BEING HEARD ABOVE THE NOISE

posted to Political Buzz by Christopher Conover

Last week, Senator John McCain held two town hall meetings in Arizona. What did the Senator say at those events? What were his solutions to problems? Those are questions that were not answered in most reports. Instead what was remarked on was anger at the meetings.

At the Tucson town hall, when McCain talked about reducing the corporate income tax, one attendee yelled, “You’re an idiot.” There were also boos when McCain came in and plenty of catcalls between members of the audience.

As pointed out inPolitico anger wasn’t found at just the McCain town halls. Some said the national anger at most members of Congress, regardless of party, reminded them of the emotion during the town halls on health care two summers ago. Or even the last election cycle, something I’ve written about before.

Just days after the January 8th shooting, President Obama came to Tucson to speak. At the time he said, “But at a time when our discourse has become so sharply polarized – at a time when we are far too eager to lay the blame for all that ails the world at the feet of those who think differently than we do – it’s important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we are talking with each other in a way that heals, not a way that wounds.” The shouting is back, if it ever really left.

Dr. Susan McManus, a political science professor at the University of South Florida in Tampa says some of the shouting may be due to the fact that Americans don’t feel like Congress is listening so they are resorting to shouting. Not all the shouting is at elected officials, but also at each other during the meetings. Attendees are telling each other to sit down or to shut up.

Will the yelling continue through this election season? Will the anger translate into changes in who represents us? Only time will tell.

NAVAJOS' DILEMMA: GO HOME OR GO TO WORK

posted to AZ Week Notebook by Michael Chihak

It's the Native American dilemma.

Arizona's reservation lands are among the most economically deprived places in the state. And that takes into consideration the economic value, including jobs, that casinos bring to Native American lands.

But little else is available in their homelands for educated Native Americans, so may of them depart the reservation to seek work. And those who depart for educational reasons are less and less likely to return home.

Many want to, with strong cultural and familial ties constantly tugging at them.

Yet, the job opportunities simply don't exist. Take the Navajo Nation, for example. Navajo tribal rolls show just more than 300,000 members. Until just a few years ago, half or more lived on the vast reservation. Today, Navajo Times Editor Duane Beyal says, it likely isn't even half.

Karen Francis-Begay, special adviser to the University of Arizona president for Native American affairs, says in an interview for Friday's Arizona Week that Native American students not going back home after getting their degrees is understandable.

"A lot of them end up in survival mode," Francis-Begay says. "They have to pay loans and have a means of survival. So often times, almost readily, the job market that is available to them is away from home and is off the reservation."

She says she herself is an example of that phenomenon, having grown up on the reservation but leaving to go to college. That left her with ongoing guilt and doubts about her decision, Francis-Begay says.

"Myself, for some time, often questioned why it was that I didn't go back and work in my community," she says. "But a tribal elder had told me, you're making such an important contribution in helping our young people."

Hear more from Francis-Begay, Beyal and from Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly tonight on Arizona Week, at 8:30 MST on PBS-HD-6 or online at azweek.com.

FLAKE EARMARKS OPPONENT FOR CRITICISM

posted to Political Buzz by Michael Chihak

Among U.S. Rep. Jeff Flake's notable stances in Congress is that against earmarks and pork barrel spending. That is, special funding inserted into bills to get the vote of the member of Congress whose state or district will benefit.

That's why Flake was quick to criticize Will Cardon this week for Cardon's declamation that while he opposes such spending, Arizona should get its fair share of federal revenues back.

The Arizona Capitol Times spells out the argument in a story today. (Subscription may be needed to view Capitol Times' stories)

The Capitol Times quotes Cardon as saying: “I oppose earmarks. I oppose going through the back door. But I’m a believer in transparency and up-and-down votes for projects in the Senate that will benefit Arizona and create jobs. I think what we need now is to create jobs in Arizona. And we need someone in Washington who knows how to do that.”

