006. It seems to have been tied to a very much earier post, why I don't know. At any rate what the writer ...wearetribal... says seems spot on so I am posting it here.


I see lots of attacks here...all of them lacking the ring of truth. Not a single one tells us where they found this or that evidence against Gabby.

Look, Gabby is just 35 years old. Sure, there may be some person out there who is 35 and has a better resume. But they are not running in District 8. No one who is running has a better resume, regardless of age.

Who is this anonymous and why are they anonymous? Clearly they are with one of the other campaigns, posting the same smears all over the blogosphere, and clearly they are dishonest. Gabby only went to private schools? She graduated from the same high school I did, and our family of six lived on less than $10,000 a year. Pretty sure I was never at a private school. By the way, that high school was University High where you have to test as top 3% just to get in. So she is actually known to be "one of the brightest on the block." Her older sister, a friend of mine in high school , is plenty bright also.

So, she is great at making connections and anonymous thinks that is a bad thing? That is one of the main skills she needs to get things done when she is elected. Clearly she has more of that crucial skill than her opponents.

And please folks, remember that there is a general election. I am not suggesting that you vote for the candidate that "can win." I have never believed in crystal balls myself. I am noting that a wise candidate who is planning ahead might very well avoid saying things that alienate the slightly more than 50% Republicans in the district. Maybe that is why Gabby is avoiding extreme statements.

I am a Green Party member and a volunteer for Gabby. I am a lifelong activist and a supporter of Gabby. I co-founded Students Against the Gulf War, owned the store Peace Works on 4th Ave, and I presented an academic paper at the Symposium on the Psychology of War despite not having a college degree (I was too busy doing activist work in college to finish). Gabby has read my paper. I could list twenty more examples of my progressive credentials...free clinics for migrant farm workers, a new neighborhood park, the bike racks on 4th Ave...etc.

I do not just support a candidate on a whim. I volunteered for Wellstone in '88 and Harkin in '92, as well as Nader in 2000. Now I volunteer for Gabby. If you think Gabby is not "progressive" enough for you...well are you more progressive than me? Really?

Think for yourself, always, but please ask yourself why this anonymous has to come here and lie to you. Get your own facts and then decide.

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CD 8 Democratic Primary, What’s It About?

An interesting notion has emerged down at the end of the comment thread to the last Data Port post. Ol’ Anonymous implies that what the Democratic primary is really about is reforming the Democratic Party. God knows that the Party needs reform, but that’s not what the election in CD 8 is about.

Pay attention, now: The election is about sending a Democrat to Congress, regaining control of the House, and putting the brakes on the Republican rot. Only then can we hope for some change of direction, some glacial movement toward tax reform, single payer health care, or a return of our rights to privacy.

These, and other issues dear to Democrats, are particular goals and projects that are specific and can attacked one at a time. “Reform” is a notion so formless and cloud-like that it’s hard to get a handle on. I fear that the Party, like Chicago, “ain’t ready for reform.” But we’ll see.

Anonymous suggests that Giffords supporters are all Independents and Republicans, which will certainly come as a surprise to the legions of hard core, lifelong, Democrats who throng the campaign office, and work for her election.

Finally, if “reform” really is a goal and if “being part of the caucus” is a necessary condition of that project, then Giffords is so overwhelmingly part of the caucus that the reformers should rush to her support.

CD 8 A Giffords Endorsement/ A Weiss Poll

I’ve been so busy touring that I haven’t mentioned the announcement of another major endorsement for Giffords: The League of Conservation Voters. The full text of the LCV announcement is available on the Giffords web site, here.

The announcement of the Weiss poll slipped by me entirely, but not by the political observers who regularly comment here at The Data Port. Lacking a fresh post here they had to tack their comments on my June 20th post, below. The comments are well worth reading. (link)

Here’s a link to the text of the poll from the Weiss web site. (link)

My take? I don’t think there’s anything there to cause the Giffords camp any concern. As one commenter pointed out, less than half the people who have heard of her said they’d vote for her. Weiss's only argument for her election continues to be that everyone knows her name.

On Line On The Go

Sometimes it seems to me that the old days really were better. We lashed our belongings on a clunky but reliable scoot and adventured off with a supply of spare parts. For the length of our trip we were as disconnected from national and business reality as hobos.

