A Mike Stauffer for Maricopa County Sheriff table is being set up as the Stauffer campaign introduces itself to ASU Students on October 31, 2012. Both (R) Sheriff Joe Arpaio and (D) Candidate Paul Penzone were a no show for the students.

Independent “Maverick” Voters have ability to eliminate Extremism via Prop 121 and voting for Independent Mike Stauffer for Sheriff.

I don’t believe the Maricopa County sheriff’s office should be a partisan one, and it is time to stop wasting millions of dollars in tax payer dollars due to expensive lawsuits over mysterious deaths.  Mike Stauffer wants to eliminate tent city which is a lawsuit magnet.  He has a plan because currently there are approximately 8000 inmates; yet, we have facilities that will house 10,000 inmates.  It’s time to open those VACANT facilities and put them to use. If we can house dogs in sheltered facilities, then we can house human beings, too.

Also, I believe the two major party system has failed Americans with their bickering, fringe groups (like the Tea Party) and partisanship games.

Yesterday we discussed the importance of early voting and the rise of the center via independent voters.

Voter Demographics in Maricopa County regarding Sheriff Joe Arpaio race

How do you expect the former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney to win over Americans when he can’t win over the people he used to govern? 

John McCain won his State of Arizona during the 2008 Presidential elections against President Obama, so why is Romney unable to convince the people he used to govern?

It seems to me that if you are a strong candidate — you should be able to at least win the state you used to be the Governor of.

Governor Deval Patrick, in a forceful rebuke of his predecessor, said Tuesday that Mitt Romney failed as governor of Massachusetts to create jobs, repair crumbling bridges, and invest in schools.

“Mitt Romney talks a lot about all the things he’s fixed,” Patrick told delegates at the Democratic National Convention. “I can tell you Massachusetts was not one of them.”

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick went on to say:

“By the time he left office, Massachusetts was 47th in the nation in job creation,” said Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, the Democrat who succeeded Romney in 2006.

It appears Romney is avoiding the discussion of his record as Massachusetts Governor.

Why is that?

POLITICO has an excellent discussion on why some folks think he is avoiding talking about his record below:

POLITICO’s Glenn Thrush reports that Mitt Romney is consistently avoiding discussions about his time served as governor of Massachusetts.

Even though he passed a sweeping local health care reform bill, supported abortion rights and closed tax loopholes for the rich, Romney has chosen instead to highlight his time as a business man who ran the Salt Lake City Olympics and Bain Capital.  Current Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick called the situation “weird” and the Obama campaign in April released a video mocking Romney’s avoidance of his Bay State history.

Is Romney wise to let his sometimes-centrist Massachusetts career go by the wayside? Or is he missing a chance to highlight some of his key political victories?

FULL DISCUSSION HERE>>>

 

From the Independent Voters of America who did an excellent job of shining the light on (I) Mike Stauffer for Maricopa County Sheriff:

….

Why is it significant that there’s an independent candidate in the race? Because it will offer a thermometer test for the temperature of Arizona’s rapidly growing faction of independent voters, and whether they’ll support Independent candidates for office.

….

Despite the fact that electoral math guru Nate Silver already reminded us that “Arizona is probably not a swing state” earlier this spring, independent voters currently make up the second largest voting group in the state, after the Republican Party. While Arizona politics has recently been known on a national level for Arpaio’s antics and Republican Governor Jan Brewer’s finger pointing tarmac greeting of Obama, the state isn’t as extremely conservative as one would think, at least as measured by voter demographics. The number of “mavericky” registered Independents has risen sharply by 23% since John McCain’s 2008 run for President, and now sits at 1,210,241, 34% of all registered voters. With these statistics in light, we’re happy to shine the light Stauffer’s candidacy.

