For those who haven't heard,
J. Fife Symington officially
said he will not run for governor next year. My first feeling was that he wanted his name thrown into the mix because of his outsized ego (one previous opponent called him "megalomaniacal"). But as I watched him approach this race, he evidently thought he could really do it. This leaves the Republicans, once again, fishing for an opponent against the popular
Janet Napolitano, which makes this very similar to one of my
earlier posts.
In a radio interview, he actually said that he knew he could beat Napolitano, but just didn't want to run. Sounds like pure eighth grade logic. The full extent of this man's delusions are summed up in a opinion piece in the Arizona Republic.
This leaves the Republicans with two possibilities: Marilyn Quayle and Surgeon General Richard Carmona.
I don't think Carmona will make the run. Supporters of his were pushing him to run for the Democratic nomination in 2002 in the open seat that
Raul Grijalva won. He's got a compelling story, but there are also plenty of warts there that an ambitious opponent (which Napolitano is...) could easily exploit. Plus, right now, he's got one of the best political gigs God has ever devised.
As for Quayle...
The Republicans in Phoenix seem to be really excited about her running. Just like they were about J. D. Hayworth, Rick Romley and Fife Symington over the last few months. Makes me think that she'll announce that she's not running in about two weeks. This is all about reading patterns.
Oh yeah...there is still Teresa Ottesen and Keith DeGreen. Barely three and a half years of being Governor, and Napolitano has showed everyone what a joke the Republican party is in this state.
In other news...Napolitano spanked the legislature again. They were hoping to force her to support vouchers by threatening her plans for a medical school and all-day kindergarten. They held her up to the wall, made her buckle until they made her...uh...get all-day kindergaten and a new medical school in return for...uh...no vouchers. I think Harry Truman talked about giving the Republicans hell and making them like it. Janet gives them hell and they don't even know it.
I shouldn't say "no vouchers", there was a provision for corporate giving to private school scholarship funds. The Republicans are calling this a "school choice" provision, but the logic here seems rather weak. It seems they are desperately trying to spin this into a victory for themselves.
Many Democrats in the legislature are still unhappy with this, and understandably so. Which brings me to the topic of, "My Local Media Sucks." As some of you know, my my twin brother serves in the state house. It would be confusing if you saw the two of us together, I can see that. For the third or fourth time, they have mixed up our names.
Back when Tom first got there, they ran a long story where they talked to state legislators, and ran pictures of each on the sidebar. Not only did they attribute a quote to me, but they ran my picture. Apparently, the reporter in Phoenix identified him as Tom, then someone found my picture from when I ran for Charter Committee back in 1996, and said "hey, this guy's name is Ted!" and changed the name in the article. When I called the editor, she told me "How could we be so stupid?"
In the article about the budget deal, the AP reporter attributed a quote to me. The Star fixed their story, but it is out there in cyberspace. By the way, as far as I know, the reporter that wrote the story has never met me and doesn't know Tom has a brother named Ted.
Geez, if these guys can't get a detail like a legislator's name right, what hope do we have that they can cover the story?
Gawd, I hope this doesn't end up like a Castro Brothers situation.
If it was a better quote I wouldn't mind so much...:)