Liberal insider Ron Barber: “Putting politics aside?”

Govt bureaucrat hobnobs with Dem powerbrokers in DC

Democrat Ron Barber is not letting any grass grow under his supposedly non-political feet.  Yesterday a Washington, D.C. fundraiser hosted by and headlining Nancy Pelosi collected checks from a virtual who’s who of liberal Washington interests. Among those funneling money into Barber’s campaign was none other than radical Raul Grijalva who actually advocated boycotting Arizona— a state he represents in Congress.

So much for Barber’s claim of “not being a politician.”

His skimpy website is missing an issues page —  carefully spooning out only limited liberal pablum to those from whom he is requesting financial contributions. But this disingenuous quote stands out, “I’m running for Congress because we need someone who will put politics aside to solve problems for the people of Southern Arizona.”

If these actions are indicative of his claimed desire to “put politics aside,” Ron Barber would do better running for congressional comedian than someone representing the needs of Arizona’s citizens.

This on-target quote from NRCC spokesman Daniel Scarpinato sums up Ron Barber’s duplicity:

“Barber didn’t waste any time claiming the support of Pelosi and Grijalva, two politicians who have done nothing but destroy Arizona’s economy. So what’s next on Barber’s checklist? Easy: Block American energy production, grow the size of government, and continue supporting ObamaCare.”

Ron Barber, 66, is a lifelong government bureaucrat. Prior to joining Gabrielle Giffords’ office as her district director, Barber worked for AZ state government since 1976. Now he has filed to run in the June 12, 2012 special election to replace Giffords.

Four Republicans have officially announced for the GOP Primary Special Election: Frank Antenori, Jesse Kelly, Martha McSally and Dave Sitton.

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With friends like John McCain….

Who needs enemies?

 It sounds as though McCain may be campaigning for Barack Obama, again. We saw it in full bloom when McCain was the 2008 candidate and appeared to be going out of his way to aid the campaign of his opponent.

H/T to commenter Doc

AZ & Michigan: today’s polls, tonight’s results

Congrats!  Mitt Romney sweeps Arizona and Michigan!!

LIVE Election results will be posted as they come in:

Arizona results HERE.  Romney 47% – Santorum 27%

Michigan results HERE.  Romney 41% – Santorum 38%

This is today’s summary of polling in Arizona and Michigan:

Mitt Romney holds a more than comfortable lead in Arizona’s Republican presidential primary polling (Scroll down to see all of the numbers). There are 29 delegates at stake in Arizona’s Winner Take All Primary.

In Michigan the race is much tighter between Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney, with Romney holding a slim lead. The state is conducting what is called a Hybrid Primary with 30 delegates in play.

Exit polling of Republican voters in both Michigan and Arizona says the most important quality they’re looking for in a presidential nominee is the ability to beat President Obama.

PAChyderm Coalition: Latest GOP legislative ratings

The PAChyderm Coalition, a Reagan Republican organization, has just released its latest cumulative evaluations of legislators.
This list reflects legislative actions as of 2/24/2012. It was last updated 2/28/2012. Scroll down to see the bills used in the evaluations and the summary of criteria used to weight bills.

Howard Levine’s narrative follows: We have been working with Republican legislators to refine the bill weights. The have had private access to our proposed weights prior to our publication of them. Of course, there is nothing to encourage feedback like actually publishing the ratings! We have gotten significant feedback on bills to add to our evaluation and weight change suggestions. There are several that have been included in this update and there are still a several more to be reviewed for next week’s update. After next week, most of the changes should be due to bills being amended.

The number of bills being tracked now is 187 (an increase of 14) plus 37 bills that have strike all amendments. There are a lot of legislators with high scores including many representatives who have +100% ratings!

Although we are well into the session, there are still many floor votes as well as committee votes to come. The scores currently are still heavily influenced by bill sponsorships compared to floor and committee votes, but, as more votes are taken, they will have an increasing impact on the scores as the session continues. Also, any action rated negatively, such as missing a vote or voting the opposite of our recommendation, has a disproportionately large impact earlier in the session before they are balanced out by third and final reads that are weighted more heavily and come closer to the end of the session.

