I think this image needs a thought bubble. Has to be short & sweet, though, since there isn’t a lot of space.
Ideas?
From the forward to How Ronald Reagan Changed My Life
“Ronald Reagan’s beliefs were as simple, unchanging, and American as the flat plain of the Midwest where he grew up. He placed his faith in a loving God, in the goodness of the country, and in the wisdom of the people. He applied those beliefs to the great challenges of his day. In doing so he became the largest and most magnificent American of the second half of the twentieth century.”
If any of my friends see the program, I suppose they’ll take it for granted that I was overstating the case for the cameras. They’ve certainly never heard me talk that way over lunch on the Stanford campus or at dinner parties in Palo Alto, where we always lace our conversation with a knowing dose of cynicism. The odd thing is, I meant every word.
A great book written by an accidental member of Reagan’s administration. Life lessons culled from a man who was larger than life – a man who is still sorely missed. A friend’s recent post on Facebook reminded me how much I enjoyed the book, but since I had given away my last copy I had to buy a new one – went for the Kindle edition this time.
Highly recommend –> How Ronald Reagan Changed My Life
Trying to apply the Buckley Standard
to our primary election tomorrow.
CD3: That is either Quayle or Gorman – though I think Morris might be a dark horse there if the race had fewer options. Both have shown signs of “typical” politician behavior; Quayle’s non-denial denials, followed by a rolling walkback, Gorman’s mudslinging & whining. I don’t want to have a Congressman that doesn’t think the truth is the best choice first & always. I don’t want a Congresswoman who spends her time complaining that someone else got a better office or committee assignment because of their connections. I could vote for Gorman, but wouldn’t be excited enough to work on her campaign. It would be harder to vote for Quayle, but I would have fun working to get him elected in the general.
Senate: It is McCain. I wish it wasn’t. I wish a better, less ‘icky’ candidate had chosen to run against him. I wish one of the candidates from CD3 would’ve run against him. But the option we have been given in the primary is JD Hayworth and there is no way I am sending him back to DC.
Governor: Brewer is the last man standing. Jette is not viable.
State Senate: Only one candidate in my district
State Representatives: Only two candidates in my district
Secretary of State: Gee, guess I’ll vote for Ken Bennett
Attorney General: This is where the Buckley’s advice falls short. Thomas is the farthest Right candidate, but we have seen him, for years, spend valuable time, money & other resources in personal vendettas. I prefer my tax dollars not be spent for an insecure man to prove his manhood.
State Treasurer: Has to be Verschoor or Leff. I have been getting robocalls from Arpaio endorsing Verschoor, which is a negative, and my first impression of the guy was not positive. Leff has a very positive endorsement from a blogger colleague, as well as having gathered many impressive endorsements for her legislative runs (though none are listed for this race)
Superintendent of Public Instruction: Huppenthal, despite the trivial issues I mentioned earlier.
County Attorney: Can I just pick some random lawyer to write in?
In this year of voter engagement – and outrage at the system – I am surprised at the lack of quality candidates running here in Arizona.
My thoughts on the candidates in the Republican primary for Arizona’s 3rd Congressional District.
BRANCH, BOB
Despite the Dennis Miller endorsement, I don’t think Branch is really a viable candidate
CRUMP, SAM
Being endorsed by Fred Thompson would go a long way, if he hadn’t decided to jump in and volunteer his own endorsement to JD Hayworth. Crump has a decent record, and makes most of the right promises. I wouldn’t feel right, though, about voting for someone who makes the unforced error of jumping into the McCain/Hayworth fracas and picking a side. Good job standing up for what you believe, bad job showing you choose corruption over codger. Russell Pearce has endorsed Crump, also, which makes me uneasy; Pearce has done some good – and a whole lot questionable.
GORMAN, PAMELA
Another candidate endorsed by Pearce, another “cosigner” of SB1070. I We were fortunate to have her visit with our blogger’s group last month, and she definitely made an impression. I assume that you’ve seen her videos, even if you don’t live in this district. She would definitely be a front-runner for me, but I have been listening to her in interviews, and following her on Twitter. She spends far too much time whining about Ben Quayle, specifically the same. exact. tired. line. “We have someone in the race who just came to town so his daddy could buy him a seat” Wah. Further, when the mud started flying, she jumped right in to the fray. The stories were out there. Anyone who had missed them wasn’t going to suddenly be aware because she tweeted it. I so hoped to find a candidate who wanted to do the work – and didn’t want to be just another politician. Still, she remains a favorite of ExurbanJon – that is high praise.
HULL, LEANN
Wish I knew more about her. She seems like exactly what we need in a congressional representative; a business woman who wants to take her understanding of the district to DC. A businesswoman who will understand the terrible toll paid by business, small & large, because of the bureaucracy & regulations imposed by the Federal government. However, she doesn’t seem to be a viable candidate, either.
MOAK, STEVE
No. More on that later.
MORRIS, PAULINA
More later.
PARKER, VERNON B.
See my take here
WARING, JIM
Endorsed by John McCain. History of having a short fuse. Endorsed by John McCain. McCain. No vote from me.
WINKLER, ED
More later?
At our blogger gathering yesterday, the subject at one point was the finale of Top Shot.
I was relating what one of the contestants said, “Anyone who isn’t JJ Arrington doesn’t want to go up against JJ Arrington” Which may very well be true but, as Exurban Kevin pointed out, I got it a little wrong. The Top Shot contestant was JJ Racaza.
Arrington was one of the Cardinals’ weapons 
We had a small turnout at Rosie McCaffrey’s today and, though some of the cool kids were missing, we had a great time. One thing that was clearly reinforced: even in something as simple as a GOP primary, conservatives do not walk in lockstep. The opinions were varied and passionate. So much for the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy.
