Thomas Watch: Our Candidates Talk to You

Democratic Diva and A Democrat's Lament are teaming up to help everyone get to know our County Attorney candidates. I would encourage you to give money and volunteer for one or both of them. In my opinion, this is the most important race in Arizona this year. I listed Tim Nelson first because Gerald Richard is listed first on Democratic Diva.

TIM NELSON COMMENTS:

Hi, this is Tim Nelson, Democratic candidate for Maricopa County Attorney. I want to thank Democratic Divas and A Democrat’s Lament for giving me this opportunity to cross-post on their blogs.

I have been a proud Democrat my entire life. Democratic values — opportunity, justice, and security for everyone willing to work hard and play by the rules – are the core values I was raised with and have embraced throughout my life. I have put those values to work for scores of Democrats at both the state and national level, in both a paid and volunteer capacity.

I have been active in local Democratic politics since the day I arrived in Arizona back in 1994 when my friend, Congressman Sam Coppersmith, was running for the U.S. Senate. Since then I have worked on many Arizona Democratic campaigns.

I am perhaps most proud of my work with Governor Napolitano. I first worked with her in 1987, during a summer internship when I was in law school. When she ran for Attorney General, I was proud to volunteer for her campaign. Two years later, I was honored to join her staff as Special Counsel.

She really epitomizes for me why it is so important to elect Democrats whenever possible. She kept the focus on running the office in a professional manner and working on problems that affect the average citizen trying to pay the bills and raise a family in peace. While I was there, I was responsible for making sure that big tobacco lived up to their promises in the large tobacco settlement of the late 1990s. I sued to force RJ Reynolds remove its Winston brand cigarette advertisements from a racetrack in Arizona. I also held Arthur Andersen accountable for defrauding our senior citizens and secured a settlement of $217 million that recouped much of the money they had lost. Before the Arizona Supreme Court, I won the right for individual citizens to initiate their own antitrust lawsuit, a big victory for consumers.

When Janet Napolitano was elected Governor, she chose me to be her General Counsel and I spent five great years advising her on a wide range of policy and legal issues, writing her veto messages and executive orders.

In February I left that job to take on an important task: defeating Andrew Thomas for Maricopa County Attorney. Andrew Thomas has been a uniquely bad public servant. He has wielded his great powers of issuing subpoenas and convening grand juries in abusive and un-American ways. His office’s attempt to arrest the New Times editors is only the best known example.

He has also corrupted the office by giving millions of dollars in contracts to campaign contributors; using public funds promoting himself; and initiating witch hunts against political opponents like Attorney General Terry Goddard.

The Maricopa County Attorney has several key tasks: issuing legal opinions to guide the actions of county agencies; representing them in court when needed; and most importantly, supervising the prosecution of criminal and civil cases. These are exactly the things I have been doing for the last twenty years at the highest levels of the public and private sectors. I believe that this makes me uniquely qualified to be your next Maricopa County Attorney.

My campaign is off to a tremendous start, I have received a true outpouring of popular support from people throughout the county. I have volunteers phone banking on my behalf, people opening up their homes for fundraisers, citizens telling their family and friends about my campaign.

Again, I thank you for this opportunity to discuss my campaign. You can read more (and contribute to my cause) at www.timnelson2008.com. I hope to have the chance to tell you more about my campaign and my ideas about improving public safety in the months ahead.

GERALD RICHARD COMMENTS:

I don’t need to dwell on the reasons we need to defeat Andrew Thomas this fall. As County Attorney, he has diverted resources away from prosecuting violent criminals to persecuting immigrants charged with “smuggling themselves.” His wiretapping of the Serial Shooter suspects without a court order could jeopardize the expected convictions in the case. Thomas has cut training for his staff attorneys by 90-percent, creating the need to spend 11-million dollars hiring outside law firms (that coincidentally helped pay for his election campaign in 2004). He has spent more than two-million dollars on billboards, booklets and TV ads that primarily promote himself. And he has signed off on the arrest of newspaper publishers and invading the privacy of their readers.

So the only question is, who is best qualified Democrat to succeed Thomas?

I have 22 years experience as an attorney in law enforcement. I have prosecuted violent felony criminals before a jury. In my 19 years with Phoenix Police, I have been at the crime scenes at 2:30 in the morning. I have been a credible link between the department and the community. My experience is relevant to the job I am seeking.

The County Attorney’s Office is a multi-million dollar organization with nearly one-thousand employees. With Phoenix Police, I supervised four departmental units with budgets totaling 67-million dollars. I administered federal, state and local grants of another 62-million. Again, my experience is relevant to the job I am seeking.

