Bad news from Arizona!

[saracat]

Our primaries are over and the Repugs once again nominated the most arch Conservatives they could find.The moderate Repugs ,who sometimes voted with our Dem Governor were creamed. The County Attorney Primary, on the Dem side went to a man who bought the election and defeated the candidate endorsed by our Governor and Attorney General as well as most of our Dem officials and two former governors ,including Bruce Babbit. This man is no Dem.He has called our Governor a cheap political trickster , and Bruce Babbit a liar and a criminal.He misrepresented endorsement by our state chair forcing our party as well as our chair to threaten legal action.And now, because he had more money than the endorsed candidate, he is our nominee. This man is "proud of being funded by the Republicans," and says "he doesn't need the vote of Democrats". He only became a Democrat when he filed his candidacy.I am afraid for our state and our party tonite. I cannot support this man ans will not.I am left with no vote. The Republican is a fundie arch evangelical. But their is no difference.And the moderate Repugs hate their candidate so much they will vote for our candidate and have said so.This is a disaster!

[sidestreamer]

1. Shit.

Are there any write-ins or third party candidates under which the true Dems over there can unite?

Edit to add: give some links while you're at it.

[saracat]

3. Don't know what links to give you.

The Arisona Secretary of State has the winners, but unless you know who is who it won't mean anything! I think www.warshaw2004.com was the site of the County Attorney candidate that lost and you can read the press releases there and there is also an ifilm that explains things.

[zaj]

2. The Republican Party has been hijacked... Kerry needs to repeat it.

So do we.

[shraby]

4. You need a write in

pronto.

[saracat]

6. It's too bad the defeated candidate can't be a write in.

I am so depressed I can't even write about what I am thinking because I am afraid of being hijacked by something like the WSJ again and my words being used against me! Damn.

[enigmatic]

5. Ugh

I lived in Phoenix for most of the 90's; this absolutely sucks..

[Sugarbleus]

7. Sara, I'm confussed. Who got nominated? A Dem or a Repub?

If it was a Dem, was he really a repub in drag or what? I'm trying to figure out what happened. It sounds bad but I can't figure out what happened.

Are you saying that neo cons are running on a dem ticket only to get elected and then turn around and serve as a strict conservative? That would be VERY scary.

[saracat]

8. Repug in Drag.Funded by Repugs. Became a Dem only to run.

But worse. He didn't have the backing of anyone in the party.Warshaw, the losing candidate was endorsed by the Governor , the Attorney General, all Dem and two other former Dem Governors and Bruce Babbitas well as our local newspaper! The winning candidate lied about an edorsement from our state chair and was threatened with legal action by the Dem Party.He was also fined $15,000 by the Board of elections for mishandling funds! And the Dems voted for him! This is a real kick in the teeth to our Governor.

[Sugarbleus]

17. Jebus! so the crooked guy got nom., behaved perhaps fraudulently, yet

the Dems in your state voted for him????????? :wow:

Even the newspaper couldn't get the word out?? OMG... that is extemely disturbing!!

This is a trick I, for one, will be keeping my eyes open for. That is not good at all. It's a shell game, if it went the way I'm thinking it did. I worried about something like this happening someplace. Heck, I already worry about some of our elected Dems and possible hidden agenda's....(Zell Miller) Good grief.

Thanx for clarifying. SB

[saracat]

21. I also neglected to add, he bought the race. He is independently wealthy.

and was also being financed by the Republicans,a fact of which he is very proud.He didn't get any Dem money.He sent out 90,000 pieces of lying literature, claiming the state chair supported him, while our candidate didn't have enough money to put out a mailer telling Democratis he had Govenor Napolitano's endorsement as well as everyone else's.The state chair sent out letters to everyone explaining the situation with the fradulent endorsement two days ago.Well, I assume most of the VBM had gone out by then.People voted for who they heard of. Most probably don't read the paper.I would wager not one party activist voted for him as the problems were known for months.But the party should have acted sooner.What it proves is ,like Bush, if you can say the same lie often enough, and can afford to blast it everywhere, you can win.Urgh.It makes my skin crawl!

