Citizen Staff Writer

BLAKE MORLOCK,

RYN GARGULINSKI

and B. POOLE

news@tucsoncitizen.com

State Senate President Tim Bee hosted President Bush’s fundraiser Friday but Sen. John McCain, symbolically, shared the stage.

Bush came to Tucson to raise money for Bee’s Republican congressional challenge to U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and had the larger picture for the fall on his mind.

The president took some pictures with those who donated $10,000, then spoke under a tent in the backyard of Jackie and William Bell. He discussed the need to elect Bee and made a pitch to help get McCain elected president, say those who were at the private event held in the Catalina Foothills.

“He talked about the fact that we are at war and we have to be serious about who we select as president and how important it was to elect Tim Bee,” said Benny White, a GOP activist and husband of Pima County party chairwoman Judi White.

Pima County Supervisor Ray Carroll, Republican Pima County Attorney candidate Brad Roach, GOP National Committeeman Bruce Ash, former county party Chairman John Munger and State Rep. Jonathan Paton were among the 400 people who attended the event on Ina Road near First Avenue.

The amount raised is close to $600,000, a Bee campaign spokesman said. That would make it the richest fundraiser in southern Arizona history, Bee said.

Bee’s campaign will wind up with “the vast majority” of the proceeds but must share the take with the Republican Party and other House and Senate campaign committees.

“We needed to have a very large fundraiser to close the gap in money with my opponent,” Bee said.

Giffords, a freshman Democrat, had $2.1 million in the bank at the end of June while Bee had $687,000.

Guests began arriving at the event at about 6 a.m. and the president arrived just after 8 a.m., Bee said.

For breakfast, guests munched on miniature muffins and quiche dishes.

Carroll got his picture taken with the president and chatted briefly about recovery from the 2003 Aspen fire in the Santa Catalina Mountains. He didn’t have time to make a pitch to save the Santa Rita Mountains from a proposed copper mine in the area, he said.

The event does come with costs. The Bee campaign must pay some of the cost of the president’s visit and security.

It’s hard to know just how much the campaign must pay and what bite taxpayers must swallow.

Bee said his campaign has paid bills and has more to pay before the full cost gets factored in, but it won’t show up on Federal Elections Commission reports.

Local agencies would not disclose how many extra police officers or sheriff’s deputies were needed to ensure the president’s safety or how much it cost, referring all questions to the U.S. Secret Service.

Secret Service spokesman Malcolm Wiley would not answer those questions, either, but did say the services are paid by the city and the county.

“Unfortunately, we never talk about two things,” Wiley said. “One is the number of agents we use or how much money it costs.”

Dozens of sheriff and police units were on duty from before Bush’s arrival in Thursday night to his departure Friday morning.

As the president’s motorcade Friday rolled down Ina Road, which turns into Sunrise Drive, then to Swan Road and Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, some people on the roadside waved flags but most were aiming cameras or cell phones at the motorcade. Every side street along the route was blocked by police or by orange construction cones.

A few people held signs, one reading “I Love You Anyway” and several reading simply “Thank You.”

Democrats organized a protest at Ina and Oracle roads, about a mile west of the fundraiser that was attended by about 100 people. Bush never saw it.

On the Davis-Monthan flight line, the president greeted a crowd of about 100 people. He shook hands, smilingly lifted a baby overhead briefly and posed for a few pictures with airmen and their families.

He spoke for less than a minute with Mary Frances Ward, a Green Valley woman to whom he presented the President’s Volunteer Service Award.

Ward, who worked for 35 years as an educator, tutors disadvantaged kids as a member of the volunteer Experience Corps, which places people who are over 55 into public schools to work with children.

She said she was thrilled.

“The impact of this didn’t really set in until I was over there by Air Force One,” Ward said. “My heart just started to pound.”

Bush briskly climbed the stairs on the jet, then turned and waved to the crowd before stepping inside to fly to Texas.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

Gannett News Service
2008 Presidential Election

NICOLE GAUDIANO

Gannett News Service

WASHINGTON – Unlike any woman before her, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton was able to raise record-breaking sums of money, mobilize millions of voters and show she was qualified to be president.

The rise and fall of her quest to be the Democratic nominee begs the question: What will it take to put a woman in the White House?

“It’s like, wow, it took this long and if it’s not Hillary, then who? And if it’s not now, when?” said Democratic pollster Celinda Lake.

Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano is one political experts mention when they list potential female presidential candidates.

It has been more than two decades since another New Yorker, Geraldine Ferraro, ran as Walter Mondale’s vice president in 1984, raising hopes among women back then that a Madame President could soon be the next step.

Other women had run before, including New York Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm in 1972, and others ran after, including Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C., and former Democratic Sen. Carol Moseley Braun. But none came anywhere near as close as Clinton.

In a speech Tuesday night, Clinton again talked about parents who told their daughters and sons they can be whatever they want to be.

