Meet Congresswoman Mom.

It’s not her chosen campaign slogan, but I think it sums up Francine Shacter’s iconoclastic campaign for Congress in Arizona’s 8th District pretty well. When asked, Francine chose as her (purely provisional) slogan, “I will listen to people and represent their views and bring back to them good ideas.” Not so snappy.

A divorced Jewish woman, 77 years old, who raised four kids by herself begining in 1961 (the result was nearly the Jewish trifecta – she got a lawyer and a doctor, but no Rabbi, just a scientist), Francine is a graduate with honors of the school of life (and of Goddard College in economics). She wants to use her life experiences to represent and work with and for the people of Arizona’s 8th District.

Francine proclaims herself proudly to be a Roosevelt Democrat; a highlight of her life was meeting Eleanor Roosevelt as a young woman. She clearly believes that government has a duty to make life better for people and is capable of doing so, given the right leadership. She is also bucking against the trend of incivility in the current political climate. She pleads for the Democratic nomination campaign to be more civil and less divisive.

At the same time, however, and perhaps contradictorily, she in unabashed about her criticism of Randy Graf, whom she would likely face in the general election if she wins the primary. She told me to quote her specifically when she said, “There is something gross about him” and that he “embodies values I abhor.” There seems little doubt that she’ll be very forthright in her critique of the opposition should she be nominated. If you are worried that the Democratic nominee will fail to draw clear contrasts with the opposition, that’s not a concern with Francine. At the same time, she makes it clear that she feels no personal animosity toward her political opponents. She says of Bush that she doesn’t hate him; she just wants him out.

Francine’s philosophy of leadership is cooperative and constructive, despite her blunt opinions. As a major qualification for the calling she now pursues, she emphasizes her career of public service, where she gained experience in working across interest communities to achieve policy objectives. Francine worked for 30 years in government on the Hill and in the executive branch as a manager and statistician. The result is an enthusiastically people-oriented person who also delights in policy minutiae and numbers. During my formal interview with her, I asked her to refrain from details and focus on the big picture. Suffice it to say that I’ve had to edit for length nonetheless.

Francine believes that Congress should be representative, not just in a formal sense, but also in reflecting the demographics of the populace. In this regard, Francine may be representative of views and persons not currently well represented in government. Francine was a pioneer of now common lifestyle, that of working single mother, and that experience gives her a perspective on labor and family issues, education, poverty, and government assistance that currently has little foothold in the corridors of power.

Francine holds out her life experiences and her “smart and incorruptible” character as her best qualifications for office. She points out that she sees holding office as Congresswoman as a privilege, a public trust, and a capstone of her career in public service, not as the stepping-stone to higher office that others in the race may seek. She opines that it does not reflect well on a candidate to abandon one’s recently elected office as soon as an opportunity for advancement presents itself.

On the subject of the logistics of her campaign, Francine is forthright about her unconventional approach. She does not currently employ any staff, relying entirely on volunteers. She describes her current fundraising situation as dismal. She intends to run a very lean campaign and thinks that if she could raise 50K, she should be able to mount a successful campaign. She wants to limit her exposure to big money donations on principle, and she says the campaign she most admires is that of a certain current candidate for Congress who has 400 volunteers working actively on her campaign.

While I do have opinions about the candidates I interview and their views, I am not interested (at this time!) in choosing a candidate to recommend to other voters. The transcript of the interview that follows is as close I could come to a verbatim transcript, except that it has been edited for brevity. My opinions or comments about specific answers are in square brackets and do not constitute part of the transcript.

I interviewed Francine on February 28, 2006 in Tucson:

Drinking Liberally will be meeting tonight, Thursday, starting at 6PM (feel free to show up later, we usually run anywhere from an hour to two hours, sometimes as long as three if people are feeling loquatious) at the Shanty at 4th Ave and 9th St. No special guests announced this week, although we do have … Read more

Link: G.O.P. Senators Say Accord is Set on Wiretapping The proposed accord with the White House would seemingly avoid the issue of blatantly unconstitutional behavior by the Administration by retroactively creating a 45 day period in which the President could spy on Americans suspected of association with an unspecified list of terrorist organizations. A 7 … Read more

Via: Daily Kos: Straight Talk on South Dakota?. John McCain, that self-styled "maverick" of Republican politics, continues to try to have it both ways, this time on the politics of abortion and specifically, the South Dakota ban.     A spokesperson said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., would have signed the South Dakota legislation, "but [he] … Read more

Alligator Pig. That’s the name of this game. My dog Magic loves to play this game with most of the Labs we foster. Some are too sedate or too sumissive to play, but most are game. Shown here is Aspen, now named Rose by her new adoptive people, our most recent foster dog. Rose loved … Read more

Bush is passionate about the benefits of outsourcing and globalization in general… on corporate profits and investor returns. In a bold, much more than symbolic move, Bush has decided to outsource his own job and become what he ws always best qualified to be – a manual laborer on an Indian farm. Bush can be … Read more

I recently paid a visit to Sen. Bill Frist’s VOLPAC blog because he announced the ill-advised re-authorization of the PATRIOT Act in the Senate. You can certainly make up your own minds as to whether the permanent re-authorization of PATRIOT was a good idea (I happen to strongly disfavor re-authorization of any provision of that act that does not sunset), but I have to wonder how the CD 8 candidates would vote for the bill in its present form as it heads to the House, if they could vote on it?

We don’t have to wonder much about how one candidate, Dwight Leister, would vote. It seems pretty clear from his comment on Frist’s blog that he supports the re-authorization:

"As a Democratic Candidate for Congress in Arizona’s 8th District I support the "Features" that the Patriot Act gives to Law Enforcement agencies in Southeastern Arizona as we fight the War on terror by Securing our Borders and enabling our Border Sheriffs to have access to Federal Funds."

Dwight D. Leister:Chair
www.committee-to-elect.org
T.Mae Leister: First Vice Treasurer
www.dwightleister4congress2006.com

I am somewhat familiar with the PATRIOT Act, and I am not aware of any portions that are of use in enforcing our immigration laws, nor am I aware of any funding coming our way from passage of the PATRIOT Act. Perhaps Mr. Leister could enlighten us as to what those "features" are? I am also curious as to whether there are any "features" of this bill that Mr. Leister does not support?

As he apparently reads this blog at times, I would invite him to clarify his position in a comment, or by contacting me directly, if he prefers. I can’t imagine that the unqualified sobriquet "Supporter of the USA PATRIOT Act" is the best foot to put forward with CD 8’s Democratic primary voters. But what do I know? He’s the candidate for Congress.

Mr. Leister responds on the flip…

Drinking Liberally will be at The Shanty on 4th Ave. Thursday evening begining at 6pm. This week we are having Steve Farley, former candidate for Tucson City Council and transportation activist, to speak about the regional transportation initiatives. So come on down if you want to get educated about transportation, slap Steve on the back … Read more