I ask for your support, your monetary contributions and your vote in the September 2nd Democratic Primary. My name is Gerald Richard, candidate for Maricopa County Attorney.

Gerald’s website is: www.richardforcountyattorney.com.

Others said it better, but this is why HRC lost

I have had this thought for a while, but lucky for me someone said it better than I could. The simple reasons she lost are two fold: the war and bad strategy.

Obama would not have had an opening without the war. Back when he entered the race, the only reason I considered him over HRC was the war. I was simple waiting for her to say it was a mistake to vote for it and that she learned from it. Her inability to admit the mistake pushed me to give Obama a long look. That is how I became a supporter.

The second problem I have written about previously. Her campaign ceded so much ground to Obama in the caucus states that he won the nomination based on that. Argue all you want about the validity of caucuses, but like it or not you don't cede any contest when the delegates are given on a proportional basis. Her campaign never seemed to wake up to the problem.

Congrats to Barack Obama for winning the nomination. It is time for everyone to hold hands, sing kumbaya and then elect a Democratic president.

Now for a little levity...

This article from the Huffington Post made me laugh (in an very adolescent Beavis and Butthead sort of way). No offense to either of the people cited, but here is money quote:

UPDATE 12:25 PM Tuesday, June 3:
Congresswoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick and Congressman John W. Olver have endorsed Barack Obama. DNC Members Debbie Dingell and Rick Wiener also endorsed Obama.

I know it is adolescent and immature, but Obama locked up Cheeks, Dingell and Wiener today, so you know he has the nomination in the bag...

A sad state and a good compromise

The Rules Committee ruling yesterday was both sage and fair. However, I fear that we are heading for a very close election in the Fall because of the actions of HRC and her die hard supporters. The wounds inflicted through this process, I fear will not be soon forgotten.

I have to admit that I don't fully understand the ferocity of the anger many of her supporters feel. Anyone involved in politics has felt the disappoint and frustration when our chosen candidate loses a close election, but most of us subscribe to a higher good and we believe the Democratic Party represents the best vehicle for achieving our policy goals. Some of her supporters feel robbed by a fair process that was governed by clear rules. HRC had every advantage going into the process, but chose to ignore caucus states and run as though she was an incumbent.

I want to be unequivocal in my statement: I hope that HRC's supporters will come back to the Democratic fold. They are a large and important constituency in our party (I think most of them will), but let me be very clear, anyone considering voting for John McCain after eight years of Bush and the disasters he has wrought is not a Democrat. If you value the election of Hillary Clinton over the swing of the Supreme Court and the rights at stake, you are not a good American. If you think we are better off with four more ruinous years of Republican policies then you don't care about the future of this country. We have no room for you in our party.

Thomas Watch: Thanks Andy, Heck of a job!

The East Valley Tribune has this editorial about the Maricopa County tax payers being forced to pickup the legal bills of Dennis Wilenchik. While I agree in principle that prosecutors should be protected from the financial dangers of pursuing prosecutions, I am not sure that it should be absolute. I am also not sure that private attorneys should be deputized as prosecutors. Furthermore, I am not sure someone as dumb as Andy Thomas should be allowed to contractually indemnify the County's tax payers based on his bone-headed decisions. How much will this cost us? Andy Thomas and Joe Arpaio sure cost us a lot money.

I would make this a major campaign issue if I was running against him...

My favorite part of this election season: YouTube videos

Thomas Watch: Poor Andy, sure whines a lot

Poor Andy Thomas is complaining to the Arizona Supremes because the Arizona Bar Association is investigating his various violations of ethics. Of course, we all know that much like George Bush, Andy Thomas cannot be held to the same standards of ethics and conduct as say everyone else... Here is the article from the Arizona Republic.

Note to Bar Association, be careful. Andy is delicate and sensitive (some might say effete). He may cry if continue to hold him to the same standards as every other attorney in the state (or even stomp his feet, plug his ears and say "lalalalalalala, I can't hear you).

HRC, sexism and bellyachin'

I have tried to hold my fire on HRC, but I cannot sit and listen anymore without saying something. And no I am not talking about the Bobby Kennedy comment, even though it was crass and idiotic.

I want to talk about sexism. Day after day, I hear complaints from HRC supporters about how sexism is the reason she lost. I find this both sad, laughable and frustrating. The reason she lost is because her campaign was not well executed.