With only 16 women serving in the Senate and eight female governors, experts see a somewhat narrow pipeline for women with presidential potential. Even in state legislatures, where presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama of Illinois served before being elected a senator in 2004, the percentage of women has hovered in the low-to-mid-20s for the last decade.

It’s possible Clinton could run again in 2012 if Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the presumptive Republican nominee, is in the White House.

Other female contenders mentioned by political experts are:

• Napolitano, 50, Democrat.

Pros: She is relatively young and, as a governor and former attorney general and prosecutor, she has a lot of the right kind of experience for successful Democrats in national elections.

Cons: While she has been able to reach out to moderate Republicans as governor, she may not be liberal enough to prevail in a Democratic primary. She defended Anita Hill in the Clarence Thomas hearings, a red flag for national Republicans.

• Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, 59, Democrat.

Pros: She’s a Democrat who won in a red state and she attached herself to Sen. Barack Obama’s wing of the party by endorsing him early.

Cons: Kansas is not exactly a hotbed of Democratic activism. And if Obama wins the White House and re-election, Sebelius would be 67 if she ran in 2016.

• Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, 44, Republican.

Pros: She is young, with a reputation as a maverick and a compelling up-from-the-bootstraps personal story.

Cons: She is unknown, from a small state, and doesn’t have a great relationship with her party in her own state.

• Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, 64, Republican.

Pros: She has a steady, reliably conservative reputation in the Senate.

Cons: Age. And some think her real goal is to be governor of Texas. She hasn’t been tested in a tough race.

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON – President Bush’s most recent surgeon general accused the administration Tuesday of muzzling him for political reasons on hot-button health issues such as emergency contraception and abstinence-only education.

Dr. Richard Carmona, of Tucson and the nation’s 17th surgeon general, told lawmakers that all surgeons general have had to deal with politics but none more so than he.

For example, he said he wasn’t allowed to make a speech at the Special Olympics because it was viewed as benefiting a political opponent. However, he said he was asked to speak at events designed to benefit Republican lawmakers.

“The reality is that the nation’s doctor has been marginalized and relegated to a position with no independent budget, and with supervisors who are political appointees with partisan agendas,” said Carmona, who served from 2002 to 2006.

Responding, the White House said Carmona was given the authority and had the obligation to be the leading voice for the health of all Americans.

“It’s disappointing to us if he failed to use his position to the fullest extent in advocating for policies he thought were in the best interests of the nation,” said Deputy Press Secretary Tony Fratto. “We believe Dr. Carmona received the support necessary to carry out his mission.”

A report condemning secondhand smoke was a hallmark of Carmona’s tenure.

Another report, on global health challenges, was never released after the administration demanded changes that he refused to make, Carmona said.

Carmona said he believed the surgeon general should show leadership on health issues. But his speeches were edited by political appointees, and he was told not to talk about certain issues.

Citizen Staff Writer

LA MONICA EVERETT-HAYNES

lmhaynes@tucsoncitizen.com

It’s been a year since Robert N. Shelton became the University of Arizona’s president.

When he arrived here, the former University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill provost made no promises and gave no benchmarks for his first year as president.

But he’s since established long-range priorities, such as expanding economic development, increasing campus diversity and promoting a stronger experience for UA’s nearly 37,000 students and 14,500 employees.

He also reduced UA’s budget and turned away millions of dollars in new funding requests, to the ire of some departments.

Shelton said he meant to keep UA from future trouble.

“I think the president had a really great first year,” UA budget director Richard Roberts said. “He stepped on the stage and immediately took responsibility and control of the (budget) process. . . .”

Several officials said Shelton engaged more people, from staff to administrators.

“I’ve been here since 1983, and it’s always been a mystery how these things were done,” College of Science Dean Joaquin Ruiz said. “There were a lot of processes he started, not only to get more people involved, but to create a more transparent way of how things were done.”

Others said he did more in his first year than expected.

“I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how much he’s gotten done in one year,” Arizona Board of Regents member Ernest Calderón said. “He’s establishing his own leadership style and making his name.”

Early on, Shelton charged his staff with admitting 300 more freshmen and 100 more transfer students for the fall, which helped stop the rumor that UA was capping enrollment.

“Our applications are up 20 percent, and we have a tremendous class this fall. The quality is up, and it’s a good mix,” Shelton said last month while sitting in his seventh-floor campus office.

But that’s just one check on his to-do list.

“It’s been a year of learning and of making decisions. There are always frustrations in a job. You want things to move faster, and you want to get things done.”

But Shelton said nothing in the past 12 months proved so difficult that it disrupted his stride.

“This isn’t an act,” he said as a wide grin stretched across his face. “I’m a happy guy.”

Speaking about his work, Shelton said “there is no lack of things to do.”

He will have to do more for graduate students in coming years, said Paul Thorn, a former Graduate and Professional Student Council president.

