New Rasmussen poll: Arpaio could easily take Goddard in governor’s match-up

A recent poll of 1,200 likely Arizona voters conducted by Rasmussen Reports shows Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio leading Arizona Attorney General Samuel Pearson “Terry” Goddard, III by a whopping 12 percentage points, 51 percent to 39 percent.

Arpaio has not expressed any interest in the race, but perennial candidate Democrat Goddard opened an exploratory campaign November 6th.  Goddard has run for governor twice before, losing both times.

The next closest Republican in a hypothetical match-up against Goddard was state Treasurer Dean Martin, another unannounced candidate, who trailed by just 2 percentage points, 38 percent to 40 percent.

These numbers must make Terry queasy, given that two office holders who have not announced are either beating the socks off of him or taking a good-sized bite of his heels.

Gov. Jan Brewer trails Goddard by 9 percentage points, 35 percent to 44 percent.

Arpaio holds a substantial lead when it comes to the issue of enforcing laws regarding illegal aliens. Sixty-four percent (64%) of voters statewide — and 81% of Republican voters — support Arpaio’s enforcement efforts.

McCain scurries away from reporter merely mentioning J.D. Hayworth

Hat tip to our loyal reader Night Owl for furnishing this video. He wrote, “If a picture is worth a thousand words, this video clip is worth a million. We can’t top that for a caption.

The Left: Desirous of remaking Arizona in its own image

The daily is pounding its drum again. If you are new to Arizona and unacquainted with the technique, the newspaper often resembles a nagging ex-wife. The editorial staff can’t offer an opinion. They harp. They badger. They stridently repeat.  And often they rewrite the same thoughts with a slightly different skew.

Today’s editorial, Let’s energize Arizonans to push for changes, is a case in point.

The latest mission of the daily is government reform — which they want to accomplish from the top down.

Like lovesick swains, they have fallen hook, line and sinker for Sandra O’Connor ‘s namesake effort, the O’Connor House Project which is teamed up with the liberal Morrison Institute and the Center for the Future of Arizona. These groups and their overreaching concepts were represented at the recent Arizona Town Hall, which issued a report calling for a state Constitutional Convention to — among other things – allow these elites to revamp state government, raise taxes, and alter the methods of voting for elected officers by removing the citizen’s ballot component and replacing it with appointments by other elected officials.

The report also points to impediments to raising revenue and suggests the Constitutional Convention implement these major changes. The full report and its recommendations can be found here.

Designed to appear benign they nonetheless conclude these “barriers to effective government” need their wisdom and oversight. A clue that all is not as presented  is contained in these words deprecating the current system, which they say “encourages extremist candidates” and the practice of ballot initiatives which they opine “has created dedicated funding streams that cannot be touched, even in times of severe need.” That translates to limits on taxation which the people support and the Town Hallites want lifted.

Don’t be fooled by the high-sounding rhetoric.  This is a fundamental takeover of state government by a liberal cabal, with the blessing of the left-wing Arizona Republic.

They don’t intend to tarry. We can’t afford to ignore the massive power-grab they envision and intend to implement.

Rep. Quelland faces fine, ouster

Administrative law judge Thomas Shedden has ruled that Rep. Doug Quelland (R-Dist.10) must forfeit his office over campaign finance violations. The penalty for the violations is removal from office and $30,500 in fines. Quelland’s lawyer, Tim Casey, said Rep. Quelland will contest the decision in Maricopa County Superior Court.

He can continue to serve while the matter is being appealed.

The daily’s article can be read here, along with the official court documents from the case.

City of Phoenix recycles: Claude Mattox wants to be mayor

Term-limited Phoenix City Councilman Claude Mattox has begun fundraising efforts, getting a jump start on his bid to replace term-limited Mayor Philly Gordon in an election that is still two years in the future.

In January Gordon pulled back from a scheme to extend his own term, when it began stinking up the political atmosphere.

Not letting any grass grow under his own feet, Mattox has already filed paperwork for an exploratory campaign for the 2011 race for the city’s top elected job.  The daily covers his bid here.

Aren’t there any fresh faces who are interested in running the nation’s fifth largest city? Recycling is for trash.

Here comes another explorer: Samuel Pearson Goddard, III

Leif Erickson, Ferdinand Magellan, Marco Polo, Christopher Columbus? 

Nope.  This one is Samuel Pearson Goddard, III. In case that elite name doesn’t ring a bell, you might recall him better as “Terry,” the more informal moniker for his family nickname of “Trey,” meaning The Third in continental-speak.

The Harvard graduate, who as a lad attended the toney Phillips Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire, is the son of former Arizona Gov. Sam Goddard. Like the Babbitt’s and DiConcini’s, the Goddard family is an Arizona Democrat political dynasty.

Terry, a one-time Phoenix mayor, is currently the term-limited Arizona Attorney General. He has nursed long-standing aspirations to put another Goddard in the ninth floor governor’s office, trying and losing to Fife Symington twice.

