Month: March 2018

Fear Dominates Secret Tucson GOP CD 2 Congressional Candidate Forum

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GOP Congressional candidates Danny Morales, Lea Marquez-Peterson, Marilyn Wiles and Brandon Martin.
GOP Congressional candidates Danny Morales, Lea Marquez-Peterson, Marilyn Wiles and Brandon Martin.

You could smell the fear in the room at the Pima County GOP’s secret CD 2 Congressional Candidate  Forum at the gaudy Oyster Club in Tucson. The candidates were asked how they could win in light of recent democratic victories, and how they could govern without dominating all three branches of government.

Lea Marquez-Peterson repeatedly pleaded for donations, noting with alarm that “Nancy Pelosi has already been in Arizona and made a half-million-dollar ad buy!” and that front-runner Ann Kirkpatrick had raised more money than she did.

Only 40 people attended the event, which the Republicans tried desperately to keep secret. The GOP tried to ban reporters, to prohibit photos, and to require all cell phones to be turned off. The forum was so secret that candidate Casey Welch didn’t show up.

Only one serious candidate

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Candidate Brandon Martin complained, “I hope we can speak in bigger venues.” (Last month, more than 400 people attended the Democrats’ Congressional candidate forum in Green Valley.)

Martin and candidate Danny Morales battled to take the more arch-conservative position. Candidate Marilyn Wiles didn’t really have many positions. Marquez-Peterson appeared to be the only serious candidate.

None of them proposed any idea to actually help people. They were all against things — like “chain migration,” not becoming “part of the establishment,” against the “Dreamers,” against raising taxes, and against the Mueller investigation.

Guns, Guns, Guns

Noting that hundreds of thousands of people were currently in the nationwide March For Our Lives against gun violence, the candidates had differing ideas for gun safety. Marquez-Peterson and Wiles called for better background checks. Morales called for arming teachers. Martin actually said, “We don’t have a gun problem. They don’t jump off shelves and shoot people.”

Firing Mueller

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Arizona’s international trade relationships

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In 2017, Arizona’s merchandise exports to other countries totaled $20.8 billion, down from a 2016 level of $22.0 billion. The five largest markets for Arizona products were: Mexico-$7.5 billion, Canada-$2.0 billion, China -$1.1 billion, the United Kingdom -$977.0 million and Germany-$693.4 million.

Arizona’s $7.5 billion exports to Mexico in 2017 continued a downward trend from the $8.2 billion recorded in 2016 and the $9.1 billion posted for 2015. Arizona ranked fifth among the states exporting to Mexico in 2017, behind Texas-$97.2 billion, California-$26.7 billion, Michigan -$12.5 billion and Illinois-$9.8 billion. Of the states cited, only Arizona’s exports to Mexico declined, the other states recorded increases from their 2016 levels.

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Arizona Donkey Feed Service Interruption

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By Michael Bryan Just wanted to drop readers a quick note: AZDonkeyFeed will be on hiatus for an indefinite time. The Feed is the stream of links in the near right-hand column of the blog and the continuously updated website of links hosted by Digg that automatically post those links to this blog. Digg Reader is shutting … Read more

Thousands Join the March for Our Lives in Arizona

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March for our Lives - PhoenixBy David Gordon

There were already hundreds of people at the State Capital in Phoenix a little more than an hour before the start of the March for Lives rally on March 24. Some 15,000 gathered when the rally started at 10:00 a.m.

Simultaneously, 8,000 marched in Tucson as one of 13 marches across Arizona Saturday, joining hundreds of concurrent marches across the U.S. protesting gun violence in schools and calling for gun-control laws.

The setting at the Capital was a farmers market of progressive political activity with activists, young and old, holding signs promoting life, gun control, and an end to the influence of the National Rifles Association.

March for our Lives - PhoenixThere were also vendors representing Democratic and Progressive candidates and causes as well as a rigorous voter registration drive by the Maricopa Democratic Party and Next Gen. The Republican Party committed political malpractice by not even having one table for vendors to visit. It is not like this was a Trump rally where they had to fear for their lives.

Amid chants such as “Vote Them Out,” “We are change,” and “Must be banned,” the speakers, led by students like Jordan Harp offered a passionate appeal to the assembled crowd, calling for everyone to “March today and March Tomorrow” and to register to vote and participate in the process calling for sensible gun control reform.

Speaking with vendors and people in the crowd, all were unanimous in applauding the initiative of these high school students across the country. One person I spoke with, likened it to the rally’s protesting the Vietnam War when she was a child.

If the enthusiasm of rallies like these is an indicator, Democrats and Progressives should do well as long as they hold true to what they promote and sustain the momentum among their supporters.

David Gordon
David Gordon

David Gordon has three degrees from Arizona State University and the University of Phoenix in History, Political Science, and Secondary School Administration. Living in Arizona since his family moved to Tempe from New York in 1982, he is a highly qualified Social Studies instructor and Certified School Principal.

Mr. Gordon owned his own charter school, Grand Canyon College Preparatory Academy from 1997-2016. The school served students in grades 6-12 in the East Valley of Maricopa County. Many of the graduates of GCP earned college credit for free while still attending high school, some completing the first year of college before graduating.

Gordon also participated in the revisions of the Arizona History and Social Studies standards. In January 2017, Mr. Gordon started the political blog Twenty-First Century Progressive Bull Moose. It has a global following and routinely comments on the political events of the day. Mr. Gordon also helps administer the Facebook page Living Blue in Arizona.

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