Overall, I was quite impressed by the Arizona media during the Thucky coverage. Top honors, however, had to go to Brahm Resnik. I already had shared the story with Steve Lemons, but Brahm got the privilege of breaking it because he’d been following it himself here at BfAZ. Within hours of my posting Does ANYONE Actually Like John Huppenthal?, Brahm was on the phone asking to chat about the Peloponnesian Wars.
So, is Brahm still following us here at BfAZ? Could be, although I doubt he needed me to help him figure this one out. A month ago, I wrote Did the AZGOP Instruct Diane Douglas to Stay Inside?
And today, from Brahm Resnik, we have The Invisible Candidate. If you possibly can, click through and play the clip. After Douglas snubs his invitation to be interviewed, he actually knocks on her door. That’s what a reporter is supposed to do, right?
Here’s a tidbit from the print version of Brahm’s report:
You can look for Diane Douglas, but you might not find her.
The Republican candidate for school superintendent — a key influencer of education policy in Arizona — has been nearly invisible to parents, teachers and her opponent in the two months since the primaries.
She wants to take over a department led by the disgraced official she ousted, John Huppenthal.
Staffers for her Democratic opponent, David Garcia, say there have been 16 candidate debates or forums since the primary when Garcia was the sole candidate present. She did participate in the Clean Elections debate on PBS’ “Horizon,” which she was required to attend. But that’s it.
Sound familiar? Here’s my speculation from last month:
One way or another, I’ll bet Douglas received a more direct message from the Republican powers that be, something along these lines:
“Diane, we need you to hang out with the tea-party base for the next two months and get them to turn out in November. But the anti-Common Core nonsense and your Malkin endorsement won’t sell with the rest of the electorate, and it’s the opposite of the image Doug Ducey needs to present, so it’s best if you run a quiet campaign. We’d prefer not to have to publicly distance ourselves from you, so try not to put us in a tough position. And, if you can keep things on the down low, we’ll maybe throw a little field help your way in the coordinated campaign.”
Heck, they’re probably even lining up tea-party appearances for her. There’s no shortage of opportunities on that front. And every hour Diane Douglas spends with the tea-partiers is an hour nobody else will be hearing her, which is exactly what every other Republican on the statewide ticket wants.
But there’s a critical difference between my reporting and Brahm’s, as he makes a huge point that I failed to make:
Douglas’ strategy, assuming that’s what it is, makes political sense: Just be quiet and ride the built-in Republican voting advantage to victory. Her race is far down the ballot, so it doesn’t have the high profile of other races and might get more reflexive GOP votes.
Sandra Dowling, the former Maricopa County school superintendent who’s helping Douglas on policy issues, told me on Tuesday that Douglas’ schedule is packed.
But Douglas claims she wants to instill in our children a deeper understanding of America’s founding principles. One of those principles is free and open debate. She might want to set the example.
Exactly. She can hide from the media, but she can’t hide from her own hypocrisy.
She won’t win, but the percentage of votes she gets, just because there’s an R after her name will be instructive.
Like I always say, there are those in this state that would no nothing about a candidate and vote for the “R” behind their names. They would literally vote for Satan if an “R” was stuck on the end. Fact.