Cartel wars come to Arizona

Only a week after the Arizona Primaries, Governor Jan Brewer is running ads linking her opponent Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard to Obama, unions, and the “boycott cartel.”

OK, agreed, for some of us, these linkages are reasons to vote for Goddard, but his portrayal in these attack ads is damming. Blog for Arizona has an embedded video, and there is a similar but different radio version airing on 1330AM during the daily John C. Scott political talk show. (Personally, I think the radio ad is stronger than the TV ad.)

Not to be outdone, the Democrats are claiming that Brewer is ensconsed in a “lobbyist cartel.”

In a previous post, I wrote about Brewer’s ties to private prison lobbyists.

But the Democrats’ list of “lobbyist cartel” members in Brewer’s cabinet is impressive– in a bad way, of course. At least now we know where she gets her ideas. 🙂

Press release from the Arizona Democratic Party:

Governor Brewer, cut ties to your lobbyist cartel
As Arizona’s working families struggle through crisis after crisis,
Brewer surrounds herself with special-interest lobbyists who profit

PHOENIX — It’s time for Gov. Jan Brewer to cut ties with her staff of special-interest lobbyists. They, not Brewer, are running the 9th floor, and Arizona is suffering the consequences — we remain dead last in school funding and we lead the pack in job losses and foreclosures.

Brewer’s campaign staff and governing staff are overrun with lobbyists, particularly those with direct ties to prison privatization. Brewer’s lobbyists have been leaders in the efforts to privatize Arizona’s prison system at the expense of public safety. Here’s a quick Who’s Who:

Campaign Manager Chuck Coughlin is a registered lobbyist and president of HighGround Public Affairs Consultants, which has represented Corrections Corporation of America.

Campaign Spokesman Doug Cole is a registered lobbyist for HighGround Public Affairs Consultants.

Governor’s Office Chief of Staff Eileen Klein was a registered lobbyist.

Governor’s Office Communications Director Paul Senseman was a registered lobbyist.

Governor’s Office Deputy Communications Director Mark Genrich is a registered lobbyist.

Governor’s Office Deputy Chief of Staff Richard Bark was a registered lobbyist.

Governor’s Office Policy Adviser Kevin Kinsall was a registered lobbyist.

Today, Brewer and her fellow Republicans on the general-election slate launched a noisy, coordinated assault on Democrats who fight for hard-working Arizonans. Yet Brewer was eerily quiet throughout August as her handlers’ deep ties to private prison lobbyists were exposed in the wake of murderers escaping from a private Kingman prison.

(NOTE to the Dems: nice press release, but it can’t compete with a TV ad. Buy some air time. We need to save this state!)