We did not carry: I-pods, transistor radios, cell phones, GPSs or high-tech camping equipment. We certainly did not carry computers. My computer experience this trip has been on-again/off-again. After having solved problems in Gallup I arrived in Gunnison absolutely unable to get my motel’s wi-fi connection to work. Nuts! Despair! Phooey!

I had given up when our fifteen year old assistant motel manager, hearing us complain, said, “Hey, I’ll reset it for you guys.” I didn’t have much faith so I went riding. Got back to the room this afternoon and found I had a connection strong enough to burn the bark off of trees!

Incidentally, two things I really miss on the road are NPR and decent Jazz. If you are one of those who mourned KUAZ’s replacing jazz with talk, or who can’t find an NPR station when you are spending a night in Dismal Seepage Nevada, let me remind you that you’re never without either if you have your ‘puter with you.

Right now I am listening “locally” to Tucson Jazz Radio. Listen here!

Bikin' With The 'Puter

Never done this before. After all, a road trip is supposed to be a break from the ordinary routine. There are advantages to having the ‘ol laptop along, though, and I don’t mean the chance for continued exposure to political rants. For instance, I am listening to some very mellow jazz from Denmark’s DR Jazz as I write this.

The computer has survived the bouncing about it received in the process of trying to reach the mystery motel, which was completely surrounded by road construction, broken pavement, and assorted detour signs pointing in different directions.

It was a great ride, and there was a wonderful ‘gas station moment’ in Holbrook. We’d gassed the bikes, soaked our cool vests and were about to leave when the last of a dying breed rolled in: Five Harley riders on a cross country run to the West Coast.

These were not RUBs, rich urban bikers. Their bikes looked to have been assembled from pieces found elsewhere, their luggage was an odd assortment duffels and stuff wrapped up in towels and lashed in a clutter to their bikes. The extended forks, ape hangers, and lack of suspensions would have broken the backs of lesser men. These were basic bikes,a frame, an engine, and two wheels.

The riders were in good spirit, even the big guy who was riding shirtless, with nothing to protect him but his tattoos in hundred degree heat. A woman who was waiting for a new tire rushed out to take a picture of this mob. That was okay with the big guy but he asked that she wait until his buddy stopped rubbing him all over with sun block.

“I don’t want to look queer,” he said.

CD8 A Quirky Open Thread

Here’s a kind of Open Thread for Data Port commenters. Your challenge: Find the humor in politics. For instance---

Patty is fond of saying that she’s a citizen candidate, not another politician. The sly implication is that her opponent is “just another politician” with all the baggage that phrase entails. Hello? Reality check, please. Patty, you’re applying for the job of politician. You’re telling us that you can do a better job of politics, take better care of the nation and the District, than Kolbe did or Giffords would.

If politician is a dirty word, and a bad thing to be, then apply for the job of somebody’s press secretary. That at least is a job for which you have the experience.

And have you all noticed that many Progressives are either scornful of, or dislike and resent, something called “the establishment,” by which they mean the men and women in the Democratic Party and in National organizations who wield power and influence both in and behind the scene in Washington?

These are exactly the people who can help a novice congressperson’s legislative career by telling them where the political bodies are buried, or help with a bill by nudging an important sub-committee member in their direction. It’s good for a congressional freshman to have a connection to the establishment.

Jeff will have great establishment connections if he is elected…the military-industrial complex, with which he has been connected most of his working life. I’m sure his former colleagues will be quick to advise him on issues of military funding and defense, in case the congressional enthusiasm for the War On Terror flags.

All that being said, have at it guys and gals.

64 Years Later...Making Do

Oh, poor me! Lacking my yearned-for Ural I have had to make do with this outfit, graciously loaned to me for the past six months by a dear friend and riding buddy. The bike was a BMW K1200RS. I say "was" because it has been so thoroughly modified...altered steering geometry and humungus Pirelli car tires...that it could no longer be ridden solo.

What a difference 64 years have made. Here we have fuel injection, water cooling, computer managed engine, and a hack wheel that steers with the front wheel of the bike. (But no two-wheel drive and no reverse as on the URAL, Nyeah, Nyeah, Nyeah.)

This outfit is blindingly fast and light as a feather. Its proud owner and tuner is coming back to Tucson (sob) to reclaim it and we're ducking business and politics for a merry chase through the twisties in Colorado. I'll be pursuing him on my trusty old k75. A good time will be had by all.

