Andrei Cherny– I always thought he was a Republican

by Pamela Powers Hannley

Congressional candidate Andrei Cherny–Mr. No Labels, the guy who was installed as chair of the Arizona Democratic Party by bending the rules, and then quit the post to run for Congress– has found himself entangled in a Mitt Romney moment.

OK, we’ve seen this many times. Anyone who has been in politics long enough is sure to be haunted by past statements and votes. (Etch-a-Sketch Romney is an extreme example of this.)

Anyway, Phoenix 12 News showed a tape of Cherny (in 2010) saying that he “opposed” Obamacare. (Check out the video here and above.) Oops. He is also acused of being soft on SB1070 back in 2010.

To be fair since this statement was in the past, I went to Cherny’s campaign website to check out his current stance on healthcare reform, universal coverage, or the Affordable Care Act (AKA Obamacare). Nada. “Build a better economy,” “Hold Wall Street Accountable,” and “Make Arizona a Solor State” are his priorities. All good, but what about healthcare reform, immigration reform, ending the wars, private prisons… need I go on? None of these are listed under Cherny’s priorities.

It’s ironic that immigration reform and the DREAM Act are not mentioned, since when Cherny made his pitch for Democratic Party State Chair, he made a big deal about his immigrant past and how he would help immigrants. (It’s at about 20 minutes in this video*.) Hmmm…

P.S. This video of the January 2011 Democratic Party Statewide Committee meeting is long, but it’s very interesting to see the different Dem politicos– Felcia Rotellini, Jeff Rogers, Bill Risner, Jeff Latas, and others you’ll recognize– speaking on the hot topic of bending the rules for Cherny.