Shelton did commit to getting a 100 percent tuition waiver for graduate student assistants, building on the 90 percent rate for the current year, he said.

He also helped graduate student employees get a “catastrophic prescription drug plan,” Thorn said.

“He helped get some minor improvements,” said Thorn, a doctoral student in philosophy. “Previously there was no coverage for prescription drugs. But the new benefits come with a high deductible.”

Still, it’s a “positive step forward,” he said. “Health insurance for graduate students here isn’t as good as what students are getting from peer institutions in general. Shelton indicated his plans, in the long run, is that we will catch up.”

Another example of how Shelton’s first year was not without criticism came in February.

Shelton sent a letter to the campus community condemning racism after UA students held an off-campus party dressed as stereotypes of blacks.

Some said Shelton, as a campus administrator, should not have sent the letter. Others praised his decision.

“I really like it that he is in public office but is willing to take a stand against racism,” said student Glen Gross, 45, who is taking chemistry courses this summer.

Soon after, Shelton threw the $350 million Rainbow Bridge idea out the door and helped find what many said was a more appropriate plan for the downtown revitalization project – a $130 million science center. The proposed bridge was to be a 70-foot-high arch over Interstate 10 and the Santa Cruz River.

Ruiz said Shelton eagerly supported UA’s Biosphere 2 takeover, which was announced June 26. He approached Shelton with the idea during the first month of his presidency.

“He certainly impressed the various partners early on and was very concerned and focused on whether it was a good idea or not,” Ruiz said. “He didn’t get in the way of anything as he was learning. Not many people would have been able to do that.”

The UA has created two programs to oversee Biosphere 2, where it plans to conduct ecological research that is underwritten by Biosphere 2′s builder, Texas billionaire Edward Bass.

Another area of change is Shelton’s candor about plans for the next five years.

• He helped create a partnership with Cochise College, a community college, and wants UA course offerings in Santa Cruz County by fall 2008 with staff on site – “boots on the ground,” as he described it.

• He wants greater enrollment in nursing, public health, pharmacy and other programs.

• He wants UA’s endowment to grow. Now at nearly $400 million, the endowment can’t compete with peer institutions such as Ohio State University, where assets total nearly $2 billion.

• He’s pushing legislators to approve a fund so state universities can compete against each other for money to increase research and endowed professorships. Or it could be a matching fund that would require the universities to come up with additional dollars to be matched with state money.

“The idea of having competitive dollars and matching funds is an intriguing idea, and it’s something we’re looking at,” Rep. Jennifer Burns, R-Tucson, said.

Burns said she has been impressed with Shelton since he took over from Peter Likins when he retired in 2006 after running the university for nine years.

“He’s a straight shooter, he says what needs to be said and does what needs to be done,” she said.

Regent Calderón said, “I’m getting the impression that he’s a decent human being who effects change with hand in glove, which is different from an open, bare hand.”

That’s Shelton’s reputation.

“He and his wife (Adrian) have come in, and they’re really nice,” said Amanda Hewlett, 22, a prenursing major who also is a cashier at the campus bookstore. “They don’t expect you to know who they are.”

People tend to describe Shelton’s laid-back demeanor favorably. He’s not the type of leader who constantly has his game face on.

At his Catalina foothills home, Shelton, 58, nurses his plants, works around the house, reads books and enjoys “sitting out and looking at the stars.”

He rarely has a day off and keeps busy with town halls, campus events, business trips and talks with community leaders. Shelton said he’s averaged two days a week in Phoenix lobbying the Legislature.

So it’s no wonder strangers sometimes recognize him.

“It’s very interesting to me how a large metro area of 1 million people can be a small town. People genuinely want to know what is going on at the university,” he said.

It’s one reason that Shelton, who was born in Phoenix, said he’s at UA to stay.

“The only reason to go anywhere else – and I can’t even see this happening because I’m back in my home state and love the mission of this university – is if you embrace the mission of another institution,” Shelton said. “I’ve been very fortunate to have that compatibility here.”

And then there are the endearing moments.

Just days into Shelton’s presidency, student leaders delivered 96 power bars to his office to help him through the days ahead.

Shelton said he ate the last one June 27. It was a Clif Bar.

Year in review*

• July 3, 2006: Shelton’s official first day on campus

• Aug. 9: In a campuswide e-mail, Shelton said he would not cover more than $10 million in new funding requests.

• Aug. 20: Spoke during the freshmen convocation

• Aug. 23: Sent a letter to city officials saying UA would abandon the $350 million Rainbow Bridge idea as part of downtown revitalization efforts

• Oct. 26: Shelton inaugurated as UA’s 19th president

• Dec. 15: Presided over his first commencement ceremony

• April 16: Shelton responded to the Virginia Tech shootings.