Greatest Bike of 1942

I have an irrational desire for a new motorcycle. I don’t suppose, under ordinary circumstances, that wanting a new scoot would be classified as irrational. I mean, this sort of thing happens to motorcycle people all the time. The sophisticated esthetics and mechanical elegance of the latest offering from Kawasaki, or BMW, or Honda seduce us and it would be crazy not to want that new motorcycle.

In my case I’m not sure. I find that I’m obsessed by what someone has called “the coelacanth of motorcycles,” the greatest motorcycle of 1942, a Russian copy of BMW military motorcycle that by today’s standards has the mechanical elegance of a tractor: The Ural.

It’s really too slow for a run down the interstate but it’s a perfectly adequate ‘blue highways’ bike. A reverse gear and a driven sidecar wheel makes it the master of every dirt road and logging trail. It’s really quirky to want this bike. Maybe that’s why I want it.

CD 8...Emily's List Endorses Giffords

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- EMILY's List, the nation's largest grassroots political network and financial resource for women running for elective office, today announced its endorsement of Gabrielle Giffords in her bid for Arizona’s 8th Congressional District.

"Gabrielle Giffords is independent, passionate, and ready to effect change in Washington just as she has in her home state. Gabrielle knows Arizona. She has experienced it from every angle, from small business owner to state senator, and she understands and is willing to fight for what is important to Arizonans," said Ellen R. Malcolm, president of EMILY's List. "Support for Gabrielle throughout Southern Arizona is impressive, and EMILY's List sees her campaign as a tremendous opportunity to take back this seat in 2006. This is one of EMILY’s List’s top priority races, and our membership will use its significant strength to ensure a victory for Gabrielle Giffords.”

Full text available here.
The Emily's List home page is here.

CD 8 Giffords Sets Petition Record

One of the classic rituals of every campaign is the delivery of nominating petitions to the Arizona Secretary of State. It’s a photo op and the chance to celebrate with your supporters. You hope for a little press coverage, which it’s unlikely you’ll get, and move on to the next stage of your campaign.

Giffords has turned in a record 7015 signatures, about three times the number of the next nearest candidate. Signatures were collected from every county in the Congressional District…Pima, Santa Cruz, Pinal, and Cochise. That she covered the District is not a fact that political junkies will find unusual, although the number of signatures certainly is.

What is worth noting, however, is the fact that signatures were collected from every one of the 345 precincts in the district. The campaign is surely going to argue that this is evidence of the breadth and depth of Gifford’s support. According to a campaign spokesman about 20% of those signatures were from high voting propensity Democratic voters, who they now hope to recruit to the campaign.

Whatever is made of these figures by her opponents it is hardly open to debate is that they are evidence of an extremely well organized, efficient, and far-reaching field organization. This is certain to be noted by players on the national scene who want to focus their support on those campaigns that promise the greatest success in re-capturing a House majority in Congress.

CD 8 Notes

* A press release from the Weiss campaign reports that Nina Roosevelt Gibson, Granddaughter of FDR, has endorsed Weiss. The endorsement is part of the fund-raising push of the Weiss campaign, and stresses the “I am not politician, I am a citizen candidate” meme.

As of this post there is no link to the press release on the Weiss website, the press release section of which hasn’t been up-dated since May 17th. I imagine that the new Weiss communications guy, Andrew Myers, will be taking care of this.


* There’s a new blog covering CD 8 politics with emphasis on the Republican side of the aisle: Arizona 8th.


* Why you need bloggers: Today’s Arizona Daily Star has 25 articles and six blogs about sports. It has no story that I could find about local politics. I grant that bloggers are not certificated “professional journalists” but at least they let the rest of us know what’s going on behind the scenes.

CD8 Arizona Education Association Endorses Giffords

A press release from the Giffords campaign today announced her endorsement by the AEA.

Quotes from that release:

The Arizona Education Association is the largest professional organization in Arizona, with 35,000 teachers and education support professionals. It is a state affiliate of the National Education Association, the largest professional organization in the United States, with 2.7 million members. They are dedicated to advancing the cause of public education, and they both joined together to announce their support of Gabrielle.