We have tightened up the categorization we apply to the scores. Reagan Republican has stayed the same, the and RINO score range has expanded, and the other categories have higher score values with narrower ranges.

Santorum courting Michigan Democrats in robo call

New low for Santorum as he joins with DNC and Obama’s liberal allies

As Arizona and Michigan hold Republican presidential preference elections today, Rick Santorum’s campaign has been deceptively taking advantage of the fact that Michigan’s primary rules allow Democrats to vote in the state’s GOP primaries.  Here in Arizona only Republicans and Green Party members are eligible to cast ballots.

Using a deceptive tactic — reminiscent of  “Operation Hillary” — an all out effort to encourage Democrats to vote in open primaries selecting a Republican nominee — Santorum began running robo calls last evening sounding like they came from a union targeting Mitt Romney. The message focuses on Romney’s opposition to the auto bailout and calls on Democrats to vote for Santorum because of it.

The far-left-wing site Daily Kos and their radical liberal partners are hard at work drumming up enthusiasm for the effort to get Democrats to vote the GOP primary and skew the vote against Mitt Romney — who they view as presenting a genuine challenge to Barack Obama.  And Santorum?  He is working hand-in-glove with them.

Romney responded on FOX News’ Sean Hannity last night, saying “Senator Santorum did something today which I think is deceptive and a dirty trick, which is he’s put an ad out there sounding like a labor ad telling labor folks and Democrats to go vote against me and vote for Rick Santorum. And at the very end there’s a little trailer that he paid for this, but it’s confusing people. It’s a new low in this campaign,” said Romney.

This is not Santorum’s only use of such deceptive tactics.  He is also using robo calls designed to sound as though he has the support of the National Rifle Association — an endorsement which the NRA denies making. The group’s single commitment is to defeating Barack Obama. Read NRA’s CEO Wayne LaPierre’s recent speech to the conservative CPAC convention, confirming that fact.

Candidate Santorum’s 2012 convenient conservative cloak has been raised, and reveals him openly linking hands with the DNC and Obama’s liberal allies. Listen to Santorum in 2008, unequivocally endorsing Mitt Romney, and calling him a “conservative who really gets it.”

That was before Santorum’s ego turned him into a political contortionist. Don’t be fooled.

Paul Babeu: More campaign hindering news

Past comes back to haunt gay sheriff now campaigning for congress

ABC15 investigators have uncovered physical and sexual abuse allegations at the Massachusetts unlicensed “therapeutic” DeSisto boarding school formerly run by Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu. He was the school’s headmaster and executive director from 1999 to 2001

Read this shocking investigative report and watch the ABC video by Dave Biscobing, who traveled across Massachusetts and tracked down reports that have never previously been released: Documents: Babeu ran private boarding school with history of physical abuse

The accompanying video includes a revealing interview with Paul Babeu’s older sister Lucy Babeu, expressing her shock when he moved a 17-year-old former male student into his home. Babeu, 43, defended his actions, saying the young man was “his boyfriend” and he “loved him.”

The problem-plagued DeSisto School used a variety of controversial and appalling disciplinary techniques, which are meticulously detailed in the report.

On February 18, Seeing Red AZ wrote that Babeu was scurrying to quell rumors after another ex-lover — Mexican national Jose Orozco — claimed that Babeu threatened to deport him if he exposed information about their homosexual relationship.

ABC15 reports that Orozco, 34, was employed by Paul’s brother, Shaun Babeu, an elected Pinal County justice of the peace, in violation of the provisions of Orozco’s tourist visa.

Now Paul Babeu is a congressional candidate who spends an inordinate amount of his site space defending himself against the sordid information, although he now acknowledges his long-rumored homosexuality. Despite the negative publicity of posting nearly nude photos of himself on the gay website men4men and launching deportation threats against Orozco, the arrogant Babeu plods on with his campaign.

Notice, however, that his “upcoming events” dance card is empty. Not much of a surprise since these issues are not the stuff to generate campaign contributions from the family values folks in the district from which he is running. His message “It’s time to send a true conservative to Washington, D.C.” doesn’t seem to be resonating.

Small wonder.