• April 18: Spent the day in Nogales discussing with education and government officials higher education needs and opportunities in Santa Cruz County

• May 2007: Said he would like UA to lease space at Biosphere 2, allowing researchers to study subjects important to global climate

• June 7: Celebrated the university softball team’s 2007 NCAA national championship

*To view a more comprehensive timeline, visit www.tucsoncitizen.com and click on this article.

Who is Robert N. Shelton?

Age: 58

Born: Phoenix

Birthday: Oct. 5, 1948

UA president: 19th

Bachelor’s degree: physics from Stanford University

Doctorate: physics from the University of California, San Diego

Family: Wife, Adrian; children Stephanie, Christian and Cameron

Pay: Shelton is under a three-year contract with a salary and benefits package that amounts to $550,000 annually. Arizona State University President Michael Crow, whose contract was extended for five years in June, has a salary and benefits package of more than $720,000 annually. Crow also qualifies for year-to-year bonuses and will get a retention bonus of $600,000 if he stays at ASU for his full contract term, which ends in 2012.

University of Arizona, by the numbers*

36,805 students

14,466: employees 387: acres owned

182: buildings $362 million: gifts and grants

7,757: degrees awarded 17,746: parking spaces

$1.42 billion: annual budget 3,254: courses offered

*Source: University of Arizona Fact Book, based on 2005-06 figures

The Associated Press

ARTHUR H. ROTSTEIN

Associated Press Writer

YUMA – Before stumping for an overhaul of America’s immigration policies, President Bush on Monday toured a fortified stretch of Arizona’s border with Mexico, saying fences built there by National Guard troops are helping to make the country more secure.

The president said the additional fencing built in San Luis, a town 25 miles south of Yuma, has helped slow a rush of immigrants sneaking across the border.

“The efforts are working,” Bush told a crowd in Yuma. “This border is more secure, and America is safer as a result.”

The president kicked off a plan last May to send 6,000 National Guard troops to Arizona, Texas, California and New Mexico to assist the Border Patrol along the Mexican border in efforts to cut illegal immigration.

Bush was in Yuma for the second time in nearly a year to advocate for an immigration overhaul package. It includes provisions for a guest worker program as a necessary cog in efforts to get illegal immigration under control.

Among those taking the tour of San Luis was U.S. Rep. Jeff Flake, a Republican from Arizona who is sponsoring a proposal to provide six-year work visas to illegal immigrants. It requires them at some point during that period to exit the country and re-enter using their work visa.

Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano, a proponent of sending National Guard troops to the Arizona-Mexico border, said the state has seen a significant increase in border security funding since the president visited the Yuma area nearly a year ago.

Question: Now that Sen. John McCain has joined the fray, which Republican will you vote for in the 2008 GOP primary?

John McCain 32 %

Rudy Giuliani 16 %

Mitt Romney 9 %

Another GOP candidate 8 %

None of the above. I’m voting Democratic. 34 %

Total votes: 449. Poll results are not scientific. Total may not equal 100 percent because of rounding.

TODAY’S POLL

Question: Do you think an I-10 bypass is a good idea?

• Yes, in the proposed location.

• Yes, but somewhere else.

• No.

• I don’t know.

• Vote at www.tucsoncitizen.com.

By CHUCK RAASCH

Gannett News Service

WASHINGTON – Ex-New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani may face a tough crowd here today at the largest annual gathering of conservative activists, where there is widely expressed dissatisfaction with the Republican presidential front-runner and the emerging GOP presidential field as a whole.

“There is no Ronald Reagan, nobody that has what I would call a genetic claim” to the conservative mantle, said David Keene, chairman of the American Conservative Union, which organized the Conservative Political Action Conference this week.

Veteran activist Richard Viguerie told several thousand activists “conservatives are not going to get to the promised land until we get new leaders,” and suggested conservatives stop thinking of themselves primarily as Republicans, instead calling themselves “Reagan conservatives.” Viguerie said the GOP was not likely to win the presidency in 2008 and that conservatives would be better off focusing on regaining power in six to 10 years.

Tracey Schmitt of the Republican National Committee said the party would have no comment.

Giuliani, whose support of abortion, gay rights and gun control runs contrary to the GOP’s conservative base, will be among several Republican hopefuls test-marketing their stump speeches before CPAC. Ex-Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., ex-Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Reps. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., and Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., are also on Friday’s schedule.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is not. McCain already has a tenuous relationship with many veteran conservative activists for his support of immigration and campaign finance reforms, and for his tough criticism of religious conservatives during the 2000 presidential primaries.

Ex-House Speaker Newt Gingrich, scheduled to speak Saturday, won a straw poll sponsored by the activist organization, Citizens United. Many activists here say they would not be surprised if Gingrich took advantage of dissatisfaction over the GOP field and decided to run later this summer or fall.

“Newt is expressing what conservatives believe better than anyone in the field,” said Human Events editor Terry Jeffrey, who moderated a panel on social issues.

