Arizona Rep. Raul Grijalva Endorsed Rodney Glassman For State Democratic Chair, But What's Up With This???

Arizona's Politics does not generally wade into the intra-party political maneuvering - and, I am not sure why I got this e-mail - but, the latest is impossible to ignore.

An e-mail from a Democratic District Chair (Jeffrey Rich) is headlined "Another backroom deal courtesy of Don Bivens and your Arizona Democratic Party".  He attaches an e-mail chain setting forth a letter from Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-CD7) and former Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard.  Grijalva has endorsed Rodney Glassman for State Party Chair and Terry Goddard has endorsed Andrei Cherny.  The State meeting is set for this coming Saturday.

Grijalva and Goddard set this post-Giffords assassination attempt era as a "moment of sorrow" and an inappropriate time to conclude a contentious battle for the Chair of the Arizona Democratic Party.  Therefore, they detail a proposal to keep current Chair Don Bivens (and the rest of the current officers) with the conditions that he/they will resign in one month.  A new election would then have to be noticed out.

The most interesting part is that the e-mail chain includes one from Cherny agreeing to the delay.  The other one is from Glassman to Rich, with the less-than-concurring subject line of: "FYI- Look at what Bivens and Cherney are planning next".

This would appear to indicate that Grijalva moved forward with this apparently-bipartisan proposal without Glassman's (a former aide of Grijalva's) support.  An interesting move, and one that is sure to make Saturday's meeting buzz even louder than before this attempted quieting proposal.  Rich's mass e-mail is just the first indication of that.

(Arizona's Politics is not posting the e-mail chain at this time because we do not yet have confirmation that the Grijalva-Goddard letter has been sent, and most of the other e-mails were supposed to be private until Rich sent them out.)




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BEYOND HYPER-PARTISANSHIP: New "No Labels" Movement Launching Now With Conference Streamed Live; Andrei Cherny Representing Arizona

I only caught the tail end of the launch conference for the new multi-partisan(?) organization called "No Labels".  Saw journalist Bob Franken do a quick, praising wrap.  Checked out the website, the speakers I had missed, the declaration, the whole nine yards.

This IS the type of effort that I have supported dating back to 1980, to the extent that I reserved a domain name and spoke with several about joining forces several years ago to form the "Middle Majority".  (Go ahead and take the name - it lost cachet even before Jerry Falwell's passing.)

The new group's declaration is easy to like, hard to take offense at.  (It is reproduced in its entitety below the jump.  "The vital civil center" is where No Labels intends to operate, to move our country forward.

Those jumping into that center today included: New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg (who is NOT running for President), Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, media figures David Brooks, Dylan Ratigan, Bob Franken, Joe Scarborough/Mika Brzezinski, Congresspeople Debbie Stabenow, Joe Lieberman, Kyrsten Gillibrand, Evan Bayh, Mike Castle, and Tom Davis. (By the way, this popped up on my radar screen today because unsuccessful candidate for Arizona State Treasurer Andrei Cherny tweeted that he was at the conference; perhaps not coincidentally, Cherny/Kolbe was the subject of this first "Beyond Hyperpartisanship" post.)

An organizer "interviewed" by Bob Franken at the end noted that more than 15,000 people hit the website during the conference and at least 6,871 have signed their declaration.  I was one of those, but it remains to be seen whether (a) enough other Republicans will join this effort, and (b) organizers will be able to build more momentum than that.  Whatever happens, efforts like these can only better the current political climate.

By the way, I was certainly glad to see that the morning panel was titled "Hyper-Partisanship In America", hosted by MSNBC co-hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough and featuring David Gergen and outgoing and incoming Democratic Senators Evan Bayh and Joe Manchin.  (Arizona's Politics would have been happier to see them place the word "Beyond" in front of the title;  while it is not copyrighted (yet), a Google search of "Beyond Hyper-Partisanship" shows this blog as the #1 listing.) 

FACT CHECK: Ducey Running Ad Heavy On Election Day; "Desperate"

I rarely see any morning TV, but I made it a point to turn it on this a.m. in order to see what ads were still running.  Between the gym at 5:00 and now, I have seen Doug Ducey's ad titled "Andrei Cherny: Desperate" four times.  While it was put up on YouTube nearly a month ago (Oct. 7), this was the first time I had logged it.

The hybrid negative/positive ad starts with "Andrei Cherny launches a desperate and false attack." Also, on the screen, is featured a still of the Cherny ad with the Arizona Republic headline clearly visible.  The headline states: "Treasurer candidate Ducey didn't pay '08, '09 tax." 

The ad goes on to state "the truth" about Ducey: that he is an "honored businessman" who created hundreds of Arizona jobs.  That he is endorsed by the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and the Arizona Republic.

It then turns on Cherny: alleging that he was a California political insider who authored Obama's failed economic plan.  Finally, that Cherny's investment plans for Arizona are "risky" and "possibly illegal".

Claim (1) Cherny's desperate and false attack: Ducey is obviously referring to Cherny's ad which has been running for several weeks (though I have not - yet - seen it today).  Arizona's Politics Fact Checked that ad a month ago, and gave it a grade of "C-"; it was not false, although I challenged its methodology to come up with its estimate of the "cost to taxpayers" of defaulted Cold Stone Creamery franchises and placing all of the liability in Ducey's column.  Not quite the "false attack" Ducey's ad boldly claims.