Stauffer recently turned in 29,764 signatures to meet a ballot access requirement of 19,410 signatures last month, although he’ll struggle to compete in a fundraising and communications battle against Sheriff Arpaio’s massive war chest. As the Huffington Post reported:

“The sheriff’s campaign fundraising this year appears untroubled, hauling in considerable sums from people living mostly outside the state. In January, he had $3.4 million, after accounting for $2.48 million in expenses, according to his campaign finance records.”

Stauffer’s campaign will attempt to unite Arizona’s Ron Paul Republicans, Independents, and Blue Dog Democrats to pull off an upset win over Arpaio, although it’s any wonder how he plans to compete against Sheriff Joe’s massive fundraising advantage. However, with Arizona’s recent surge of registered independent voters and Arpaio’s declining popularity, who knows what’s possible in November.

Stay tuned to see if Maricopa County independents can walk the walk to the voting booth (assuming they decide to support candidate Stauffer), after talking the talk on their paperwork.

 

… READ FULL STORY HERE>>>

Maricopa County Sheriff Office Demographics between 2008 and 2012 in key Arpaio race.

Things are getting down right ugly here in Arizona with the deep partisanship of the two major party system between Republicans and Democrats — and this is precisely why I am an Arizona independent voter for life.

I want to demonstrate to my reader how the 2 major party system has failed American voters, and if you really want to punish the 2 major party system here in Arizona — I recommend you vote YES to an Open Arizona Primary via Prop 121.

For example, in Congressional District 9, we have seen the ugly partisanship nature of Republican Candidate  Vernon Parker attack the Democratic Candidate Kyrsten Sinema for referring to mothers as leeches.

Burnin’ Vernon states on his facebook page:

“FACT CHECK: Sinema Lies About Breast Feeding Moms Legislation; Taking Credit for Jonathan Paton’s Bill

Phoenix, AZ – Today the Vernon Parker campaign called on Kyrsten Sinema to immediately pull her blatantly false television ad claiming she sponsored legislation to protect breast feeding moms.Sinema’s Claim: “It was Sinema’s legislation that protected breastfeeding mothers like us from indecent exposure laws”FACT: HB 2376 was introduced by Jonathon Paton and Tim Bee. To see the actual bill click the link:

“Shame on Kyrsten Sinema for taking credit for someone else’s work. She should immediately apologize for lying about her record and apologize for calling stay at home moms leeches. Then she should take down this deceptive television commercial and finally come clean about her record,” said Alyssa Pivirotto, Parker Communications Director.”

On the other hand, a Libertarian-Republican friend of mine sent me this photo today below where it shows Burnin Vernon liking a fan page titled:

“Screw the skinny bitches:  A break up cookbook manual”

So how is a woman to vote in Congressional District 9 this year?  The options given to them in my view are horrendous.  It will amount to two things for the lady voters this year: Whether or not a woman finds it more offensive to be called a “leech” or finding it more offensive that politicians only like to “screw the skinny bitches” if these women voters are overweight.

I really don’t care who wins this race, but as a Latina … I am still disgusted with Burnin’ Vernon parading the border with Sheriff Joe Arpaio back in 2010…and in fact, one day before the Republican primary of 2012, my Libertarian friends told me they received robocalls from Arpaio supporting  Burnin’ Vernon Parker and shedding him in a good light.  My disdain runs deep against Arpaio since he sent a letter to his fans where he called me a liberal in 2010 — however, liberals are falsely calling me a far right winger and an Arpaio supporter despite my strong anti-Arpaio record.  The fringe groups have gone off the deep end — leaving the reasonable 80% that afraid to speak up in fear of being attacked by extremists on both sides of the aisle.

Long live the Independent Revolution, and may we be on the brink of another healthy American Revolution that will take power from both sides of the aisle.

Stauffer Campaign Supports 9/11 Memorial in Tempe

Campaign volunteers prep flags from 6AM-9AM today for placement at the Healing Fields in Tempe (Town Lake)

(Above)  Mike Stauffer for Maricopa County Sheriff helping raise flags for 9/11 Tempe, Arizona, Memorial

Campaign volunteers prep flags from 6AM-9AM today for placement at the Healing Fields in Tempe (Town Lake) — at Tempe Town Lake.