In a Feb. 22-25 Washington Post-ABC News poll, Giuliani led McCain, 44 percent to 21 percent. Gingrich finished third, despite the fact that he has not formed an exploratory committee or said he intends to run. Romney came in a distant fourth with 4 percent. Many conservatives are wary of Romney’s recent conversion to an anti-abortion position, and Romney supporters said Friday he has a lot at stake in his CPAC speech.

But Giuliani may be in the brightest spotlight. Wariness about his candidacy popped up in CPAC sessions Thursday. In an apparent reference to Giuliani, Robert Knight of the Media Research Center declared that “it’s one thing to defeat squeegee men in New York, it’s another to defeat the Taliban and al-Qaida.”

Keene, the ACU president, attributed Giuliani’s poll lead to “celebrity” and to McCain faltering.

“There is admiration for his strength” after 9/11, Keene said of Giuliani. “But social issues haven’t sunk in, and in that sense he is new on the track and he will have a tough time sustaining that. I am not saying it is impossible. . . . It also is a slow track.”

Eagle Forum President Phyllis Schlafly blamed the media and some party activists for preordaining the GOP top tier, based more on money than ideas.

“The Republican nomination can’t be bought,” she said.

But it was Viguerie who leveled the harshest criticism at Republicans, saying the revolutionaries of the 1990s came to reform but after arriving decided “this is not a cesspool, this is a hot tub.”

The Associated Press

MEXICO CITY – President Bush will travel to Mexico in March to meet with President Felipe Calderón, the government said Wednesday.

The Foreign Relations Department said in a statement that Bush will be in Mexico March 12-14 as part of a tour of Latin America.

Bush and Calderón met for the first time at the White House on Nov. 9, before the Mexican president had been sworn in, and discussed border security and illegal migration, among other topics.

The statement said the leaders have spoken on the phone twice recently and that the meeting in March would serve to review several bilateral issues.

It didn’t specify what those issues were but immigration and trade issues have dominated relations in recent years.

The White House declined to comment.

- The Associated Press

Citizen Staff Writer

Blake Morlock

A president, not a cowboy, stood before Congress on Tuesday night to deliver his seventh State of the Union.

George W. Bush’s swagger seemed a relic of a more popular age.

Don’t take my word for it. Check out what some of the unscreechy voices in Tucson say. Folks who have proved through interviews past to be up on the issues, even though they aren’t paid to be.

Former state Rep. Carol Somers, a moderate Republican, said she saw a conciliatory change.

“I thought it was one of the best speeches I’ve seen him give,” Somers said, leafing through her notes of Tuesday’s address. “He was not arrogant in any way. He was conciliatory and said (to Democrats), ‘We should work together.’ ”

Somers, 61, has supported the president through these 18 months of tribulation and applauded Tuesday’s address. She was quietly hoping he would improve and thought she saw that Tuesday night.

The president, with a job approval rating in the 30s for more than a year, spent the bulk of his 55-minute speech discussing a domestic agenda that included expanding health care, addressing climate change, balancing the budget and – most important to southern Arizona – reaching comprehensive immigration reform.

Al Ojeda, 59, a security worker and former police officer, noticed Bush was more gracious with the Democrats and postured for the closing years of his final term in office.

“He’s not the cowboy he was four or five years ago,” Ojeda said.

Ojeda considers himself a conservative Republican, and while many in his party disagree with Bush’s push for comprehensive immigration reform, Ojeda stands behind his man, who has repeatedly called for a guest worker program since taking office in 2001.

“I have to go back to my roots on that one,” Ojeda said. “The only natives here are the Native Americans, and look how badly we treated them.”

Ojeda and Somers seemed to say, we like you, Mr. President. It’s OK to be nice to the Democrats.

Somers particularly liked Bush’s opening tribute to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the first woman to hold that post.

But more than gestures, she was happy to hear him talk like the “uniter” who ran for office seven years ago, talking about global warming and health care as much as fiscally conservative issues such as cracking down on “earmarked” projects and deficit spending.

“How can you think not all of that is important?” Somers asked.

But not everyone was so kind or thought it was a good idea to be kind.

Gen. John Wickham, 78, Army chief of staff under President Reagan, wondered how the president could improve the economy while fighting the war in Iraq.

“The commitment of resources needed to fight the war in Iraq and Afghanistan drains the capacity to deal with problems right here in the United States,” Wickham said.

This old soldier hasn’t faded away. He’s served on the Amphitheater Public Schools’ citizens financial board and was Oro Valley’s representative on the planning committee for the successful 2006 regional transportation ballot initiative. He knows public money is tough to find.

Wickham supported the president’s decision to go into Iraq in 2003. Yet, like a lot of Americans, the absence of weapons of mass destruction and ties between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda left him second-guessing the decision. He called the management of the war “disastrous.”

Bush’s decision to add 21,500 troops in Iraq seems like more of the not-so-pleasant same to Wickham.

