Rum, Romanism and Rebellion

I was going to write a long rant about the problems with presidential primaries. I realized that it was way way too long…I think even my most loyal readers would not suffer through it. I’ll put it up later when I can figure out how to make it short.

Anyhoo…the Pima County Nucleus Club last night featured a panel of legislators: Sen. Gabrielle Giffords, Rep. Phil Lopes, Rep.Ted Tom Prezelski, Rep. Dave Bradley and Rep. Ted Downing. There wasn’t a lot of complaining about the session. Usually these sorts of panel discussions are dominated by whinging by one or two newbies who naïvely thought that they would change the world by serving as a Tucson Democrat in the Arizona Legislature.

This crew is experienced, at least by post-term limit standards, and they have not become totally cynical. Well…give them another couple of sessions banging their head against the brick wall also known as the East Valley delegation.

Giffords, who I’ve known for more than two decades, started the discussion. In the past, I’ve been frustrated by her tendency to slip into lege-speak. Gabby, I love you, but it’s irritating. She did not do it this time, her talk was down to earth. She gave a great overview of the session, which was more furstration than accomplishment. She refered to the Democratic Senate Caucus as the “Dirty Dozen.” This begs the question: Which one is Telly Savalas? Which one is Trini López?

Next was Lopes (thank God Rep. Linda López didn’t show, it would have been too confusing for the Anglos to sort the Portuguese from the Spanish). Lopes talked about the accomplishments, which were more in the negative. Lopes believed that the governor’s veto of the private school tax credit was because the house members had managed to put pressure on her. He also described the moments where Democrats were able to turn back some of the more gawdawful legilation. He also talked about how hard it is to keep the caucus together, particularly when members confuse their own personal agendas with the good of the caucus. I feel that Lopes has done an excellent job. He has been very willing to go out into the public and explain what the Democrats are doing. He is a far cry from one former Democratic leader who told the press in his early interviews that he didn’t think party identification was important.

Prezelski, Bradley and Downing were each able to point to small victories here and there. Prezelski was proud of a bill he shepherded regarding off-reservation public housing for Native Americans. He got a laugh when he said, “I know some of you will be shocked about this, but some of the Republicans are racist.” Bradley gave an articlate argument about morality, and how it to him means helping the least among us. It’s the sort of values argument I’d like to see more of our national Democrats making. Downing was good; he took some nice shots at the Republicans. His talk was thankfully free of some of the “I’m the only one that cares” self-promotion that rubs some the wrong way. He has promised to keep pursuing the paper ballot issue.

One interesting moment came when the moderator, Steve Emerine, introduced Karen Ulich, Democratic candidate for City Council. He said that everyone needs to support her. I hope this means that Steve and his friends will not be raising money for her Republican opponent as they have in the past.