[0rganism]

9. Do you guys use Diebold touchscreen machines in AZ?

Just curious, ya know. Might be worth looking into.

[saracat]

11. Nope .We use those things where you connect the lines

and run the ballot through a machine.

[necso]

10. All I can offer is that

Dems and moderate Republicans (many of whom would have been considered conservatives before extremists took over pretty much the entire Republican Party) have to get together and back some other candidate, write-in or third party -- whatever works.

Even a decent show of unity and strength will send a strong message.

Republicans are not all bad people, and many of them do not like the neos.

Time to set aside some differences, people, and work with those who share our concerns.

I hope that you take this in the spirit that it is intended.

[saracat]

12. I do . Thank you.

I just feel that I have had the you know what kicked out of me, and am diappointed (mad) that our Party didn't act sooner. I will have more enthusiasm tommorrow, I hope. I just can't imagine any cooperation for a write now. The Repugs say they will vote for this Dem rather than their own candidate.That is their solution.But our candidate is a liar and has a murky background.The very office he is seeking brought charges against him! To get both parties together to support a write in is a real uphill battle. I'm not even sure you can do a write in at this point.Even if you could,with the repugs supporting our disreputable candidate,it would be difficult if not impossible.I am too down for "never say never" tonight!

[necso]

13. A Green running?

Might be an option.

You can tell the Dems that it's a candidate from a party close to ours.

And to the Republicans you can point out that he/she (a Green) will have like zero party support in the state congress.

Would be an interesting experiment!

[saracat]

14. No Green!

And the repugs like this guy.He used to be a defense attorney who represented major drug dealers, of course that was after he was removed as acting CA after botching the most famous murder case in az history, the Don Bolles case. Bruce Babbit was Attorney General and prevailed on the Governor to remove him.LOvely rep. Too bad their isn't a green. But another problem is party "officials" PC's etc pledge not to vote for or support another party. Maybe we can vote for, but not support anyway, the Party couldn't do much.

[necso]

15. It's too bad about the Green.

But I bet that there are a few republicans who don't like your guy either.

Getting them (or us, usually) to think in new ways is, certainly, pretty much an impossibility.

Still, most third party candidates (one with money, or potential money might be nice) would do. Imagine even a 10 or 15% protest vote. Get national attention for sure. And the mere hint of Dem-Rep cooperation would shake the towers of the mighty!

And I would also argue that pledges, etc, have no weight when the national interest is so deeply involved. But most folks view it differently I guess.

Well, it is a kind of therapy to do this, so at least you can have that.

[saracat]

16. Wel,l except it is binding and you lose your position

(whatever that is worth). I guess things are just too raw for me at the moment.A really terrific candidate has just been beaten by a slime, and I am angry. It is also too soon for me to think about supporting another candidate, even if I could.I am to hurt at the moment. Rationally I know that this is not the first or the last time someone I care about will be defeated,but it definately is the first time one with no party support(the AFLCIO even distanced themselves from the winner)whatsoever ,won the nomination.This is a really bitter pill to swallow, but I do thank you for your creative solutions.Maybe something can happen.

[necso]

20. But,

you must understand that it is all about playing the suckers and taking advantage of poorly utilized political apparatii. And money and a little organization can do a long way.

Marketing sells and it does not take that much effort to organize a few people to sway things like a primary. neos have been doing this for decades!

And while no thanks are necessary, as this thread has provided me with some droll word count play, you are welcome.

But if we keep on letting these folks play games with us, none of us are ever going to win!

[0rganism]

18. ANY 3rd party candidates in the mix? A Libertarian? A Socialist?

Do you think this slime is likely to stay Dem once elected, or turncoat right away to caucus with the repubs?

[saracat]

19. None.

He will be DINO. He is totally self serving!