Apparently the Brewer announcement last evening was too much for him to handle, causing him to impertinently leap into the fray today. He opened his gubernatorial exploratory campaign — within hours of hearing that Gov. Jan Brewer jumped the gun on him.  Apparently those Eastern schooled folks don’t know about the time honored Western concepts of keepin’ your powder dry, coolin’ your heels or Waiting for Godot.

His nearly 87-year-old campaign chairman is former Democrat Gov. Rose Mofford, who as Secretary of State inherited the office when Gov. Evan Mecham was impeached.  Mofford was a short-timer who did not run for her own term.

Dissatisfaction with Obama resonating in today’s elections

In the strongest possible terms, voters are expressing their dissatisfaction with the ultra-liberal Obama administration, by electing Republicans — and perhaps even the N.Y. Dist. 23 Conservative party candidate — in states that boosted Barack Hussein Obama to the presidency just one year ago.

The stunning reversals don’t bode well for Democrats in the 2010 midterm elections. These votes can also be read as a strong repudiation of economic woes, massive spending, the nationalized takeover of health care and American industries along with unparalleled job losses and home foreclosures.

The role played by registered Independent voters in ousting the Democrats should not be given short-shrift. They represent a growing constituency and one that cannot be taken for granted.

In the Virginia governor’s race Conservative Republican Bob McDonnell’s victory over Democrat R. Creigh Deeds and Republican Chris Christie’s defeat of New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine signaled an enormous triumph for the GOP which suffered significant losses last year.

The fact that Obama had personally campaigned for losing candidates Corzine and Deeds sends an especially clear message.

In New York’s most watched 23^rd Congressional District race, Democrat Bill Owens was leading with 51.4 percent to Conservative Doug Hoffman’s 43.7 percent with 175 out of 606 precincts reporting. The jury is still out on this one.

Conservative Party candidate beneficiary of Scozzafava campaign suspension

In a stunning announcement this morning, liberal GOP New York Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava has suspended her collapsing campaign —  just days before the Tuesday Republican NY 23 special election. Here is the statement she released to supporters.

Her decision is an enormous boost for Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman, who already had the support of 50 percent of GOP voters and is maintaining his lead with registered Independents, according to a just released Siena Research Institute poll. Hoffman is now well-positioned to win over the 25 percent of Republicans who had been sticking with Scozzafava, according to a report in the Washington Examiner.

Democrat Bill Owens pulling 36 percent and Conservative Doug Hoffman with 35 percent have emerged as the frontrunners, the Siena poll of likely voters found. Scozzafava, who had been the early frontrunner, has seen her support erode to a mere 20 percent.

As the Republican candidate, Dede Scozzafava drew strong opposition for her liberal views. In her campaign’s final moments, she did not endorse either of her two opponents.

Seeing Red AZ has been interested in this race, which shows that conservatives, who stay true to basic principles, can prevail over limp, “moderates” who masquerade as Republicans. 

Take heart and heed, Conservatives.

Holy Smokes! The New York Post endorses Conservative Party candidate Hoffman

From the Post editorial: The Republican candidate in that race, [New York's 23rd Congressional District] Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava, is the product of an obscenely corrupt political bargain by GOP bosses that sells out their party — and New Yorkers generally.

Read the well-reasoned and politically instructive editorial here.

New York Republican leaders get wake-up call

In an earlier post, Suicide by RINO, we noted that one-time conservative icon Newt Gingrich calls his nearly stand-alone endorsement of a RINO (Republican In Name Only) a “practical choice.”

He writes, “My endorsement of Dede Scozzafava in the special election for New York’s 23rd Congressional District is a means of regaining a conservative majority in America.”

Sorry, Newt, but you couldn’t be more wrong. The way to regain a conservative majority is by backing and electing conservatives.

The growing list of solid GOP endorsers lining up for Doug Hoffman, running as the candidate of the Conservative Party, is impressive:

Former GOP Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin

Congresswoman Michele Bachman (MN)

Congressman Todd Tiahrt (KA)

Congressman John Linder (GA)

Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (CA)

Former Sen. Fred Thompson (TN)

Former Congressman Dick Armey (TX)

Gov. Tim Pawlently (MN)

Former Sen. Rick Santorum (PA)

Former Presidential candidate Steve Forbes

James Dobson, Founder of Focus on the Family

Sen. Jim DeMint (S.C)

Former Sen. Al D’Amato (N.Y.) should come out for Hoffman tomorrow. He is the de facto head of the Republican party in New York.

 The latest Club for Growth Poll shows Hoffman 31.3%, Owens 27.0%, Scozzafava 19.7%.

The race in New York will decide who replaces former Republican Congressman John McHugh, who was recently appointed Secretary of the Army by President Obama.

In her earlier assembly campaigns, Scozzafava has accepted the endorsement of the Working Families Party, a group with close ties to the discredited, radical group ACORN.  She is supported by the Log Cabin Republicans and the New York State Teachers, the state’s largest labor union. Her views have even earned her an unsolicited endorsement from liberal activist Markos Moulitsas, founder and publisher of the Daily Kos blog.