Tuesday, November 15th, 2005...6:05 am
Hey Joe
I haven’t been in town for several days. I want all of you who live in Phoenix (and those that are advocating unrestrained development in Tucson) to spend a few days in Dallas and see a cautionary tale. I will never complain about Phoenix again. Well, I will, but not with the same fury.
Just before I left, publicity hound Joe Arpaio floated his own name as a candidate for Governor. It is good he decided to do this, since no one else had brought up his name.
Arpaio ain’t gonna run. He’s in a perfect place right now. He can act as though he is a “tough” law enforcement official, without doing much actual law enforcement. Witness his running to the press after Kurt Busch was cited for speeding. Joe, your deputy (not even you) pulled over a speeder. That doesn’t make you Elliot Ness.
I find it hard to believe that we would have seen a similar spectacle if Busch was pulled over by Phoenix police or the DPS. The print media gave only cursory mention of his statements, which tells me that even the Republic and the Star are tired of his antics too.
Arpaio will not run because a run for Governor would mean that the press and other candidates (even other Republicans, who are not happy with him) will be looking over his record to find something. Heck, what is out in the air now would be enough. His actions have prompted multi-million dollar settlements against Maricopa County; he has used heavy-handed tactics to silence policital opponents; and his deputies seem to be no better than sadistic thugs. The local, and even national, press have been easy on him. In a higher profile race, that can’t be expected. He will be dealing with press in areas of the state where he and his deputies have no power to intimidate them. Don’t expect other law enforcement professionals in the state to help him either. They consider Arpaio to be, at best, a joke.
The Political Insider column featured only a single paragraph about a possible Arpaio run. The authors said they aren’t taking it seriously, since he had hinted at it twice before. Even the sycophantic Phoenix media know that this is just Arpaio trying to get his name in the papers.
NB - The Phoenix New Times has an entire Joe Arpaio archive. The New Times is the only Phoenix area news source that has been keeping an eye on Arpaio, so their reporters are banned from all Sheriff’s department events, even public ones.
6 Comments
November 15th, 2005 at 9:51 am
It is worth noting that Republican outrage against the Sheriff did not arise until AFTER he said nice things about the Governor. Prior to that, the long-standing problems in his office were considered non-issues.
November 15th, 2005 at 1:31 pm
I find your use of the word “thug” in reference to anyone associated with Sheriff Arpaio to be offensive to all fanatical worshipers of the Goddess Kali.
November 15th, 2005 at 2:00 pm
I think you underestimate Mr. Arpaio and he probably is the strongest candidate the GOP can trot out in either ‘06 against Ms. Napolitano or in ‘10 against Mr. Goddard.
November 15th, 2005 at 9:03 pm
Good post on Joe.
One thing he’d have on everybody in the Republican field is name recognition (and since Barry’s last term ended 20 years ago, that includes Don Goldwater). I’ll leave it to Republican voters to decide whether that’s a good thing.
Re. your cautionary tale to Phoenix about Dallas, as somebody who has spent a fair amount of time in both locales, I’d suggest it’s too late.
When you consider that the Phoenix Metro Area now basically extends to Anthem in the North, West of Buckeye in the West, to Casa Grande in the South, and well East of Apache Junction to the East, I’d suggest we’re already there, and there doesn’t look like an end in sight.
November 15th, 2005 at 11:05 pm
Well what would be a good term then Anonymous?
November 23rd, 2005 at 10:25 pm
Which of us anonyms are you referring to? There are at least three of us.
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