Choosing a County Attorney candidate is turning out to be like dating
Posted by: Donna
I’m blogging from the Maricopa County Democratic Party Convention right now. The statewide and countywide candidates were all given a chance to speak. They were supposed to only take 3 minutes each, but being politicians, the time is measured in dog years so it took over an hour an hour and a half to get through three Corp Comm, four County Supervisor, a County Sheriff, and two County Attorney candidates.
The latter were Tim Nelson and Gerald Richard. Their primary contest is attracting quite a bit of notice for two reasons: First, they are both stellar candidates. Second, the incumbent Republican Andrew Thomas, is an incompetent assclown. I’m no legal expert by any means, but I am the daughter of a criminal defense attorney and I can tell you that a 40% acquittal rate is indicative of an astonishing level of prosecutorial ineptitude. That’s Candy Andy’s success rate. My dad probably pleaded out 95% of his clients when he was practicing in D.C. back in the 80s. That’s the norm. Public defenders in Arizona, on the other hand, are regularly getting indigent defendents off the hook. There are reasons for that having to do with Thomas’ profoundly dumb plea bargain policies but it’s also a sign that the Maricopa County Attorney’s office may be prosecuting innocent people or letting guilty ones go free.
That said, Nelson and Richard both offer refreshing alternatives. I’ve seen both of them speak many times and I do hate to resort to a cheesy female relationship analogy, given my kneejerk aversion to most things deemed “chick”. But I can’t help myself and the input I’ve gotten from other Dems, especially women, echoes my own sentiments.
So here it is: Tim Nelson is youthful, clean-cut, earnest, and has an impressive resume. He’s the Dem establishment guy. He’s got the Governor behind him (he was her General Counsel) and the big donors. When he speaks he likes to emphasize that last point. It makes sense because it will take a lot of cash to defeat Thomas and Nelson has been raising crazy money the past few months.
When Gerald Richard speaks, it’s with a fiery Baptist preacher-style oratory. He boasts of more than three decades of hardscrabble law enforcement experience. He claims to have had a contract out on his life by a gang member. He also exudes the kind of alpha male charisma that makes a gal all swoony.
Which brings me to my dating analogy*: Tim Nelson is the nice fellow with good prospects that your mom wants to fix you up with. Gerald Richard is the bad ass who will stomp the sh*t out of anyone who messes with you. I’m going with my heart on this. I’m in love with Gerald right now but if the primary ends our relationship in September, I will marry Tim.
Donna
*It’s a highly imperfect analogy. Gerald Richard happens to be a very devoted family man who has had a successful career and Tim Nelson has shown toughness and tenacity as an attorney on numerous occasions. This is emotional not logical.
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