Democratic Diva

Completely random debate post

26 Sep 2008 10:40 pm
Posted by: Donna

Okay, I didn’t see that debate. I was in South Tempe, watching the LD20 Clean Elections Debate. Which bears little resemblence to a debate, even the watered-down soundbite format that constitutes the Presidential ones nowadays. It’s a forum, where each candidate gets 2 minutes to answer the same question. Typically, the moderators are careful to select the most inoffensive ones and there are strict rules about not directing queries to specific candidates. No fun at all. LD20′s was a tame and collegial affair, with the 2 Senate candidates and 3 House ones agreeing more than they disagreed.

Probably the most salient takeaway for me was that Republican Jeff Dial (bless his cotton socks for he’s an amiable and earnest fellow) was clearly channeling his inner Sarah Palin this evening. Policy details are not his forte, as was evident in the way he spoke in awkward generalities and homilies. Nor is the English language, as he debuted a new word, “inexpensible”, to describe stuff that costs too much to the state budget. Incumbent Rep John McComish (R) had his own inadvisable rhetorical moment when he avered that he is “a uniter, not a divider” in the Arizona Legislature. Hmm…

Ted Maish and Rae Waters, our two Dems, did very well. They struck all the right notes on education, taxation, immigration, and the Loop 202 extension issue. They were relaxed and confident as they touted their decades of work in the community and expertise in education. Ted was a teacher for 30 years and Rae has been on the Kyrene School Board for 10 years. Rae pointed out how the entire Kyrene Board (including the member who led a recall against her in 2006) are supporting her.

While I was watching that debate, I was keeping an eye on my laptop to see what the blogs were saying about the other one. According to the blogs, McCain was making at lot of noise about his opposition to earmarks.

He’s agin’ em!

He’s a veritable Maginot line against the squandering of tax dollars on bridges to nowhere and seal DNA studies!

He’s going to veto the shiznit out of any earmark that passes his desk! Rawwrr!!

But here’s a quick, visual tutorial of why our Senator’s stalwart stance against earmarks, as it relates to his mavericky-ness and differentiating himself from George W. Bush is a bunch of bunkum:

Get it? Got it. Good. Copy and save this graph in your repertoire. It’s from Brad Delong. The post I linked to is an excellent resource to compare the economic performance of Democratic Presidents to Republicans. Also, be sure to let your GOP friends know that spending on the Iraq war isn’t even included on that chart. That’s $10 billion per month. Earmarks are $18 billion a year. John McCain looks like even more of a jerk for shafting Arizona out of our fair share of appropriations all these years. Plus, he wants more tax cuts to the rich that will cost us trillions.

Have a nice evening!