I've disliked the Arizona Republic for a long time. The state's paper of record, which used to be called the Arizona Republican owing to its origins, has made excuses for conservatives for a long time. They finally turned on Joe Arpaio a few years ago, around the time he started going after reporters and Republican politicians. They hope that you forget that before that, they were giving his antics friendly coverage.
Now that the Republican Governor's Association is running ads claiming that Fred DuVal raised tuition on college students, Republic columnist Laurie Roberts is condemning not the RGA and their sudden concern for the plight of college students, but both sides.
First off: To be completely fair, the ad is not a lie. Call it a "Yes, but..." Here is Roberts herself on the content of the ad:
DuVal was indeed on the Arizona Board of Regents when that body nearly doubled tuition. Left unsaid – in the ad or the press release – is why DuVal and the rest of the Regents raised tuition.
It might have had something to do with the fact that the Arizona Legislature slashed funding to universities by $428 million. That is 50 percent of its per-student funding.
The Republican-dominated Arizona Legislature, that is.
Roberts also mentions DuVal's ad, the only one he's run so far, which features former Republican Attorney General Grant Woods talking about what a great guy he thinks DuVal is. Two ads: a not-the-whole-truth attack on a candidate, the other a bipartisan positive testimonial. What's Roberts's conclusion?
And with nine weeks to go until the general election – one in which Democrats and Republicans will be ripping into each other and ripping into each other and ripping into each other – I find I'm already sick of it.
Both sides. Definitely both sides. She's practicing for the beltway, I guess.