And from the Capitol Times, Flake's rejoinder, in a fund-raising appeal e-mail: “Wow! We’re more than $14 trillion in debt, we’re running an annual deficit of more than $1 trillion, we’ve just had our credit rating downgraded for the first time in our history, and somebody still wants to return to the days of pork barrel spending? As a congressman, I’ve been a fiscal hawk.”

THE HILL’S MOST BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE

posted to Political Buzz by Christopher Conover

The Hill, a newspaper dedicated to covering Capitol Hill in Washington, DC is known for having the inside scoop on what is going on in Congress. And for the eight year in a row it has a beautiful people section.

The Hill staff put together a photo shoot and wrote biographies of those they deemed to be the 50 most beautiful people working in, on, and around Capitol Hill. Information for readers includes the person’s name, hometown, political party and relationship status.

One Arizona staffer made the list this year. Cassiopeia Sonn ,who works for Arizona Congressman John Shadegg, is number 29.

POLITICAL SIGNS OF THE TIMES: NAME ID A MUST

posted to Political Buzz by Michael Chihak

Like mushrooms sprouting after heavy rain, political signs are appearing all over Tucson, on the eve of the primary election.

In recent days, a dozen or more "Write in Rick Grinnell" signs popped up downtown, including several stuck into the tree wells in Presidio Park just east of City Hall. Grinnell is a Republican running for mayor.

Signs for Republican Jennifer Rawson also appeared around town, including several downtown. She is challenging incumbent Democrat Paul Cunningham, for the Ward 2 City Council seat to which he was appointed last year. That anticipates their general election matchup in November.

And, along West St. Mary's Road, a big black-and-yellow billboard asks: "Would You Trust 'Payday Joe' Flores?" Then answers: "Didn't think so." Flores is a Democrat challenging incumbent Democrat Regina Romero in Ward 1, and the billboard, paid for by a Democratic committee, alludes to his ties to the payday loan industry.

As signs begin cluttering street corners, supporters' front yards and street medians around town, people ask: Why? Why add to the city's cluttered look? Why don't the candidates spend their resources to get out information about how they stand on the issues?

Two words: Name recognition.

And two more words: Write-in candidate.

Grinnell needs 1,060 write-in votes in the primary election to qualify for the general election ballot.

A curiosity about the signs, as noted by colleague Andrea Kelly: There seems to be a dearth of signs pushing Democrat Jonathan Rothschild's mayoral candidacy. He is, however, the clear leader in bumper stickers.

AMERICAN SELF-DETERMINATION EVIDENT ON NAVAJO NATION

posted to AZ Week Notebook by Michael Chihak

As Americans, we pride ourselves on our spirit of self-determination. We often attribute that spirit to the inheritance of our forebears, whether they were of European stock or of the many generations that inculcated a uniquely American culture in us.

A recent reporting trip to Northern Arizona showed me another source for this spirit – the first Americans. I saw it at Window Rock, capital of the Navajo Nation.

Thousands of years of self-determination by America’s native peoples was stifled by European immigrants settling the country, often using force as an expression of their own self-determination. In the face of it, the Navajos still manifest the spirit in working to modernize their society.

Evidence came from Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly, who said that economic development and jobs for the reservation will make the Navajos independent of the federal government, a worthwhile cause by any measure.

Shelly pointed to what he called “western” education for young Navajos as the key. At the same time, he cautioned his people to retain their culture and traditions, a great measure of self-determination in and of itself.

Just before my interview with Shelly, a Navajo couple displayed a clear example of that spirit. The two were selling jewelry on the edge of the plaza honoring Navajo Code Talkers and other war heroes.

They sat in their van making the jewelry, and the man told me he and his wife were there because they couldn’t find work nearby in the fields for which they are trained – he a heavy-equipment operator, she a dialysis technician.

There was no self-pity in his tone, only a straight-forward and factual assertion that this was how they were making a living.

He showed a true spirit of self-determination, one engendered by his ancestors many millennia ago but still carried today on the wind.