Michael Bryan

Michael founded BlogForArizona.net as the Howard Dean presidential campaign blog for Arizona in 2003, and has been blogging ever since. The Blog is now coming up on 20 years of continuous publication, a major achievement for any political blog, which usually have the life-spans of mayflies. Michael is an attorney living in Tucson with his wife Lauren. In 2008, Michael remade BlogForArizona into a collaborative project. Michael is now but one of the contributors to the blog and provides editorial and publishing direction in consultation with the Board of Directors and the other authors. If you want to keep up with the latest Arizona and National political news in an entertaining quick hit of news and opinion, check out the BlogForArizona twitter feed, which Mike largely curates and writes. Michael is also an AAPC member who occassionally consults on political campaigns, strategy and communications.

Barber vs. Kelly, First Round: Hits and a Miss

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By Michael Bryan

Barberkelly
Last night Ron Barber and Jesse Kelly debated for the first time face to face. The result was a missed opportunity, and some palpable hits, by Barber.

In every race there are a few key issues that will decide which way persuadable voters will break. In this race, both campaigns and their proxies seem to be signaling that there are two major arguments that will decide this race: entitlements and jobs. Barber missed his opportunity to set the record straight on the former, and scored a solid hit on the latter.

Barber's campaign is also focusing on a character theme against Kelly: he's inconsistent. He's a radical who is now trying to moderate his positions. Barber did a generally good job of making that case, with one significant misjudgment.

See video and details after the click…

The War on Voters

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The Voter-ID requirements may seem pointless, but they are not. The point is to discourage young people, poor people, and disabled people from voting.

The Gay Advantage

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By Michael Bryan In America, we mostly talk about the civil rights of LGBT persons in moral or ethical terms – and it certainly is that. Equity and justice war with the moral precepts and prejudice of religionists. But there is more to it. It's also an economic issue. And we need to talk about … Read more

How To Do The Q in QandA Correctly

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By Michael Bryan As a frequent host and participant in public Q and A sessions, I frequently see egregious examples of how NOT to ask questions in a public forum. It is frequently painful to go through the open question period after a public discussion. Too few people keep in mind the real goals of such a … Read more