Sunday, February 17, 2008

Recap of Friday night's Horizon


Four left-wing male journalists discussing politics - yawn. Have you ever noticed that none of the successful popular national political roundtable shows feature only men of one ideology? Horizon really handicaps itself by this bias. You'd think that liberals who preach diversity every chance they get would at least have a token female conservative. We've been suggesting Darcy Olsen from the Goldwater Institute for months now. She's articulate, easy on the eyes, and writes exclusively about local politics - so what's the problem? The good old boys club doesn't want to permit the conservative viewpoint a fair playing forum.

Last night the guys discussed the recommendation made by the Mayor's advisory panel on eliminating Phoenix's sanctuary city policy by changing Phoenix Operations Order 1.4 to permit the police to inquire about someone's citizenship status when arrested. Howie Fischer said Gordon agreed to the change because he wants a political future. Sunnucks noted that this position is in the middle - a majority of the public wants this change.

Discussing the possible John Shadegg resignation in CD-3, Fischer noted that Steve May is planning to stay in the race regardless of whether Shadegg resigns. If McCain is planning on giving up his Senate seat, he would have to resign by June, to allow time for others to file to run for his seat. I'm hoping that they both resign, since I have a friend who is interested in running for Shadegg's seat. Sunnucks observed that there is no clear replacement for that seat, because the GOP machine is no longer what it used to be when McCain and Kyl determined who was going to be the favored candidates. Fischer said that Jim Waring has the best chance at winning, since he's well-known, good-looking, single, and has made a positive impression with his bills cracking down on drunk driving. He mentioned Pam Gorman as another candidate, and pointed out that she carries a .45 gun. Sunnucks, no friend to conservatives, said that the "kool-aid drinkers" in the GOP, the right wing, will turn out and vote which will favor an insider like Sean Noble or a social conservative. He also mentioned J.D. Hayworth and Jim Pederson as potential contenders. Fischer predicted that if Sean Noble - who is lacking in name recognition - wins in CD-3, then Lord will win the general. He was partially correct - the district is pretty conservative, so it's not rocket science to predict a conservative Republican will win. But the Democrat in the race, Lord, has no chance in a conservative district, especially considering McCain is running, pulling in a lot more Republican voters in Arizona this fall. Plus his name sounds like a porn star - no one in a conservative district wants to be reminded of that.

Next the guys discussed the CD-5 race for Harry Mitchell's seat. Fischer said that Mitchell is fairly safe. He's dead wrong there, because of the McCain factor, which will pull in more Republicans voting, and there are more registered Republicans in that district, as Benson pointed out. Mitchell won in 2006 because the Democrat National Committee poured money into that race specifically targeting J.D. Hayworth. This year, Democrats aren't going to bother with Arizona because of the McCain factor, noted by Sunnucks.

Fischer speculated that Giffords will beat Tim Bee in CD-8, since Bee is too enmeshed working on the budget he's not campaigned much. However they all failed to point out that Giffords, unlike Mitchell, has chalked up a very liberal voting record, which won't go over well in that moderate district.

Fischer and Benson predicted the Renzi seat will go Democrat, since there is no big-name Republican running. Sunnucks disputed this, however, noting that the leading Democrat for that seat, Ann Kirkpatrick, is probably too liberal. Kris Mayes doesn't have a shot, since the Corporation Commission has rarely led to higher office. Fischer said he felt sorry for Jeff Hatch-Miller, who moved out of CD-3 to CD-5 to run for that seat, then, after he's moved out of CD-3, Shadegg decides to resign.

Discussing the budget, Sunnucks said that the governor's idea to get more revenue from the state lottery is a bad idea, because the "stupid people tax" is already about tapped out. Fischer said there are 40,000 state employees, "you can't tell me that nobody can't go." Of course not, because if Napolitano starts laying off state employees, she loses one of her most powerful voting blocs! She hasn't even implemented a hiring freeze, someone I know who works for the Attorney General's Office says they haven't seen nor heard anything about a hiring freeze.

Fischer continued to take the devil's advocate conservative position since there were no conservatives on the panel, stating that part of the problem is that no one wants to say no to spending in prosperous years. He then analyzed the governor's duplicitous position on photo speed cameras - first she said it was all about safety, now she says it's for revenues.

Next Tuesday on Horizon is an interview with Jim Small of the Capitol Times. Should be interesting to see if he tries to be objective, considering Small has been accused of having a far left wing bias, which emerged at the paper when it was taken over by left wing ownership a few years ago.

Check out the picture above of Fischer - why does that rainbow frequently appear on the left side of the screen? Is Horizon trying to send a hidden message promoting diversity? If so, they're doing a terrible job since their panel is bunch of white left-wing males.

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