"I think the
Republican Party has been hijacked by the
far right."
-- Ed Cirillo, defeated LD 4 Senate candidate on his
party
"(The
Republican Party) seems to have the makings of an
insurrection of moderate Republican women. They are
furious."
-- Bob Grossfeld, Political Consultant
Wacko Central
We knew something had happened in the primary here in
Arizona when the state's largest paper, known by many as the
Arizona Republican, spent the day after the election bemoaning
how few of the moderate candidates the paper had endorsed were
elected in the Republican primary. Our only question for Ed
Cirillo, one of those defeated GOP moderates, is this:
"What was your first clue?" This general takeover by
the rabid right of the state Republican Party has been ongoing
for some time. Because of the grassroots army of the religious
right, it's been a nationwide trend that those candidates
furthest to the right have a better chance of winning their
primary. This has led to a polarization in politics as fewer
and fewer moderates in the Republican Party remain in office.
Over the last 4 years or so, nationwide a number of moderate
incumbents have decided to get out of politics altogether
rather than submit to tortuous infighting among their fellow
party members and the resulting polarization which often leads
to gridlock in the nation's Capitol.
A perfect example of Republican extremists winning their
primaries is in Scottsdale's D8, where Colette Rosati is
running for one of two House seats. She touts herself as a
"real Republican," who in a conversation for nearly
an hour outside of a polling place on primary election day
made it clear she has one over riding issue: she's
anti-abortion. This one-trick pony couldn't discus anything
else without coming back to her one true obsession. Now,
Arizona faces a billion-dollar budget deficit. Do you really
think this candidate will have much to offer in the way of
solutions?
But here's the kicker: Over the weekend, an article in the
Arizona Republic noted that a Rosati letter has angered her
own party activists. She blasted them in a letter seeking
volunteers for her campaign! Her letter called her fellow
precinct committee members "largely non-Christian,
pro-abortion, and pro-gambling." Then, after insulting
her own party activists, she added: "Wouldn't it be great
to have our district run by grassroots, pro-life, traditional
family values people like us?"
Take Back the State
This is one of the clearest examples of what the Arizona
State Democratic Party means with its "Take Back the
State" campaign. PCs must work over the next 35 days to
get the maximum number of Democrats to vote in the Nov. 5th
General Election. The surest way to counter the far right is
to defeat them before they get into office; and with so many
of the R candidates further to the right than even the
majority of registered Republicans in the state, there may
never be a better time to stop the radical right in its
tracks.
This is the time of year when PCs are most warmly welcomed
by their neighbors. That's because you offer valuable services
to voters at absolutely no cost! The best way to offer this
service is door to door. Here's what you do:
1) Take campaign literature with you for 1 to 3 candidates.
2) During the first 2 weeks of October, ask if they would like
to receive a vote-by-mail ballot. You can obtain VBM cards
from your County party headquarters or the State Democratic
Party headquarters. The VBM ballot request must be made to
your County Recorder's office by 5 PM, October 25th. 3) During
the 3rd week in October, ask if the voter has received their
ballot. (Note: In Maricopa County, general election ballots
will be delayed by a few days. Instead of being mailed on
October 3rd, they will probably be ready for mailing on or
about the 7th or 8th.) 4) If at this late date they have not
received an early ballot, but would like to vote by mail, the
voter's best option is probably online. You can go to the
State Party Web-site for your county Recorder's office link: http://www.azdem.org/vote/countyreginfo.asp.
(For Maricopa County, it's http://recorder.maricopa.gov/absentee.htm
and for Pima County, it's http://www.recorder.co.pima.az.us/earlyreq.html.)
For people without Internet access, a VBM ballot request may
usually be made by phone. (Again, for Maricopa County the
number is 602.506.1511, and for Pima County it's
520.740.4330.) 5) You might want to make up a small card with
the above Internet and phone contact information for your
area. If someone wants to request a VBM ballot, these are the
two simplest ways. 6) Know your precinct polling place!
Because of redistricting, many precinct boundaries have
changed, leading to lots of new polling places across the
state, which led to considerable confusion during the primary.
Even worse: Across Maricopa County, for example, some 53
polling places used for the Primary Election will be dropped
and changed to new locations because the site used on
September 10th just didn't work well as a polling place! The
polling place is always on the address label of the sample
ballot which is mailed 11 days before an election. There is a
polling place locator available at some County Recorder Web
sites or call your County Democratic Party headquarters. 7)
Verbally remind voters to please take the time to vote.
If you can't walk, then send a reminder card or letter. A
sample is attached. Please update it with information for your
district and precinct.
E-mail
To keep this month's PC Tip Sheet from going on forever, we
would like to thank you for your e-mails on our 1-year
anniversary. Here's one example:
Happy Anniversary!
The PC Tip Sheet has been a valuable tool for me over the
past year, I have enjoyed reading it and following the advice
within.
I have always been met with smiling faces and kind words
when I knock on doors in my precinct as well as other
precincts. I try to also cover areas that we haven't a PC!
Please do your part to get candidates elected that will be
a voice for the working family! Get to know the candidates and
the issues, be informed, your precinct voters will be so open
to your dedication and who knows you may be talking to the
next PC in your precinct or a future candidate!
Beverly Fox-Miller PC (old district 21, new district 22)
Thanks Beverly and keep up the good work.
[Sample
Letter]
The
PC Tip Sheet is produced by
Rick McGuire
Ron Owen
and Joshua Weiss
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