The trouble with ‘E.Orr’

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

I have told you about The troubling Tyler Mott, the Tea-Publican running for state senate in LD 9, but what about his running mate for the LD 9 House, the equally troubling Tea-Publican Ethan Orr aka "E.Orr," the former Young Democrat?

The Arizona Capitol Times (subscription required) reports House contest in Tucson pits 2 Democrats against a former Democrat:

Republican Ethan Orr spent the first half of his life as a Democrat, volunteering for the party on political campaigns, including Bill Clinton’s first presidential run in 1992 and Eddie Basha’s run for Arizona governor in 1994.

So it’s no surprise that when he’s on the campaign trail for a House seat in north Tucson’s new Legislative District 9, one of the state’s most competitive districts, he can talk the talk that the moderate voters there want to hear.

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Orr says he fashions himself after moderate Tucson Republicans like former Reps. Pete Hershberger and Toni Hellon, and he hopes to work with the southern Arizona Democratic delegation to pass legislation that can help the people and Tucson.

Yeah, not hardly. Hellon and Hershberger were not culture warriors for the far-right social agenda. And aren't they dismissed today as RINOs by the Tea-Publican Party?

Orr’s Democratic opponents, Victoria Steele and Mohur Sidhwa, say Orr’s moderate rhetoric is false advertising.

Orr takes a strong stance on several social issues, including abortion, saying it should be illegal in all cases except when the mother’s life is at risk. He said he doesn’t support making gay marriage legal, but doesn’t support a constitutional amendment against it either.

[Note: Arizona voters already enacted a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman, Prop. 102 in 2008. Someone should ask him in upcoming debates how he voted on Prop. 102.]

Though he said he wouldn’t sponsor social bills himself, he said when it comes time to vote, he would vote with his party and his conscience.

E.Orr's stance on abortion means that he supports requiring forced birth for victims of rape and incest — the life of the mother is his only exception. Someone should ask him in upcoming debates whether he believes in Rep. Todd Akin's (R-MO) "legitimate rape" theory which is prevalent among the anti-choice Christian right.

E.Orr says he will vote with his party on social issues. Well, the 20 week restrictions on abortion, waiting periods and forced ultra-sound, the defunding of Planned Parenthood, and permitting employers religious institutions to opt-out of contraceptive coverage in employer-sponsored health insurance plans — all bills advanced by Cathi Herrod and her Center for Arizona Policy — were passed with near unanimous Tea-Publican support in the past legislature.

E.Orr supported the 20 week abortion ban and allowing employers to decide contraceptive coverage in health insurance, but claims he does not support defunding Planned Parenthood (at least until Cathi Herrod sics her culture warriors on him). Phoenix Arizona Election Questionnaire for State Legislature, ETHAN ORR:

Do you agree with defunding Planned Parenthood? And/or the 20-week abortion ban

I support the 20 week abortion ban, and like most people in Arizona want to see the number of abortions decrease in our state. I do not believe that cutting funding for Planned Parenthood or women’s health services is the way to do this. We need to work together as a state to provide support for women who are in a difficult position, this includes access to education, prevention, and adoption.

Should all employers be allowed to opt out of contraception coverage?

Yes, I believe that the benefits that employers choose to extend or not to extend to their employees should be a decision made by the business. Individual workers know what mix of benefits, health or otherwise, that they want and they will seek the employers who offer them.

E.Orr responded to the Center for Arizona Policy's questionnaire for its 2012 Voter Guide, State Candidates - azvoterguide.com with a statement (.pdf) in which he begins by stating that "The values and the principles of the Bible define my faith and my world view," and concluded with the statement  "I am asking for your support not only as a candidate but also your help to change the tone and tenor of our political conversations so that we can reveal both the character and the compassion of Christ, and be the salt and light of the world."

For the uninitiated, this is a reference to Matthew 5:13-16 and it serves as the foundation for some Evangelical ministries. E.Orr is signaling to CAP voters he is with them.

Back to the Capitol Times report:

For Victoria Steele, a political newcomer who worked for Tucson television and radio news stations before becoming a counselor, Orr’s resume and promises to work with Democrats isn’t enough to overcome his staunch positions on social issues.

“He’s trying to pass himself off as a moderate when his views aren’t as moderate as he wants us to believe, especially on social issues,” she said. “He can’t squeak by as a pseudo-Democrat.”

Steele said the biggest obstacle she has to overcome in the election is the idea that Orr is a moderate, when his positions on gay marriage, abortion and women’s reproductive rights issues put him squarely in the [Tea-Publican] camp.

She also hammered Orr on his support for vouchers for private and religious schools, and his position against Proposition 204, which would establish a permanent 1-cent sales tax increase and direct most of the revenue toward education.

Steele said women’s rights issues are going to be on voters’ minds this election cycle because of the “war on women” that the Republican Party has been waging, especially in Arizona.

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She said that if elected to office, some of her first priorities would be to return state funding to Planned Parenthood, to repeal the law that prohibits abortions after 20 weeks, and to repeal the law that allows religious employers to deny their employees birth control as part of their health care plan.

“Women’s issues have been under attack. What else do you call it?” she said. “It’s a blatant attempt to repress women.”

* * *

Her Democratic running mate, Mohur Sidhwa, agrees.

“I don’t want to fight the battles that I thought I stopped fighting 30 years ago when I came to the States,” she said. “We should never have to fight over women’s health rights.”

* * *

She also wants to work on some of the same legislation that Steele cited, including restoring state funding to Planned Parenthood and repealing some of the contraceptives legislation from the 2012 session.

For women (and men) who are tired of the GOP's war on women, you have two women running for the House in LD 9 who will vigorously advocate on your behalf to keep the government out of your most personal and private decisions regarding reproductive health care. This is a matter between you and your doctor, and your own conscience. E.Orr is just another vote for Cathi Herrod and her culture warriors at the Center for Arizona Policy who want to make your uterus "property of the state."