Wednesday, July 30th, 2008...6:00 pm
Shadegg Comes Down With Potomac Fever
One of those unwritten rules of politics that always gets written about is that you are never, ever supposed to give even the mildest hint that you have ever thought about running for an office higher than the one you currently seek. Megastate Governor So-And-So is supposed to pretend that he has never thought about running for the presidency when seeking re-election, even though behind the scenes his staff is picking out curtains for the Truman Balcony. For example, Janet Napolitano has to be coy about plans to run for the US Senate in 2010, and Terry Goddard has to make like he has never entertained thoughts about being Governor, even though he has run twice before.
It looks like John Shadegg broke that unwritten rule. In an interview with PolitickerAZ, Shadegg talked about how he really wants to run for John McCain’s seat. No word on whether he really wants to direct.
The suprisingly nimble Bob Lord press operation pounced on this immediately, conflating it with Shadegg’s odd “I’m in, I’m out” game last February. (Who is this guy, Ron Jeremy?)
John Shadegg again admitted that he wants to leave Congress, this time for the U.S. Senate. This is the second time in 2008 Shadegg has said he wants to leave his job.
“Asked point-blank if he would take McCain’s current position if given the opportunity, Shadegg responded: ‘Yes’,” according to a story on PoltickerAZ.com. “Yeah, I could find that very interesting, very appealing.”
This comes just months after Shadegg announced he would retire, before he reversed himself when prodded by his Republican party leadership and special interest groups.
“Shadegg’s heart is just not in this,” Bob Lord said. “It’s painstakingly obvious, especially after he retired earlier this year and then had his arm twisted to get back in the race. Shadegg hasn’t represented Arizona’s Third District and clearly doesn’t want the job anymore. I’m running for Congress because Arizona deserves better. There’s too much at stake to elect people who repeatedly tell us they don’t want the job.”
Lord’s press releases have just the right amount of handwringing to attract attention and finger wagging to tick off the other candidate without being that ridiculous. I mean, ridiculous relative to most of politics anyway.
3 Comments
July 31st, 2008 at 8:38 am
To be fair, both Napolitano and Goddard are bound by the state’s resign to run law. Because neither of them are in the final year of their term, if either said they were going to run for another office, they’d be forced to resign.
Even if they merely said they were interested, they’d open up a can of worms (and protests) that, as attorneys, they’re both smart enough to avoid.
Plus, there’s the matter of public perception. I’m guessing most voters would like their elected officials to have the public appearance of being solely focused on the job they have — not plotting to get another, better gig — even if it is just a facade.
July 31st, 2008 at 10:29 am
If Tim Bee hasn’t resigned yet, then Janet and Terry should not have to resign, either.
-a
August 3rd, 2008 at 10:29 am
If the people in Shadegg’s district actually re-elect this slacker clown back to congress it will be par for the course on Arizona politics. Hopefully there is enough “new blood” in the district so the Shadegg blow hard can at last be removed.
I do believe that a large number of the people living in Maricopa county have had their brains fried–they have re-elected this jerk even after being vocally dissatisfied with him for a long time. Best of luck to Bob Lord.