AZ Rep. Daniel Patterson: Messy private life becomes public again

When romance becomes violent, its time for Romeo to retire

Liberal Democrat Rep. Daniel Patterson currently represents Tucson’s District 29. But with his current problems heaped upon his former ones, that might not be the case much longer and it will have nothing to do with redistricting. According to this post on the Three Sonorans, Patterson has barricaded himself inside his home and posted a large no trespassing warning.

Patterson is a man who apparently exploits women at the drop of a sombrero. First his wife —  Jeneiene Marie Schaffer — and now his recent ex-girlfriend — Georgette Escobar — who has doubled as his campaign manager. In fact, the two have parted company with such acrimony, including Ms. Escobar having an order of protection against him issued by Tucson City Court, that he was tweeting at 9:04 yesterday morning for a replacement:

Now hiring in Tucson: Manager for my re-election campaign LD3. Experience preferred. Send letter & resume: DPcampaign(at)gmail.

Our suggestion: Apply if you’re burly. Preferably over 6’2 and 300 pounds.

Reminder: March 1, 2012 GOP debate cancelled

Political watchers reminder: CNN has canceled its March 1, Republican presidential debate scheduled in Georgia after three of four candidates have declined to participate, citing busy campaign schedules leading to Super Tuesday on March 6.

The candidates — Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum –have participated in 20 debates, including the one this past Wednesday in Mesa, Arizona.

(View the Arizona debate in its entirety here.)

“Mitt Romney and Ron Paul told the Georgia Republican Party, Ohio Republican Party, and CNN Thursday that they will not participate in the March 1 Republican presidential primary debate,” CNN said in a statement. “Without full participation of all four candidates, CNN will not move forward with the Super Tuesday debate.”

Rick Santorum also said he would not participate, leaving only Newt Gingrich committed to attending in his home state.

First of session PAChyderm legislative scorecard

The PAChyderm Coalition, a Reagan Republican organization, has released its latest cumulative evaluations of legislators.

This list reflects legislative actions as of 2/17/2012. It was last updated 2/24/2012. Scroll down to see the bills used in the evaluations and the summary of criteria used to weight bills.

Howard Levine’s narrative for the 2012 session follows:

We have been working with Republican legislators to refine the bill weights. The have had private access to our proposed weights prior to our publication of them. The number of bills being tracked is 173 plus 37 bills that have strike all amendments. There are a lot of legislators with high scores including many representatives who have +100% ratings!

Although we are well into the session, there are still many floor votes as well as committee votes to come. The scores currently are still heavily influenced by bill sponsorships compared to floor and committee votes, but, as more votes are taken, they will have an increasing impact on the scores as the session continues.

We have tightened up the categorization we apply to the scores. Reagan Republican and RINO have stayed the same, the Bipartisan Republican score range has expanded, and the other categories have higher score values with narrower ranges.

Grades can range from +100% (supports Republican principles) to -100% (opposes Republican principles) Ratings will be updated on a weekly basis. Please refer to our FAQs section located after the strike all bills. It responds to some of the questions we have been getting regarding the grades assigned.

Rank for legislators with the same Grade is determined by bill sponsorship and votes cast. For example, a legislator with 3 committee votes would get a better rank than one with 2 committee votes if they have the same Grade. Legislators are assigned to a Group based on their latest rating. Note that these have changed from last year.

Gov. Brewer endorses Romney, skips WH dinner

“He’s our man!”

Gov. Jan Brewer in Washington, D.C. for the National Governors Association (NGC) conference, will skip the Obama’s White House Black-tie dinner soiree tonight. She used her time in D.C. to a different advantage, appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” to endorse GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney. “He’s the man that can carry the day and I’m going to get out there and work as hard as I can for Romney’s election,” Brewer said.

When asked yesterday whether she would attend tonight’s dinner, Gov. Brewer drolly responded, “I’m not. I’ve just decided I wasn’t going to be going because I had some other commitments I had to attend to.”

Brewer, who dined at the White House last year and will attend the policy discussions centered on economic issues with other governors and Obama Monday, laughed when asked to identify her scheduling conflict.

Brewer and Obama have had a stormy relationship since each took office in 2009, intensified by Obama’s decision to sue Arizona over our state’s nationally copied and widely supported law dealing with illegal immigration, known as SB 1070. The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case Arizona v. United States.