A bit of dissention in the District 26 delegation this week.
Al Melvin took to calling several of his fellow Republicans “RINOs” on a radio show last month for supporting a temporary sales tax hike. There was a bit of a delayed reaction from Vic Williams, one particular object of Melvin’s ire.
Williams published an op-ed calling Melvin out for breaking the “11th Commandment” and criticizing his fellow Republican. Of course, Williams himself is doing this too, now, isn’t he?
Interestingly, Williams’s piece doesn’t address the merits of the issue at hand: a temporary sales tax hike to support education.
Williams isn’t happy. This from his piece in the Northwest Explorer:
I believe Senator Melvin’s comments are more a reflection of his ethics and standards than of my proven fiscally conservative, pro-business voting record. Back in July of 2009 at a public forum the both of us attended, where we were the featured speakers, Senator Melvin tried trashing me then, but it didn’t go so well for him. By the end of the night he was being heckled by a rather fiscally conservative crowd. The difference this time is that he did it on the radio when I was not there to defend myself. I am not sure why he engages in such divisive rhetoric, but I am willing to take him on when he does so.
He’s challenging Melvin to a series of debates, and he reiterated his challenge in an e-mail blast today. Not alltogether sure what they will debate, given Melvin is presumably running for relection to the State Senate and Williams is running for Pima County Supervisor.
The more important question is: who do I root for?
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In terms of who is the bigger ideologue, Melvin has always been more consistent in both his actions and his words than Williams, who once told a group of educators that he could not vote to support public schools because he had to stay “viable” within his caucus. Anyone who has watched Williams over the years knows that it is his style to try to be all things to all people all the time. Melvin called him on that fact, but he is not the only one who has Williams pegged as a chameleon and an opportunist.
Look at the other Republicans lining up to challenge Williams in the BOS primary. You have a Tea Party fave (who is backed by Melvin) in Smith, another Tea Party type (who was recently endorsed by Congressman Trent Franks) in McDaniel and this week you got Mike Hellon, who said on the Buckmaster Show that one of the reasons he is running is because the pro-business GOP establishment that backs him feels that Williams would be a sure loser to Nancy Young Wright, the Democratic candidate.
It is hard to take Al Melvin and his kooky, right-wing agenda seriously, but he deserves props for authenticity and consistency. Williams has always been someone who will say or do anything to win. Voters of all ideological stripes are repelled by politicians like Vic Williams and we are seeing ample evidence of that fact right now.