For instance, in the Senate race, there were some who hate Hayworth so much they are voting for McCain by default, and some who hate McCain so much they are voting for Hayworth by default. (We did all agree that Deakin is more or less just a gnat in that race)
Rosie’s was very accommodating to our group and had the tables all set up for us ahead of time. Very nice touch. They had asked when I made the reservation whether the group would want one ticket or separate checks, which was great – unfortunately, I forget to remind our waitress. The beer selection was a big hit, and the only complaint I heard regarding the food was a crack that the fish & chips should come in a newspaper cone LOL
Oh, and bonus points for the red-headed waitress. 
Next month’s meetup is still in the planning stages – should be the 18th in the East valley. We already have a guest suggestion, more details to follow.
We’re skipping the candidate visit this month to leave time for discussing the 8/24 primary vote.
Tell us who you like & why. This won’t be a campaigny, arm-twisty gathering – just a casual group of folks chatting …and eating 
August 21, 1:00pm – 5:00pm
Rosie McCaffrey’s Irish Pub
906 East Camelback Road
Phoenix, AZ
Again, if you are on Facebook, RSVP here
I got a call from “an out of state research firm with just a few questions about the GOP primary in CD3“.
Question 1: If the election were held today, would you vote for
A) Steve Moak
B) Vernon Parker
C) Jim “Warning”
D) Ben Quayle
“Quayle” (Let’s face it, of those 4 choices, there is no contest – Quayle by a long shot. I’m not sure why the other 6 candidates were left out.)
Question 2: Have you seen or read anything recently about Ben Quayle?
“Yes”
Question 3: Did what you saw or read make your opinion of Ben Quayle more positive or less positive?
“More positive” (I had read a lot of things, but what I had most recently read left a positive impression on me.)
CLICK
I guess that is all they wanted to know. I have no idea who paid for that particular call. I’m fairly certain it wasn’t Quayle, as the caller seemed unhappy with my answer. I’m willing to bet it wasn’t the Waring campaign, either, due to the mispronunciation of his name. That leaves Moak or Parker. (If the Waring/Warning was intentional, I’d wager on Parker/Rose)
UPDATE: Got almost the same call last night, but this time “Have you seen or read anything about Steve Moak?” and she did say, “This call has been paid for by the Quayle for Congress campaign”
I recently received a campaign mailer from Vernon Parker which features the phrase “President George Bush Trusted Vernon Parker. So Can You.” along with a picture of Parker with Bush, the elder.
Several things:
- Your campaign has spent a great deal of time and ink disparaging Ben Quayle for his connections to the old guard GOP. Yet you send out a large and clearly spendy mailer – - – to tout your connections … to the old guard GOP.
- The picture is bad. Your selling point here is that you were a Special Assistant to President George HW Bush, and Assistant Secretary of Agriculture under George W Bush, but this is the only photo you could come up with?
- You make quite a point that George HW Bush “trusted” you, so we should, too. However, you and your press flacks have reminded us that Quayle’s money came from his cronies out of state. Among those “cronies” are the Bushes, who have held fundraisers, in their own homes, for Quayle’s campaign. By sending this particular mailer, you have highlighted the fact that the Presidents you claim trusted you, chose to support one of the other candidates in the crowded GOP Primary.
So: Is old guard GOP bad – or is it good? Do the Bushes trust you – or are they pulling for your opponent?
I was having a dialog on Facebook with a friend of mine about our candidates here in CD3. He is a big supporter of Vernon Parker, a candidate who seemed like a nice enough guy when I met him. However, any positive feelings I had about Parker’s candidacy were strained when he was endorsed by Sheriff Joe, and destroyed when I realized his campaign was being orchestrated by Jason Rose. My buddy is still in his corner, though he admits he was disappointed by the tossing out of the race card.
I am not a huge Ben Quayle supporter, though, rather than dismiss him out-of-hand, I was willing to give him a look-see. My friend cited all the complaints I addressed here as reasons Quayle was a bad choice; as you can see, I don’t agree with those particular points.
Finally (I assume because he realized we’d just have to agree to disagree) he posted this:
LOL – just had a serendipitous realization:
Vernon Parker – great candidate despite the bad people around him . . .
Ben Quayle – bad candidate despite the great people around him . . .
…
LOL!
At first, I just chuckled and thought it could be true – until I thought about it a bit more.
I don’t believe it is possible for a great candidate to be surrounded by bad people. One of the marks of a good leader (which presumably a great candidate would be) is their skill at surrounding themselves with good people. A great candidate would know what he doesn’t know, and fill his staff accordingly. A great candidate would have a clear set of values that would dictate what type of people he chose to represent him.
After all, you need look no further than Barack Obama for an example of a man who believes he needs no real assistance (after all, he is sooo smart – they keep telling us – he knows all the answers) and is therefore comfortable staffing the White House and the Cabinet with old friends. The fact that they are thieves, thugs, radicals and cheats in no way registers as a problem for him. A true leader would want the best – and most honorable – people for those jobs.
As George Washington said, “Associate yourself with men of good quality”
I believe the second half is false, as well. I have no doubt a group of effective campaigners could get together, pick a name out of the phone book, and have a pretty good showing at the polls. However, effective campaigners is not the same as great people. Great people, people of “good quality” as the first GW said, would not spend their time or their money supporting and promoting a candidate they could not respect.
I don’t yet know whether Ben Quayle is a bad candidate, let alone a bad person. I am certainly glad there are so many choices (though what I once considered an embarrassment of riches now seems very much like slim pickings)
I do know that any candidate who would allow their campaign to be run by a slimy character like Jason Rose, is not a great candidate.
Phoenix, AZ