HRC has undoubtedly been the subject of sexism, but guess how much sympathy I have for her, none, zero, zip and nada. Politics is a hard. In politics, there is no excuse for losing, not sexism, not racism, only incompetence, bad strategy, bad message, a bad candidate or circumstances beyond your control (these are all reasons, but not excuses). While I am sure there are people that will not vote for her simple because she is a woman, there is a much larger group of people that are voting for HRC because she is a woman, but I don't hear too many complaints about that. That brings us to her biggest problem with voters (her 45% ceiling): Most of the people who will not vote for HRC are doing so because she lacks ethics, moral fortitude, has a problem with the truth, has very little concern for her party, very little concern for her country, her personality is grating, she has an unquenchable quest for power and offensive sense of entitlement.

I have to say that I do not like Hillary Clinton, but it has nothing to do her with being a woman. I also no longer can stand the sight of Bill Clinton. When I don't like HRC I am accused of being sexist, what does it mean when I don't like Bill Clinton? How about Joe Lieberman (Anti-Semitic)? What about condoleezza Rice (sexist and racist)? There is a large difference between feeling aggravation and anger because of a persons actions and disliking them because of a genetic fact.


Every candidate has built in advantages and disadvantages. HRC has more advantages than most candidates. Please stop complaining about how the media has treated her. Every candidate in every race in both parties is treated unfairly by the media. It is part of politics. Suck it up and get over it. She has lost... In the parlance of my grandmother, she is showing her ass and she needs to stop it (will you say my grandmother is sexist too?). While you are at it, NARAL has no obligation to support a losing candidate when the very existence of Roe v. Wade is on the line if McCain wins.

One last note, this goes out to white, upper middle class, middle aged, second wave feminists that think that sexism is the last acceptable form of discrimination, please spare us. Not a single one of you would trade your privileged existence for that of a black person (or any person of color), nor a gay person, nor an atheist (and the list goes on...)

Janet asks Arpaio to do his job (he refuses, not enough cameras around when serving warrants)

I don't have a lot of time today, but I wanted to post this article from the Arizona Republic. Basically the job of Sheriff is to run the jail and serve warrants. Sheriff Joe doesn't really enjoy either activity because it limits the number of press conferences with which he can bloviate about stupid totally useless non-sense (apparently it is not cost effective to use his tank to deliver warrants).

I know immigration can be a campaign issue, especially in Arizona, but doesn't having 59,000 unserved felony warrants make you soft on crime? Don't you Republicans remember Willie Horton? All the Sheriff's opponents have to find is one scary looking guy who killed or raped someone because they were not picked up by the Sheriff (or served a warrant), it would be pretty devastating.

The Egghead Vote

One of the things that has bugged me most over this political season is our political discourse once again being critical of the so-called "eggheads", elitists and urbanites. There is the stereotype of Volvo driving, latte drinking, yoga doing and on and on. Of course, there is also the vaulted working class heartland voter who is all knowing and beyond wise.

When did it become ok to disparage people who worked hard to get college degrees? Why is the work someone does on an assembly line more valid than other types of work. Why is it that to be hardworking you must have a job in the old economy? It is interesting to me that my parents and grand-parents worked extra hard in factories, so that I could go to college. They did not want my body to give out at 60.


I hate to break it to everyone, but Volvos are good cars. Lattes while not my cup of tea (pun intended) do not make you an elitist (there are lots of pretty average people at Starbucks). While I am at it, being an elitist is not a bad thing. I want elite leaders. I want the best and brightest leading our country. In fact I personally want to be elite or more elite than I currently am.


The Democratic Party needs to wake-up to the fact that we "eggheads" are every bit as important to the grand coalition as high school educated white voters. Last I checked all votes count the same. To be sure my money spends the same when I send it to the party. I can tell you for sure that I will not be a second-class citizen in my party. And just for the record, the votes of black people count the same as white voters. I vote, I volunteer and I give money, I am the party.

Obama wins the night!

Obama wins big in North Carolina and it is close in Indiana. I know she won't drop out because she has no shame and does not care about the Democratic Party, but she is done.

Nuns turned away in Indiana (Clinton Campaign confused)

Hillary does not know whether to look like this:



Or like this:

Here is the story from Politico. The nuns did not have the proper identification, so they could not vote. Unfortunately for the Clinton campaign, the article does not state who they intended to vote for, so they don't know whether to feign outrage or not...

How does he do it? Jack Harper: World class idiot

Jack Harper... What is there to say about him? I constantly wonder how he consistently comes up with the dumbest ideas. His latest idea is to lift work safety restrictions on minors to make up for a labor shortage that he helped cause (see immigration).

The bill would allow minors to do more dangerous jobs like working on ladders and scaffolding up to 10 feet high. Why stop there? Here is the article from the East Valley Tribune.

I have a special connection to this issue in that I sustained a permanent injury (that I still live with today) while working as a minor. I foolishly took the more dangerous job because it paid $1 more per hour. At the time, I did not really understand the implications.

