Rep. David Stevens: a throwback to the 19th Century

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The disturbing pattern of authoritarianism from our Southern Arizona Republican legislators Update re: Southern Arizona legislator questionnaires in the Daily Star continues unabated today with this elitist proposal from Rep. David Stevens (R-LD25): he wants to disregard the 17th Amendment providing for the popular election of U.S. Senators and return to the practice of state legislatures selecting senators. Plan: lawmakers pick US Senate candidates:

A freshman Southern Arizona lawmaker is leading the effort to strip Arizona voters of the right to decide who should be a candidate for the U.S. Senate.

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Stevens, a Republican from Sierra Vista, wants legislators from each party to pick their party nominees, whose names would then be submitted to voters at the November general election.

He said his measure would be a partial return to the way things were before the 17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was adopted.

Until then, each state legislature selected its U.S. senators. Voters selected only the folks going to the House of Representatives. The 1913 amendment requires direct election of all members of Congress.

Stevens said that amendment was a mistake. He said the old system ensured that senators were responsive to the desires of state lawmakers.

"The state is supreme over the federal government," he said. "And when they weren't doing what we thought they should be doing, we could recall them at any time."

I would not trust any Republican serving in the Arizona Legislature to watch my dog while I ducked into the store for just a few minutes. I sure as hell am not going to trust them to select my senators.

The elitism of Steven's comments are stunning. We can't trust the voters of this state. We want our senators to be responsive to the desire of a handful of state lawmakers who will tell them how to vote in the U. S. Senate. Un-freakin'-believable! Is this guy a throwback to the 19th Century?

Stevens has an ulterior motive for his elitism:

Stevens said that if his plan already were law, there might be an entirely different political dynamic in the Republican primary race between incumbent John McCain and challengers J.D. Hayworth and Chris Simcox. The trio would the have to fight it out for the support of the 35 House Republicans and 18 GOP senators instead of the support of voters.

Such a system might favor candidates with less money, such as Hayworth, because they could personally meet with every voter.

Stevens loves him some J.D. Hayworth. Maybe he should have checked with J.D. first. Hayworth doesn't back it, although he's sympathetic to what Stevens is trying to do. "I believe in states' rights," he said, but "right now I just think it's important for the people to decide."

Maybe Stevens would like to return to the original intent of the Constitution when only white men of property who were free of debt could vote, women were chattel property, and people of color were either slaves or indentured servants. We can't have women and the poor and minorities deciding our elections – that is the province of privileged white males.

If you want to save our state, it is time to throw out all of these Republican legislators who after forty years (plus) of failed leadership somehow believe they are entitled and privileged to lord over us as they please. Throw these authoritarian elitists out on the street.