The California Open Primaries has helped a much needed Mexican-American candidate of California via Abel Maldonado.  I like Abel.  He didn’t demonize Mexican immigrants in order to get ahead and am especially glad to see more Mexican-American leadership.

As an independent voter living in Arizona — this is wonderful news.  As many of you might already know … independent voters in Arizona make up the 2nd largest party in our State.  As an independent voter who is hell bent on eliminating extremism from the fringe groups, I support the Open Primaries.  I believe in bipartisanship, hence my support for the top two primary elections.  Mexican-Americans in the southwest often look to Abel Maldonado because he is considered a ‘friendly’ to Latino politics in our Country.  Like Abel (of California), I support the Open Primaries in Arizona.

Here is what Arizona can learn from the California open primary elections of 2012.

Independent Thoughts on CA’s Primary Results

By Jason Olson on 06/07/2012 in California, Electoral Reform, Open Primaries, States with 0 Comments

The San Francisco Chronicle ran this headline across their front page yesterday:

It’s a little hard to believe that in April of 2010, I sat in a meeting with their editors and then Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado to pitch them on endorsing the “Top 2” open primary (Proposition 14). They did and their article today begins, “The potentially dramatic effects of two landmark ballot measures approved by California voters in recent years began to emerge Tuesday with a primary election that could lead to shifts in the state’s legislative profile in Sacramento and Washington.”

Congratulations again to the voters who supported the Top Two Open Primary and Redistricting Reform measures in past elections. Yesterday’s vote showed what removing party control over the elections can do. We had a primary process that was about selecting the best leader to move California forward, rather than who was the best partisan to fight for their party.

Yesterday five independent (“No Party Preference”) candidates running for the California Legislature placed in the “top two” of their respective races and will advance to the general election to face an incumbent. Top Two Open Primary champion Abel Maldonado (R) will also advance.

While the political parties are too entrenched for independents to change the outcome of elections more dramatically then that, we are impacting on the process as the Chronicle headline attests.

In the past, districts that heavily favored one major party over the other would be decided in the dominant party’s primary, making the general election meaningless. This year many of those districts feature races between two candidates of the same party, or against an independent candidate. This ensures that in November, all the candidates will have to work harder for the independent vote.

Take the 15th Congressional District. Over 58% of voters chose a candidate other than Pete Stark (D), a 40-year incumbent and the longest tenured elected official in the state. Stark won by a narrower-then-predicted margin of 42% to 36%. The other 22% (which the Chronicle doesn’t spell out) went to an independent candidate who did not advance but, in this new “top two” environment, is clearly holding cards with the power of his endorsement along with the voters who backed him.

I want to send a special congratulations to Abel Maldonado on his win in the 24^th Congressional District last night. Abel took on both political parties by putting the open primary on the ballot. We were proud to fight with him for open primaries, and we were proud to endorse him for Congress. Maldonado represents the kind of non-partisan leadership America needs.  We’re excited to bring that message to every independent in his district again in the general election.

I also want to congratulate independent Linda Parks, who IndependentVoice.Org endorsed in the 26^th Congressional District and who polled 18.5% of the vote to place third. Democrat Stacey Lawson [D - 26th CD] who we also endorsed, finished 4th in her contest with 10.1% of the vote. We were proud to support them both and look forward to building on those relationships. (link to endorsement press release)

Finally, this was the first election where forces of the independent movement became directly involved in State Legislative and Congressional Races. While our approaches were different, we sought to push the agenda embraced by independent voters: that partisanship has broken our government and the only way forward is fundamental political reform.

While the results were impressive for our first go around, they also show the challenges ahead. If we are to emerge as a “third force” (rather than a third party) in California politics, we must make the long-term investment in building our base at the grassroots.  IndependentVoice.Org and our national organization IndependentVoting.Org remain committed to that goal. I invite all of our partners in this election and those who share in those ideals to join with us.