“We are throwing our youth into sectarian warfare,” he said.

He noted the president’s improved tone but . . . that was about it.

But something new did stand out to Steve Lynn. And if Wickham knows the military, Lynn knows public relations.

The vice president for communications at Tucson Electric Power Co. thought he saw the president carve out just a little wiggle room.

Lynn, 60, absolutely not speaking on behalf of TEP, noted that Bush seemed to ask Congress to give his “surge” plan a chance, rather than telling the body to deal with it.

“If that does not win the war, then the president would be more amenable to a rapid withdrawal,” he said.

What Lynn recognized is, frankly, the obvious: No more can the president simply tell a friendly GOP Congress what he is going to do on or about the time he is going to do it. The Democrats will have a say in whether he gets to do it at all.

That puts Bush in a tough spot.

“It was a difficult speech to give,” Lynn said. “He did a commendable job.”

The Arizona Republic

By BILLY HOUSE

The Arizona Republic’s Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON – President Bush will urge passage of comprehensive immigration reform during his sixth State of the Union address tonight.

It will be one of the main themes of the speech.

Bush has called for changing the nation’s immigration laws since he became president in 2001. But some immigrant advocates say the new, Democrat-controlled Congress gives the Republican president his best opportunity to push through a plan to both better secure the nation’s borders and legalize millions of illegal immigrants.

“Look at the list of issues he can get done in the next couple of years, and this is one of those things he might actually be able to do,” said Angela Kelley, deputy director of the National Immigration Forum, an immigrant advocacy organization based in Washington. “Quite frankly, what we need is for him to finally put some muscle into the effort.”

She said she hopes the speech will be the beginning of a push.

Bush will make the nationally televised address as a president beset by political opposition and public anxiety over his Iraq war plans, low approval ratings, a Congress controlled by the other party and a tight budget.

In a nod to these political realities, aides say, Bush intends to give a scaled-down speech that takes on fewer topics and seeks to emphasize common ground with Democrats.

Along with immigration reform, other major topics to be taken up are energy, health care, education and the war on terror.

“He’s going to lay a way forward for Democrats and Republicans to work together on the issues that are atop the stated concerns for all Americans,” White House spokesman Tony Snow said. “So, if you talk about those in a way that gives both parties an opportunity to work together and achieve success, that’s a good and important thing.”

What exactly new Bush might have to say about immigration reform, if anything, has not been revealed.

He has called for a plan that would include a temporary-worker program to match foreign workers with U.S. employers when no Americans can be found to fill those jobs. He said such a plan would enable illegal immigrants who hold jobs to come out of the shadows.

The program he envisions would require the return of the guest workers to their home country after their work period has ended, but the work period could be renewed. Such a plan must be accompanied by efforts to enhance border security, he has said.

Last year, the then-Republican-led Senate approved a comprehensive plan that would legalize millions of illegal immigrants already in the country. But the measure died in the then-GOP-led House amid objections by conservative members of Bush’s party.

While some now suggest a new Congress presents a better opportunity to get a comprehensive immigration measure passed, others caution that reform is still an uphill climb.

“I hope for Arizona’s sake, and the sake of the entire country, that he makes a commitment to the face of Congress to fight for comprehensive immigration reform,” said Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz.

Freshman Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., noted that Bush has called for “an immigration system that upholds our laws, reflects our values and serves the interests of our economy.”

But, she said, “He unfortunately has made no progress toward reaching that goal.”

Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., who plans to again co-sponsor a comprehensive immigration-reform bill in the House, said he, too, wants the president to encourage Congress to pass such a measure.

“Everybody, no matter who they are, is sick of the illegality and porous borders,” said Tamar Jacoby, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank, who has written extensively as an advocate for immigration reform.

She appeared Thursday at a panel discussion in Washington that included a diverse coalition of immigration-reform advocates.

“Latinos want to see their friends and family able to work with dignity. And soccer moms and dads want to see Congress solve something,” Jacoby said.

But both she and others, including Rep. John Shadegg, R-Ariz., said that just because Congress is now controlled by Democrats, there are no assurances that immigration reform will be easy.

“This is still going to have to be a bipartisan, practical, centrist, up-the-middle, in fact, tough immigration bill,” Jacoby said.

“We’re still going to need 20 Republicans in the Senate and probably 40 Republicans in the House.”

Shadegg said predictions that Democrats will help to see such a plan move through smoothly may underestimate the pressure they will receive from their organized-labor constituencies, which may oppose such things as a guest worker plan.

“It’s not a lay-down that Bush can get what he wants just because Democrats are now in charge,” Shadegg said of immigration reform.

HOW TO WATCH

• When: 7 tonight

• Where: House chamber (left)

• What happens: The Senate and House convene for a joint session. The president talks about his plans for the year.

