Month: September 2012

TUSD candidate forum: Hear their words (video)

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by Pamela Powers Hannley

Blog for Arizona was well-represented at the Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) candidate forum, sponsored by Drinking Liberally, last night. As Dave said is his post earlier today, he was the moderator. Sitting next to him, I filmed the entire forum, and, of course, nearby was the "Father of Drinking Liberally Tucson," Mike.

The evening was cordial. There were no outbursts from the candidates or the audience of about 35, which included current TUSD board member Adelita Grijalva.

Unlike Dave, I'm not going to offer candidate critiques, except to say that we disagree. What I am going to provide is the candidates' unedited voices in a series of videos. The first one is attached to this post below.

Dave (and audience members) asked several great questions on a wide range of topics including Mexican American Studies, TUSD's budget, teachers' unions, school closing, administrative downsizing, and many more. Each candidate got one minute to answer each question, plus a 1.5 minute opening and closing statement. If one candidate directly critized another one, the defendant got a 30-second rebuttal. As a result, Kristel Foster and Betts Putnam-Hidalgo gave Dr. Mark Stegeman and Miguel Cuevas a few extra minutes over the course of the evening. 

After the jump, watch the candidates' closing remarks.

Carl Bernstein: This election is a referendum on the radical Republican Party

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

While waiting for someone, I happened to catch the Chris Jansing & Co. show on MSNBC this morning, and was pleasantly surprised to catch Watergate legend Carl Bernstein provide his election analysis (rush transcript):

CARL BERNSTEIN: I think there is a fundamental problem and that is the Republican Party.

The polls reflect the fact that the real issue in this campaign has become the Republican Party in Washington. That it's a radical party such as we have never seen in a presidential race before; that Mitt Romney has become a captive of it; and we've seen in the seante races that are shifting more and more towards Democrats who were expected to lose or be competitive. It's about who the Republicans are in Washington and the really radical message that Romney is saddled with and he can't get out of it.

And the 47% remark is devastating because it really reflects what so many people in the Republican majority in Washington, in the house particularly, believe. That these are freeloaders, that these are people who aren't worthy of our consideration really a human beings in our soclal contract. Romney said out loud what many in his party believe and what an ideology in his party has come to embrace. It was no accident he said it, and he stuck with it.

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[Romney's] really trapped. He's trapped by himself, and he's trapped by the people who have captured hin on the Republican right.

You know, in Washington there has been by Republicans in Washington, since the McCarthy era,  a hunt for so-called radicals on the other side. There has never been a really radical Democratic Party. But now we have in Washington a truly radical Republican Party way outside the mainstream of even the Ronald Reagan party. So there is a huge problem Romney has to position himself. He was in a position to make it at one point about Obama and his presidency the issue. He's lost that chance by what's happened since the convention.

Bernstein agreed with Lynn Sweet of the Chicago Tribune that Romney lost that chance when he picked the radical Paul Ryan as his running mate. They are joined by former Florida governor Charlie Crist.

Video below the fold.

LD 11 Republicans out of touch with Arizona

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Press release from the Arizona Democratic Party: LD-11 Republicans Out of Touch With Arizona Al Melvin and Steve Smith support outrageous bills at the expense of Arizona families PHOENIX, AZ–Arizonans can expect a continued outpouring of outlandish bills as long as the Tea Party is allowed to retain its death-like grip at … Read more