Ducey's claim is made even worse by the combination of the narration and the visual: the only part of the Cherny ad that Ducey shows is the TRUE claim that Ducey had not paid his property taxes.  Ducey has even admitted that that happened, and was a mistake.  By using that still from the Cherny ad (rather than the "cost taxpayers $53 million" image), Ducey is making a false (and desperate?) attack.
       GRADE: "F"

Claim (2) Honored businessman who created hundreds of jobs, endorsements: He has been honored and he has helped create jobs.  He has received those endorsements.
       GRADE: "A"

Claim (3) Cherny is California political insider who authored Obama's failed economic plan:  I could find no evidence to support that Cherny is a "California political insider";  in fact, he lost a race for the California Assembly before moving here to marry and raise a family.  He has claimed to have co-authored Obama's plan, while asserting that the ideas were obviously Obama's.
       GRADE: "C"

Claim (4) Cherny's plans are "risky" and "possibly illegal":  Ducey's ad uses his Arizona Republic endorsement for these terms for Cherny's suggestion to safely invest some of state government's monies in companies that benefit the state economy.  The Republic's editorial writers are certainly not qualified to make such legal judgments, but Ducey is free to use them in his ads.  (Interestingly, in that same endorsement, the Republic does note that Ducey failed to pay his taxes - see claim #1.)  Nevertheless, it is somewhat misleading to make the suggestion that Cherny would be able to make an illegal shift in investment policy.
       GRADE: "B"

OVERALL GRADE:  Because the negative attacks are much more heavily weighted in this ad - especially Claim (1) - overall, this ad grades out at about a "D+".


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WATCH: Doug Ducey Ad Running This a.m.

While Ducey titles this ad "Andrei Cherny: Desperate", Cherny and his wife had their 2nd baby yesterday - the day before the election.  Talk about timing!

FACT CHECK: Hard-Hitting Ad Against Treasurer Candidate Doug Ducey

Andrei Cherny, Democratic candidate for Treasurer, has unveiled a strong attack ad (titled "Above the Law") against Republican opponent Doug Ducey.  According to the campaign, the ad will begin airing on Phoenix TV stations today.  The ad mentions Ducey's late property tax payments and late corporate filings, but the strongest attacks are against the former Cold Stone Creamery owner's record at that ice cream chain.

Former franchisees Ken and Jennifer Gornall are featured, claiming that Ducey is "directly responsible" for franchise failures and that he "basically cheated people out of their life’s investments."  Ms. Gornall puts an exclamation point on it by stating "In my opinion, he’s a crook."

After the announcer touches on the late tax payments and annual reports, he returns to Ducey's record as Cold Stone CEO (1995-2007).  As the voiceover states that he "cost taxpayers millions", the visual shows: "Doug Ducey: Cost Taxpayers $53 Million".  In smaller print, they list the source as the U.S. Small Business Administration.

It ends with a fierce audio and visual, too.  Ms. Gornall says "He's not an ethical man," and the visual claims "Doug Ducey shouldn't be treasurer."

Mr. Cherny has the funds to run this ad many times.  According to his most recent report (Sept. 23), the Cherny campaign had $460,265.64 on hand (compared to $12,862.11 for the Ducey campaign).

The fact check analysis is below the jump.

Former Republican Congressman Jim Kolbe Moves BEYOND HYPTER-PARTISANSHIP To Endorse Democrat

One of the things that ArizonasPolitics.com intends to highlight during the next several weeks is efforts to get beyond hyper-partisanship.  We believe that most Arizonans are tired of every issue being framed in an Us vs. Them, Republican vs. Democrat, black vs. white partisan way.

Therefore, it is with great pleasure that we have a breaking news item that highlights a former Republican Congressman crossing the aisle to endorse a Democrat for Arizona Treasurer.  Rep. Jim Kolbe just sent out an e-mail on behalf of Democratic candidate Andrei Cherny.*  As he notes, it is the first time he has endorsed a Democrat (beyond local offices), he is "still a proud Republican", and he is also going to co-chair Cherny's campaign.

Kudos to Congressman Kolbe, for again displaying political courage in this day and age of hyper-partisanship.

The Republican nominee is Doug Ducey.  There are no Green or Libertarian Party candidates on the ballot.



*Text of August 30 e-mail:
Dear ,


I served as a Republican in Congress representing Arizona for over 22 years, as a Republican in the Arizona state legislature for 6 before that, and I’m still a proud Republican. I’ve never endorsed a Democrat for any office other than local ones. But as we find ourselves in a worsening fiscal crisis, we need to have the most qualified people in leadership positions and there is no doubt in my mind that Andrei Cherny is the right person for State Treasurer.






Without any hesitation, I not only endorse Andrei, but am joining his campaign as its Chair. During and after all my years of service, I have come to realize that party labels do not mean a lot. I have known Andrei for several years and I believe that his accomplishments and experience in managing organizations; his work and record as a prosecutor in the Arizona Attorney General’s office; and his sheer drive, intelligence, and education are what we need in this position.






I’ve signed on to help and am ready for whatever guff comes my way. Will you help as well by making a contribution today? In a campaign like this, every little bit helps if we're going to break the mold and get past the old divisions.






Andrei and I don’t agree on every issue, but I have a lot of respect for his commitment and his vision and I know that the guy I’m supporting is the best person for this job.






Given the problems the state has I think we need to bring both parties together and support Andrei because of his skills, leadership and vision.






We aren’t going to fix problems if we don’t have leaders that will cross party lines. And we won’t have those leaders if we as voters don’t support and help the candidates who are willing to break out of the partisan strongholds. By asking me to chair his campaign, Andrei has shown he’s ready to do that. I hope you’ll lend a helping hand to our efforts today.

Thanks,


Jim Kolbe

P.S. Your contribution right now will help us hit the ground running in the general election. We don't have a moment to waste!