• On TV: ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, CNN, C-SPAN, MSNBC

- Gannett News Service

• On the Web: Transcript and live coverage at www.tucsoncitizen.com.

The president is expected to address:

• Health care: Bush will propose a tax deduction of $7,500 for individuals and $15,000 for families, regardless of whether they buy their own health insurance or receive medical coverage at work. Health care insurance would be considered taxable income, and people with more generous policies could face tax increases unless they change plans.

• Energy: Bush is expected to call for a sharp escalation of corn-based ethanol as a gasoline blend. He also may seek the power to raise fuel economy standards for passenger cars, probably as part of a plan to offer financial incentives for increasing alternative fuels.

• Education: Bush will push for Congress to renew his education law, No Child Left Behind, which expires this year. Democrats have already signaled their intention to work with him but will expect him to go along with increases in spending.

- The Associated Press

GRAPHIC: President Bush by the numbers

Feb. 1-4, 2001 57%*

Jan. 25-27, 2002 84%

Jan. 23-25, 2003 60%

Jan. 12-15, 2004 53%

Jan. 14-16, 2005 51%

Jan. 20-22, 2006 43%

Jan. 12-14, 2007 34%

* First poll taken of Bush’s job performance after his first inaugural address. The 2001 speech was not considered a State of the Union address by the White House.

Source: USA TODAY-Gallup Poll

Janet Loehrke, Gannett News Service

The Associated Press

The Associated Press

Americans have the warmest feelings about former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, Republican Sen. John McCain and Democratic Sen. Barack Obama, according to a poll released Monday that scores the popularity of national leaders.

The Quinnipiac University poll’s “thermometer reading,” taken the week after Nov. 7 election, asks voters to rate their feelings for 20 leaders on a scale of 0 to 100.

Giuliani, a Republican weighing a presidential bid in 2008, scored the highest at 64.2. Obama and McCain, who are also considering 2008 campaigns, finished next at 58.8 and 57.7.

Another possible Democratic contender, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, scored ninth of the 20 leaders with a score of 49. Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic nominee who was roundly criticized before this month’s election for a botched joke suggesting that students who don’t study could end up stuck in Iraq, came in last at 39.6.

“As we enter the presidential campaign of 2008, Giuliani and McCain are in enviable positions,” said Peter Brown, assistant poll director. “They are well regarded and most Americans are quite familiar with them. Obama’s showing is impressive, but 4 in 10 Americans still don’t know enough about him to have an opinion. Conversely, Sen. Clinton has universal recognition, but only mixed ratings.”

Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman, who lost the Democratic primary before winning re-election as an independent, ranked sixth with a score of 52.7, according to the poll.

FAVORITE POLITICIANS

The Quinnipiac Poll asked 1,623 registered voters to rate their feelings for 20 leaders on a scale of 0 to 100. The nationwide telephone poll was taken from Nov. 13-19 and has a sampling error margin of plus or minus 2.4 percentage points.

1. Rudolph Giuliani, former New York City mayor, 64.2

2. Barack Obama, Illinois senator, 58.8

3. John McCain, Arizona senator, 57.7

4. Condoleezza Rice, secretary of state, 56.1

5. Bill Clinton, former president, 55.8

6. Joseph Lieberman, Connecticut senator 52.7

7. Michael Bloomberg, New York City mayor, 51.1

8. John Edwards, former North Carolina senator, 49.9

9. Hillary Clinton, New York senator 49.0

10. Bill Richardson, New Mexico governor 47.7

11. Joseph Biden, Delaware senator 47.0

12. Nancy Pelosi, U.S. House speaker, 46.9

13. Mitt Romney, Massachusetts governor, 45.9

14. Al Gore, former vice president, 44.9

15. President Bush, 43.8

16. Evan Bayh, Indiana senator, 43.3

17. Newt Gingrich, former House speaker, 42.0

18. Bill Frist, Tennessee senator, 41.5

19. Harry Reid, Nevada senator, 41.2

20. John Kerry, Massachusetts senator, 39.6

The Associated Press

Republican Sen. John McCain will file paperwork with the Federal Election Commission today to create a presidential exploratory committee, his aides said Wednesday.

The Arizona senator also launched a Web site that allows supporters to donate and join his effort. His speech before the conservative group GOPAC today will be shown on the Web site.

The move was expected – the senator discussed it Sunday on national television. McCain insists he won’t make a final decision on running for president until after the Christmas holidays.

McCain, a former Navy pilot who was a prisoner of war in North Vietnam, ran for president against George W. Bush in 2000 and lost in a bitter primary race.

If McCain were to run again, he would turn 72 on Aug. 29, 2008, at the height of the campaign. Only President Reagan was older – 73 at the start of his second term.

- The Associated Press

Republicans choose leaders

Kyl climbs to GOP’s 3rd spot in U.S. Senate

U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl is climbing the ranks of Senate leadership even as his party’s fortunes are falling. Kyl, a Republican who beat Democratic challenger Jim Pederson last week, was named to the post of GOP conference chairman. Mississippi Sen. Trent Lott regained a leadership post.

