Take A Look In The Mirror Arizona
It's Pretty Ugly
Arizona looked in the mirror this weekend and gulped… or gasped… or maybe said something like “holy shit” and certainly “WTF.” Was that really Arizona staring back? Are we a collection of white supremacists, Jan 6 insurrectionists, democracy deniers, QAnon crackpots - merciless, hypocritical, uneducated, immigrant-haters? After Tuesday’s primary, it kinda feels that way.
Can you imagine anyone more clueless than Kari Lake in the governor’s office? Can you fathom the chaos in the 2024 election if Mark Finchem is Secretary of State? Is the 21st century face of an Arizona Senator – a seat held by giants like John McCain, Barry Goldwater, and Dennis DeConcini – really Blake Masters vomiting his misogynist and fascist views? Will Wendy Rogers chair a Whites Only caucus in the Arizona State Senate advocating public executions for “groomer” Democrats? Are the state’s Republicans really controlled by Khaleesi Kelli Ward and her GOP Game of Thrones?
Uh, yes. Arizona politics has exploded well beyond its usual dumpster fire into a full scale conflagration. The inferno is licking up the Executive Tower toward 12-alarm status. Jumping out the windows are the flaming remains of the “what’s good for business” Republicans who’ve spent the past decade playing to the rich, cutting taxes, and shrinking government the Koch Brothers way. Meanwhile, the party of Lincoln got rolled by the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys and FOX News. Outgoing Governor Doug Ducey and his monied pals either didn’t see this coming or didn’t care. “I got mine. Peace out.”
Indeed, “You can’t spell CRAZY without AZ.”
Like, batshit crazy.
Now What?
Well, we could take the “they can win a primary but not a general election” approach. The insiders confidently say don’t sweat it. The Big Lie with its mix of angry White folks bent on jailing teachers, doctors, LGBTQ people, pregnant rape victims, and anyone not Christian, won’t play in November.
Bull shit. I continue to be baffled by how dismissive these insiders are when confronted with the continued effective ferocity of the MAGA crowd. Kari Lake won’t need to moderate her messaging to win. She could even take it to a 15 (she’s already way past an 11). Remember, Joe Arpaio’s act? It carried Maricopa County six times. Tuesday showed Arizona is primed for a MAGA takeover in November.
My view: It’s time for a desperate plea. A no-excuses, bipartisan, put-away-the-knives-for-the-days-remaining-before-November 8th appeal to Arizonans to stop this MAGA Mob. The call to action must come from the leaders in both parties who know what will happen if the Lake-Finchem-Masters-Rogers-Ward syndicate gets control.
Imagine this. A news conference at 5PM this coming Wednesday.
Standing together are former Governor and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano (D), former Maricopa County Attorney and Vietnam War veteran Rick Romley (R), former Republican Senators John Kyl and Jeff Flake (now Ambassador), former Attorney General Terry Goddard (D), former Arizona House Speaker and Trump buster Rusty Bowers (R), Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone (D), the mostly Republican Maricopa County Board of Supervisors who schooled the Cyber Ninjas, Cindy McCain (now Ambassador), Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez, Arizona Mayors Kate Gallego (D-PHX), John Giles (R-Mesa), Cathy Carlat (R-Peoria), Regina Romero (D-Tucson), Paul Deasy (D-Flagstaff), and Corey Woods (D-Tempe), Arizona Legislative leaders Reginald Bolding (D) and Rebecca Rios (D) and former Representatives Art Hamilton (D) and Clovis Campbell Jr. (D), Democratic U.S. Representatives Ruben Gallego, Greg Stanton, Tom O’Halleran, Ann Kirkpatrick, and Raul Grijalva …essentially every sane Republican and Democrat who’s been a leader in this state. It would be great if the three state university presidents came too, especially ASU’s Michael Crow. His take-no-prisoners persona would actually be helpful for a change.
Facing the cameras, they’d appeal to the sanity of practical Arizonans – Democrat, Republican, Independent. They’d tap into the passion that scored 578,000+ Democratic votes in their gubernatorial primary and delivered 346,000+ for GOP loser Karrin Taylor Robson. They’d make this case with nearly a million voters:
“Arizona, DO NOT elect the MAGA Mob. They are unfit to represent us.”
Arizona’s Viability Challenges
At the same time, they need to be transparent about the challenges Arizona faces and their own failures to fix them.
Climate Change is real here. Where will our water come from and how is it getting here? Our public schools are terrible, and they were before the pandemic and all the fist fights over critical race theory. Is it smart to starve public education while using tax dollars for private and religious schools? Affordability, the juice driving decades of population growth has been lost in ridiculous home prices and the nation’s highest inflation. There’s violent racism in the state amped up by gun-toting, camo-wearing “patriots” parading around everywhere. Quite a few of them continue to win elections here. Our communities do need cops, and cops need to evolve and change. A good start would be acknowledging and shredding law enforcement’s racist elements. As a border state, our leaders must stop pointing fingers and start shouldering the responsibility of crafting a functional immigration policy.
These are complex and deep problems. They aren’t going to be solved by someone who made her living reading a teleprompter, a faux cowboy insurrectionist, a corporate bandit with an affinity for all things white and male, and a QAnon state senator trafficking racist misinformation. Democracy thrives on compromise, accepting others’ ideas, respect for each other, and let’s say it together: “the peaceful transfer of power.” The MAGA Mob has none of those qualities.
My imaginary coalition does.
Janet Napolitano won three terms as a Democratic Governor and Attorney General in a Red State. Then, she successfully led Homeland Security and the University of California, two of the biggest jobs anywhere. Rick Romley cleaned up the sex abusers in the Phoenix Catholic Diocese without the national attention the Boston Globe Spotlight Team captured. Jeff Flake sacrificed his Senate career by calling the Mad King what he is, unfit for any public office. Rusty Bowers turned away the High Priests of the Big Lie. Cindy McCain avenged the GOP’s libel of her husband and probably did more than anyone to turn Arizona purple in 2020. Jonathan Nez courageously protected the Navajo people at the height of the COVID crisis. The others have plenty of quality work too.
They’re not perfect. You can find plenty of failed actions and ideas from this group. They are politicians, not saints. Still, imagine all these Arizona leaders, people with very different ideas about governing, standing together on a podium, their message broadcast across the state, lighting up social feeds, getting the attention of what is proving to be a passionate base of anti-MAGA voters… a true showing of unity against evil… bi-partisan authenticity cutting through the venom of all the campaign commercials, robocalls, and text blasts.
It would send a POWERFUL message to the MAGA Mob:
Your crap ends here. Not in our Arizona.
It would also be personally DANGEROUS for all of them.
They’d be doxed. Be relentlessly strafed and torched on social media. Armed protestors with Trump flags would march around their homes, harassing them and their kids. Credible death threats would come. Someone might get hurt. It’s Real Life in Arizona and America today. It’s a big ask.
So, Could This Actually Happen?
Nope, it won’t.
The logistics alone are an impossible barrier with Flake in Turkey and McCain in Rome. Even if it could be worked out, convincing them to take a step way out of their usual comfort zones is very unlikely. They play the game the traditional way. Unfortunately, that approach is as fantastical as my proposed solution. We are in a desperate time. The old rules no longer apply, no matter how much we wish they did.
I know, you think me naïve and clueless.
Fine. Consider the primary results from this past week. Then go look in the mirror.
Do you like who’s staring back?