In the legislature, Gabrielle Giffords helped lead the bipartisan Children's Caucus, which worked to improve education and health care for Arizona's children. She worked closely with Governor Janet Napolitano on the promotion of all-day kindergarten. She supported our schools through sponsorship of supplemental state aid through bonds (SB 1344, in 2004) and tax credits that could be used for school supplies (SB 1355, in 2003). She also sponsored a bill to improve air quality in the schools (HB 2272, in 2004) and pushed for accountability on school spending (SB 1297, in 2004). Thanks to her support of reading in the curriculum, she was awarded Arizona Family Literacy's Outstanding Legislator for 2003.

She has also worked to improve higher education in Arizona. She sponsored legislation to support our universities and community colleges with research infrastructure (HB 2529, in 2003) and technology support (HCR 2028, in 2003). Locally, she serves on the advisory board of the University of Arizona College of Business and Public Administration.

The AEA and NEA have joined a large coalition of labor unions and professional organizations that have stood in support for Gabrielle Giffords' campaign for a government that works for all of us – not just the privileged and connected. The coalition includes:

United Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 104.
Arizona Conference of Police and Sheriffs (AZCOPS), Local 7077.
United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Local 99.
Associated Highway Patrolmen of Arizona.
United Brotherhood of Carpenters of America (Southwest Regional Council).
Professional Fire Fighters of Arizona.
Arizona State Council of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.
Tucson Fire Fighters Association, Local 479.
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen.
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

California CD50...An Expensive Win

As a follow-up to the last Data Port post, here’s a backward look at a close Democratic loss in California’s 50th Congressional District, where Democrat Francine Busby narrowly lost to Republican Brian Bilbray. Rahm Emanuel, DCCC Chairman, writes: (The high-lighting is mine.)

"After spending more than five million dollars - more than 20% of their reserves for November -- and using national Republican leaders like George W. Bush, John McCain and Laura Bush, and running viciously negative ads, Brian Bilbray and the NRCC were able to pull out less than 50 percent of the vote in a solidly Republican district. We've got them on the ropes, but we also know that they are not going down without a fight. The fact that the DCCC and Democrats across the country are already competitive or ahead of Republicans in campaign funds and polling numbers is unprecedented, but we need to keep up the momentum until November."

This was a solidly Republican district. The Democrats made the Republicans pay dearly to hold onto a seat that will have to be contested for again in November.(You may remember that Cunningham, the former Congressman, is now doing eight years in the slams for corruption.)

Make the Republicans fight for every office, and every Congressional seat! Needed Info: What did it cost the Democrats to lose?

LD 26… A Senate Candidate Found

The Democratic Party is doing a full court press on candidate recruitment. A good thing, too. Gone are the days of conceding some districts as “unwinnable” because they were heavily Republican. The new strategy, which is as old as Michigan’s Democratic chief, Neil Stabler, in the days of Governor G. Mennon “Soapy” Williams: Make the bastards fight for every office.

The candidate is Charlene Pesquiera and she has a daunting task, gathering 400 signatures by June 14th. Want to help? Contact fellow LD 26 candidate Lena Saradnik here: 520-229-3375

CD8 Post-Vacation Post

When I’m out of the country, or out in the boondocks, I pay no attention to the news. That’s okay, because when I am finally re-connected to the media babble I find that nothing much has changed. The characters may be different, but the play is still essentially the same.

The wrangling amongst anonymous posters in comment threads continues, probably to have no great affect on the outcome of any issue with which they are concerned. The wordy repetition of heart-felt beliefs reminds me of the Shakespearean observation:

He draweth out the thread of his verbosity finer than the staple of his argument.


Latas supporters seem still to be immensely impressed by the Lieutenant Colonel’s position on Iraq, but I’m blessed if I can see any substantive difference from Giffords’ views.

From the Latas Web site:

* Reposition forces out of the cities, and eventually out of the country, at the earliest practicable date.
* Deploy a quick-reaction U.S. force and an over-the-horizon presence in the region.
* Pursue security and stability in Iraq through diplomacy


From the Giffords web site:

*Declare that we will have no permanent bases in Iraq.
*Commit to a targeted plan that brings our troops home as quickly as possible, while transitioning security responsibilities to the Iraqis.
*Encourage European and Middle Eastern countries to help financially in the rebuilding efforts.


On the basis of the Latas position on Iraq alone I see no reason to support him rather than Giffords. Incidentally, detailed statements of the Giffords positions, voting record, and testimonials are available here.