We should protect kids until they are old enough to choose for themselves. There is actually science to back up the idea that most teenagers are not cognitively ready to properly assess risk. If we have a labor shortage, lets find adults to fill the jobs, not teenagers.

Mayor Gordon callously keeps cheap pharmaceuticals from getting to the sick and needy

Given the price of healthcare and prescription drugs in this country, you would think that Mayor Gordon would want the sick to get medications inexpensively, but no... Apparently, the Mayor insists on making sure that pharmaceuticals are not in our water supply. Sure you might get hormones instead of insulin, but its free.

County Attorney's Race: Give now

Here is a link to Tim Nelson's web site and Gerald Richard's site.

They both have contribution pages, so give now to the candidate of your choice or perhaps both.

Give to Tim Nelson
Give to Gerald Richard

File this under fat chance...

I have had my differences with Mayor Phil Gordon, particularly when it comes to his endorsements of Andy Thomas, John McCain and Jim Weiers. In the Arizona Republic today, there is an article about an effort to recall the Gordon. Recalls are tough to pull off, even if you know what you are doing. The guys heading up this effort don't...

Note to American Citizens United, if you think you need 23,751 signitures, guess again. Try doubling that number... Go ask Rev. Jarrett Maupin about trying to sneak signatures past the Mayor's machine. Maupin just wanted to run against the Mayor, not recall him.

You guys are toast...Save your self the heartache and the long hours in the Arizona sun and give up now.

Guess what happens when a hospital is underfunded...

There was this article about a report on deficiencies at Maricopa County Hospital. I know the knee jerk reaction of many will be that government cannot do anything right (you know you are thinking it my right-wing friends). Here is the reality of the situation: Maricopa is wildly underfunded. I have written previously about how the state takes the federal funding intended to reimburse the hospital for indigent care.

Here is what happens in hospitals when they are underfunded: Basically, nurses (RNs, LPN, etc) deliver the majority of care in our health system. First, there is a shortage of nurses in the country and state. Nurses don't have to suffer low pay and bad working conditions because they are almost guaranteed a job somewhere else. Part of the reason for the shortage is that job is very hard. Nurses generally work 12-hour shifts and are responsible for many patients. Over the past twenty years (or more) nurses have taken over many of the duties that were once reserved for doctors.

At an underfunded hospital, they pay nurses less and therefore have fewer of them (and higher turnover). This leads to a couple of bad things, either the hospital cannot pay and retain enough nurses to cover the work load or hospital management tries to increase the ratio of nurses to patients to save money (at Maricopa it is probably both).

The results of this are obvious. The nursing staff has a choice, they do not have enough time to give quality care and chart the care given sufficiently. Given the previous choice most nurses will choose to give care to their patients and cut corners on the paperwork. It is Faustian bargain that should not be forced on our dedicated healthcare providers.

This is cool...

Why the obsession with firearms?

This goes through armor. And through the victim, through the wall, through a tree outside... (Danny Vermin:Johnny Dangerously)

There are two stories related to firearms that I noticed today in the East Valley Tribune. The first is about the Governor's veto of a stupid bill that would reduce the penalty for people carrying a concealed weapon illegally. This upset Russell Pearce, the sponsor of the bill.

Note to right-wing have some common sense... Criminals carry weapons without a permit and might be willing to pay $300 if caught. If you have no common sense then how about self-preservation? I can see the TV ad now...



This second article is about a homeowner trying to shoot a guy allegedly trying to steal his truck. I understand the frustration that guy must feel. His truck was previously broken into and he wanted to protect his property.

This is a major problem with our current guy laws. His actions were extremely dangerous and I do not mean for the (alleged) criminal. Depending on the caliber of the handgun, he could have easily missed what he was firing at and hit something or someone else. A .357 , .44, or God forbid a Desert Eagle .50 cal could go through a wall and hit someone while they slept (or through the car and through a wall and the neighbor next door).


I don't have a problem with guns just the dumb, untrained people who buy them. Gun training and testing should be mandatory to own a gun. Just like a driver license test...

Uncle...

I am going to layoff blogging about the Presidential race for a while (unless I feel compelled to comment). I am sad that seeing the Clintons on television makes me want to throw things at the TV.

After weeks of working very long hours and weeks of being angry about the nomination fight, I have decided to take some time off. At this point, I cannot go to any of the states (Indiana, North Carolina, Oregon, etc) to affect the outcome, so I am inclined to accept that it is going to happen no matter what I think.

I would still like to find some good contributors for the site, but so far I have not had a lot of luck (you know who you are, lazy contributors).

I am going to try to post only once per day, but we will see...