Time magazine said it a different way in their article, “Is Arizona Finally Fed Up with Right-Wing Politics.” I like their headline better because it reflects a feeling running throughout our state and the entire U.S. that heralds the average American’s exasperation with the GOP and its conservatives who think there is only one way, and who aren’t willing to compromise on any issue. Democrats can be stubborn too, but luckily we have a President that realizes the importance of give-and-take to this country right now.
Tucson and Flagstaff are more liberal than Phoenix metro but the latter does have some progressive pockets like Ahwatukee and Tempe. The rush of Californians moving into the state a few years ago provided a liberal jump. I know; I’m one of them. But the good old boys were well entrenched then and remain in relatively strong position today. However, you can see the left leanings in many ways; Janet Napolitano was elected and re-elected Governor before joining President Obama’s cabinet.
But it was the immigration issue that quickly swung the pendulum back right sending Jan Brewer to the Governor’s office over a much more qualified Terry Goddard. It’s generally believed she would not have made it without Russell Pearce and his racist anti-immigration bill, SB 1070. This is a clear case where the progressives stayed home on election day and got what they deserved in Brewer.
Randy Parraz, co-founder of Citizens for a better Arizona, the group that successfully recalled Russell Pearce, agrees with Time that politics are changing in Arizona and moving to the left. Parraz comments that this recall took place in Mesa, a conservative stronghold, not a liberal Tucson. If the right is getting tired of the likes of the Russell Pearces, maybe this sentiment will carry over to more in the GOP in Arizona and in Washington. We’ll see in 2012.