Two days ago, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that the recall election for Arizona State Senator Russell Pearce can proceed. So there was a lot of interest as Senator Pearce spoke tonight at the Mountain View Tea Party in Mesa, which spans his own legislative district and neighboring LD 19. The room was filled to about quadruple the usual attendance, about half of whom were Tea Party members.
We were braced for some possible fireworks, as we know how the media has portrayed Senator Pearce as a divisive figure and the center of controversy. And so, a couple of police officers were asked to be on hand and special security rules were put into play. But I must say that it appeared to me to be a love-fest from beginning to end. Senator Pearce got a standing ovation when he was introduced and another when he finished. He took a number of questions and comments, and there was not a single antagonistic comment or question. There were no protest signs. Senator Pearce went through his legislative record and an enumeration of various ballot initiatives that he has proposed. What struck me is that they have all been common-sense issues supported by a large number of people, and what seems to make Senator Pearce a lightning rod in the minds of some people is that he has the courage to stand up for these issues.
The ballot initiatives Senator Pearce mentioned were all passed, and by an average percentage of 75% of the vote. Sounds to me like he has been promoting a lot of mainstream stuff.
We also heard a history of the recall effort and the driving force behind it, well-known community agitator Randy Parraz.
And while Senator Pearce enjoys strong support from his district, I do have some fears about the recall effort, which consist of fears for the political naivete of some in the district. Parraz has engineered the election so that Senator Pearce faces another candidate very similar to himself in many respects, but more moderate, and no Democrat is running. The opposition is LDS, just like Senator Pearce, a man with a Boy Scout background and strong ties to the community. And it appears to me that it is a decent man who is being naively manipulated by a devious agitator whose goal is to intimidate others who may have political courage similar to Senator Pearce’s. I am also LDS, and I can understand the appeal of the opposing candidate to LDS people.
It’s a carefully crafted, slithery, devious plan. I hope the people aren’t fooled. This election isn’t about selecting the most qualified senator from the district – not at all. It’s about punishing political courage. Members of LD 18, if you don’t vote to retain Senator Pearce until the next regularly scheduled election, you are sending a message of intimidation to every honorable, courageous politician in the state. There will be other opportunities for Senator Pearce’s opponent to serve without having to go along with this scheme.
Biggest hypocrite ever… Vote Lewis. He the only one in the race that can answer in the affirmative the question, “Are you honest in all of your dealings with your fellow man.” For Russell and Olive Carter, the devious ends justify the means. LDS should be ashamed to associate with political slobs like them.
Comment by David Hall,
An interesting comment, Matt. I post it unedited because, with its name calling, it is an excellent illustration of the opposition to Senator Pearce.
This also illustrates what I mean by political naivete. A most honorable and honest man like Senator Pearce stands up for what he believes, and the establishment media, threatened by his political courage, give legs to all sorts of charges against him, which his political enemies are only too eager to levy. And so our system tends to weed out those people of principle, and at the higher levels of government we end up with politicians who are easy to intimidate. Our republic is threatened precisely because people like you, Matt, haven’t figured out that the establishment media targets and besmirches those who oppose its agenda, and you’re best off seeking other sources of information.
Senator Pearce, at this meeting, gave a full and extremely credible explanation of all of his dealings with the Fiesta Bowl people, as well as with Olive Carter. I would suggest that any who are inclined to believe what has been said about him do the honorable and proper thing and hear him out on the matter before condemning him. I just finished reading the account of the apostle Paul and the accusations with which he was charged when he was imprisoned. It’s interesting to note that Porcius Festus, the procurator of Judea, stated, “It is not the manner of the Romans to deliver any man to die, before that he which is accused have the accusers face to face, and have licence to answer for himself concerning the crime laid against him.” I would commend this advice to you, Matt, in this situation. Otherwise, you make yourself susceptible to all sorts of erroneous judgments against good people.
Editor, You should not let stand the blatant rip-off of Matt Tolman in the first comment. A pseudonym is fine. Trying to fool other readers by using a nearly identical name to a prominent person in this story is very wrong. Please make a correction to the name in comment one. I for one was under the wrong impression Matt turned on Sen. Pearce until I read it again. Thanks.
Comment by David Hall:
I was not aware who Matt Tolman was until I got your comment and then looked that up. I am in LD 19 myself, which makes me an outsider in these things. The commenter identified himself as Matt Trollman. That is really funny. I’m going to stick with posting what he said and the name he gave me. If the name is indeed a joke, I think that helps in evaluating the worthiness of the comment. For those who don’t know, Matt Tolman is the chairman of the Citizens Who Oppose the Pearce Recall.