- The Associated Press

The Associated Press

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON – Sen. John McCain, considered the front-runner for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, intends to launch an exploratory committee next week, GOP officials said Friday.

The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid pre-empting a public statement from the four-term Arizona senator.

McCain, the GOP maverick who unsuccessfully sought his party’s nomination in 2000, already has opened a bank account for the committee, one official said.

“The senator has made no decision about running for president,” said Eileen McMenamin, a McCain spokeswoman.

Aides to McCain say the senator will discuss whether to seek the presidency with his family over the Christmas holiday and make a final decision thereafter.

Establishing an exploratory committee allows a potential candidate to raise money for a White House run and travel the country.

McCain is a former Navy pilot who was a prisoner of war in North Vietnam. He was elected to the Senate in 1986 and served in the House for four years before that.

If McCain were to run, he would turn 72 on Aug. 29, 2008, at the height of the campaign. Only President Reagan was older – 73 at the start of his second term. McCain’s health could be another issue. He has had several cancerous lesions removed from his skin.

Since losing to Bush in 2000, McCain has alternately challenged and embraced the president, building a reputation as an independent who isn’t afraid to speak his mind. At the same time, he’s sought to mend fences with conservatives he alienated in his first presidential run.

After Republicans lost control of the House and Senate on Tuesday, McCain called for a return to the conservative principles that he said make up the foundations of the Republican Party.

“We came to Washington to change government, and government changed us,” lamented McCain. “We departed rather tragically from our conservative principles.”

He urged the party to return to careful stewardship of tax dollars, less government, less regulation, lower taxes and a strong defense, as well as community and family values.

“I’m confident we will do that,” he said.

The Republicans’ loss of power in the Senate was a double blow to McCain, who had been in line to become chairman of the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee in January. The panel’s top post overseeing the military would have given him a high-profile platform during wartime and in the year leading up to 2008.

McCain has spent the past year padding his Straight Talk America political action committee with supporters in the early primary states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, and he has broadened his inner circle of advisers to include several strategists with ties to Bush.

During the 2006 election cycle, McCain worked to spread good will throughout the party, attending 346 events and raising more than $10.5 million on behalf of Republican candidates across the country. He also donated nearly $1.5 million to federal, state and county parties.

Bush must leave office after two terms, and there’s no shortage of Republicans and Democrats vying to replace him.

A full 15 months before the first primary contest in Iowa, McCain is considered the one to beat in a crowded field of potential GOP candidates. They include Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee, Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

An Associated Press-AOL News poll conducted late last month found Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice – who says she won’t run – Giuliani and McCain were essentially tied for support.

USA TODAY

WASHINGTON – The election this week transformed not only Congress but the playing field for the 2008 presidential race.

Two things didn’t change: the contenders leading the polls on both sides.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., won a resounding re-election victory after raising nearly $40 million.

It was the most cash raised by any U.S. Senate candidate this year.

Clinton isn’t talking about her future, which is widely presumed to include a presidential bid but could involve a leadership role in the Democratic Senate.

Some analysts praise her campaign skills but say they wouldn’t be surprised if she chooses the latter, given the difficulties of a White House run.

“She comes with baggage that no other candidate has and the ability to mobilize Republicans against her that none of the other Democrats can match,” says Peverill Squire, a political scientist at the University of Iowa.

The Republican front-runner for the presidential nomination, U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona, campaigned and raised money for candidates nationwide while building a network for his White House bid.

McCain supports President Bush on Iraq, but his disagreements with Bush about immigration policy, prisoner abuse and just-resigned Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s performance kept McCain’s maverick image alive.

While former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani also does well in polls and barnstormed the country, “right now it’s hard to see another Republican who has similar stature” to McCain, Squire says.

At the opposite end of the GOP stature spectrum was Virginia Sen. George Allen, whom The Associated Press declared the loser Wednesday in his race with Democrat Jim Webb, based on a canvass of election officials.

Two red-state Democrats, former North Carolina senator John Edwards and Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh, solidified their standing in ways that may pay off later.

Citizen Staff Report

Bill Clinton couldn’t make it to Mi Nidito on Thursday night, so the Tucson restaurant went to him.

The Clinton party ordered takeout to be delivered to its jet after he spoke at Reid Park, Jimmy Lopez, general manager of the restaurant, said Friday. “We got to see him for maybe 30 seconds,” Lopez said.

The order: chile rellenos; chicken quesadilla; chicken, shredded beef and cheese enchiladas; and chips, salsa and guacamole. Restaurant staffers delivered the food to the airport about 8 p.m. and hung around for an hour for the former president to arrive so they could snap a quick picture.

Clinton also ate at the restaurant in 1999 during his presidency.

- Citizen Staff Report