Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Going through my inbox of things to catch up on. . . There is an exceptional profile piece of Dr. Richard Carmona, candidate for the U.S. Senate, by Terry Greene Sterling at The Daily Beast. Dr. Richard Carmona Faces a Tough Race as the Democratic Candidate for Senate in Arizona. (The caption is based upon the premise that this is a Republican-leaning state and Rep. Jeff Flake has a substantial campaign war chest). The caption detracts from what is an otherwise must-re...

by David Safier

On KUAT's Political Roundtable, Pima Democratic Chair Jeff Rogers sparred with Pima  Republican Chair Carolyn Cox, mainly over the Barber-Kelly race. Carolyn Cox possessed a laudable quality Kelly had in spades in 2010 and is running away from in 2012 -- the courage of her convictions. She defended eliminating the minimum wage, using arguments Kelly has employed. These days, you can't pry a word about the minimum wage from Kelly's lips. She also defended privatizing Social Secur...

New posts will continue to appear below this one.

Did you know, when you send in your mail-in ballot, campaigns know? That means they stop calling to tell you to send in your ballot. They can focus on the non-voters, and you get one less annoying phone call. (And once you send it in, you don't have to think about it any more.) So do it!

Dates and early voting locations below the fold.

Early voting runs from Thursday, May 17 to Fri...

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The Arizona Daily Star has provided more information about the CD 8 Debate it is cosponsoring on Wednesday, May 23 at 7:00 p.m. at the Tucson Jewish Community Center (JCC), 3800 E. River Road.

The JCC seats in excess of 500 people. Seating is first come, first served.

People who want to attend will not be allowed onto the JCC grounds until 6:00 p.m.

Tickets for admission to the ballroom will be distributed outside the JCC's main entrance starting at 6:00 p.m.

Political si...

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

One would expect an amoral vulture capitalist who is all about making money regardless of the cost in human lives and communities destroyed to be the choice of the amoral banksters of Wall Street. Willard "Mittens" Romney is one of them, and he promises to return these banksters to the unregulated casino capitalism that nearly destroyed our financial system and the world's economy just a few years ago. Good times.

Steve Benen writes, Getting by with a little help from the...

By Michael Bryan

Jesse Kelly is trying to run from his past radical statements regarding eliminating and privatizing Social Security and Medicare, eliminating the minimum wage, slashing taxes on the wealthiest, and eliminating vital oversight of the free market to ensure the public is protected. 

Well, he's still a radical, and it comes out when he's not appearing in carefully crafted campaign ad. In the video after the fold, we see Kelly addressing his base at the Marana Chamber of Commerce, w...

By Michael Bryan

I consider the fight for equal rights for LGBT Americans one of the true litmus tests for true progressivity in American politics today. If you don't think that the equal treatment under law of LGBT Americans is vitally important, you don't really think much of the central value proposition of the American way of government: every person deserves the same rights and privileges of citizenship.

I spoke with Dr. Richard Carmona the other day about this, and he fully supports equal ...

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

It turns out that Jesse Kelly is too extreme even for the GOP establishment conservative editorial board of The Arizona Republic, which endorsed Ron Barber for Congress today. Barber provides steady centrism district needs (excerpts):

We think Ron Barber is the best choice to finish Giffords' term.

Voters may want a different style in November. For now, Barber offers continuity and steadiness. He served as district manager during Giffords' 5 1/2 years in Congress, and he...

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

I have heard from Democrats since last week, several of them long-time party activists, who have told me that they have received mailers from the Jesse Kelly campaign, and have received both live calls asking them to vote for Jesse Kelly or robo calls asking them to vote for Jesse Kelly. They even robo called my house!

Unless the GOP has an unlimited reserve of campaign cash (perhaps a line of credit with the Koch brothers?), campaigns do not spend their money on contact...

