ARIZONA POLITICAL SHORTS, 5/8/14: Smith's Short Shorts in Political Shorts, Obama Nominee "Friend" of McCain's

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8) Arizona Republic's columnist E.J. Montini spoke with attorney Tom Ryan re: AG Tom Horne's alleged campaigning out of the fortress on Washington.

7)  KUDOS to Arizona Republic reporter Mary Jo Pitzl and BOOS to the Associated Press and the Arizona Capitol Times, for their handling of the news release from Arizona Secretary of State-and-candidate-for Governor Ken Bennett.  Bennett's office trumpeted the conviction of a Bullhead City woman for voting twice in the 2010 election.  The news release did not mention the party affiliation of the woman, even though the voter fraud issue has been widely seen as a partisan effort by the GOP to suppress Democratic-leaning voters.  Pitzl reported that the convicted woman is a Republican; the Capitol Times ran an AP short version, which did not mention the party affiliation. (It was not difficult to learn the party affiliation; Arizona's Poltics did so quickly yesterday.)

6) 10:41am: JUST NOW: House does NOT vote on Benghazi Select Comm after debate. Postpones.

5) Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) popped into a committee hearing to express support for President Obama's nominee to head up the Department of Health & Human Services.  Shockingly, he referred to nominee Sylvia Matthews Burwell as his "friend".  h/t to The Hill

4) Clever way to get you to visit their website: Mesa Mayor-and-candidate-for-Governor Scott Smith looked a lot different when he took shots on his high school basketball team, and his campaign is using that in an email to get you to click to his website.  Try to guess which 1974 Westwood hoopster is now running for Governor - it is an irresistible challenge. (I picked the wrong guy.)  The picture is below.  (Amazingly, they do not seem to try to tie it in with Smith's appearance next week with former Phoenix Suns Kevin Johnson and Tom Chambers)

3) Rep. Ron Barber (D-CD2) had a Proud/Not Proud kind of night last night.  He trumpeted the late-night passage of his amendment in the House Armed Services Committee which gave a one-year reprieve for the A-10 fighter planes (key to Davis Monthan AFB).  He was silent about being one of only 6 Democrats to join with Republicans in holding former IRS official Lois Lerner in contempt of Congress and calling for a special counsel to continue investigating.

2) An email from state House Speaker-and-candidate-for-Congress Andy Tobin made Politico's list of examples of Republicans fundraising based on their push for a Select Committee investigating Benghazi.  The email - as received by Arizona's Politics - is reproduced below the jump. 

1) Arizona Republicans are featured in two D.C. press conferences today.  From Politico: "Sens. John McCain and Jeanne Shaheen, and Reps. Earl Blumenauer and Adam Kinzinger will hold a press conference at 10:30 a.m. in S-207 to introduce legislation to extend the Special Immigrant Visa program for Afghan civilians.... Reps. Trent Franks and Ron DeSantis will talk about Obamacare court challenges at 4 p.m. at House Triangle."

Friend, Twenty months after the terrorist attacks on Benghazi, which left four Americans dead, the White House is still covering up vital information about what happened that night. If you remember, Barack Obama was in the midst of campaigning for reelection. Coincidence? Americans were not fooled then and, despite the Obama Administration’s best efforts, we are still not fooled. Rep. Trey Gowdy being named to lead the House Select Committee on Benghazi is a very encouraging development. Arizona’s 1st Congressional District needs a battle-tested representative in Congress who will faithfully represent your voice, who will fight for your conservative values and who will always seek to uncover the truth. Please take a moment right now to donate what you can to my campaign! EXPRESS DONATE $15 EXPRESS DONATE $35 EXPRESS DONATE $55 EXPRESS DONATE $155 EXPRESS DONATE $1555 Thanks!

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