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Time once again for Steve Benen's weekly fact check of the pathological liar, Willard "Mittens" Romney. Chronicling Mitt's Mendacity, Vol. XVIII:

Back in February, Paul Krugman argued that Mitt Romney is "running a campaign of almost pathological dishonesty." Was this an intemperate analysis? Perhaps. Three months later, does it seem fair? Put it this way: take a look at the 18th installment of my weekly series, chronicling Mitt's mendacity.

1. Romney promised in a speech...

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

There is a promo ad on MSNBC by Mrs. Greenspan (Andrea Mitchell) in which she says how terrible it is that political parties -- plural -- are trying to restrict the voting rights of American citizens.

Newsflash Mrs. Greenspan, there is only one political party that is subject to a federal court consent decree for voter suppression for over thirty years and that is the GOP. The RNC's latest appeal was rejected by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. Court Rejects Voter Sup...

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

In advance of the G-8 Summit at Camp David this weekend, Paul Krugman's column on the the Euro financial crisis was decidedly pessimistic with the government in Greece this week rejecting the austerity plan forced on them by European Union leaders a few weeks ago, forcing new elections to be called in Greece. Apocalypse Fairly Soon:

Suddenly, it has become easy to see how the euro — that grand, flawed experiment in monetary union without political union — could come a...

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Paul Krugman has said that Willard "Mittens" Romney is a pathological liar who will say anything to get elected. Now he is beginning to believe that Mittens is an ignorant dangerous fool. Win Some, Lose Some:

Is it possible that I have misjudged Mitt Romney?

My take has always been that he’s a smart guy who also happens to be both ambitious and completely amoral; he decided that his career can best be advanced by pandering to the crazies of the right, and will say anyth...

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Announcement from the Cochise County Democratic Party:

Please send your donation with this detachment to the address below, or call a contact number to RSVP.

============================================================================

The Gathering Cochise Democratic Party, May 26, 2012

Name ____________________________________________________________ Total Number of Guests _________

Address __________________________________________________________________________...

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The Political Calendar is posted on Sundays. Please send us notice of your political events prior to the Sunday before your event (7 days would be most helpful). See the calendar icon in the right-hand column of the blog page for easy access to the calendar.

SPECIAL ELECTION DEADLINES

• Early ballots were mailed May 17 , 2012.
• Early voting period from May 17 to June 8, 2012.
• Candidate nomination petitions for the CD 2 congressional election are due Wednesday, May 30, 2012 ...

by David Safier

Six years late for the party and 17 years after it was published, I finally got around to reading Barack Obama's "Dreams from My Father." I don't read book-length claptrap from politicians, but this was lying around the house and I was between books.

It's not claptrap, not by miles. This is a beautifully written, thoughtful book by a man in a unique position to comment on racial and social matters. The depiction of the two sides of his parentage, going back a few generations, and...

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Ron Barber for Congress has released a new ad, a thirty-second spot called “The Right Way.” The ad shows Jesse Kelly, in his own words, talking about his support for reducing the corporate tax rate to zero and his support for the so-called Fair Tax, a 23 percent consumption tax. Ron Barber for Congress Releases New Campaign Ad: “The Right Way” | Ron Barber for Congress:

Download a fact check of the ad here. [PDF]

At the Saddlebrooke Republican Club debate in Janua...

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

It seems every week there is a new political corruption scandal in Arizona. As I have said before, we should designate one of our prisons just for politicians and the lobbytists they serve.

Then there are the batshit crazy bills promoted by the Birthers-Birchers-Secessionists of the Tea Party in the Arizona legislature that keep late night comedians in business. Our Tea-Publican insane clown posse leadership in Arizona makes Arizona the laughingstock of the nation.

The...

By Michael Bryan

Jesse Kelly's latest salvo criticizes Ron Barber for support of a bill (Waxman-Markey's cap and trade bill) that he's never (that I can find) taken a position on, and which has been as dead as a doornail since 2010.

Gabby Giffords did support and vote for Waxman-Markey when it passed the House in 2009. I assume that Kelly is basing his allegation that Barber supports it on Gabby's vote. That might be a fair assumption, or it might not. But it is certainly deeply irrelevant to a...