This is the largest lead of the campaign season yet.  It also show Senator Obama gathering strength with moderates and independent voters.

Washington Post / ABC News Poll, July 16th 2008

Sen. Barack Obama holds his biggest advantage of the presidential campaign as the candidate best prepared to fix the nation’s ailing economy, but lingering concerns about his readiness to handle international crises are keeping the race competitive, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

Overall, the Democrat has a lead of 50 percent to 42 percent over Republican Sen. John McCain among registered voters nationwide, lifted by a big edge among women, and he has also regained an edge among political independents. But it is Obama’s 19-point lead on the economy that has become a particularly steep challenge for McCain.

Economic concerns continue to eclipse other issues, with half the country saying the economy will be “extremely important” to their vote. Gasoline and energy prices, which voters rarely mentioned at the start of the year, come in just behind. The Iraq war, which was again the subject of direct engagement between Obama and McCain yesterday, ranks third. A cluster of domestic issues, including education, health care and Social Security, ranked behind the war, as did the issue of terrorism.

Obama continues to hold an edge over McCain on many domestic policy areas.

The campaign is playing out against the backdrop of a leadership crisis in Washington, with Americans remaining in a generally sour mood about their representatives in the nation’s capital. In the new survey, President Bush’s overall approval rating hit another record low in Post-ABC polling: Twenty-eight percent said they approve of the way he is handling his job, while 69 percent disapprove, including 56 percent who strongly disapprove.  Click here to read more at the Washington Post.  Here is some poll commentary from ABC News.

AuditAZ, a non-partisan election integrity group has alleged that evidence and circumstances seem to indicate the possibility that the 2006 RTA election was rigged by Pima County election officials.  Chairman of the Pima Supervisors, Richard Elias says the facts seem to indicate that a re-count of the original ballots is needed.

Fox 11 Arizona, July 9th, 2008

By Deanna Morgan, Fox 11 News

It’s one of the basic elements of democracy: the people vote. But some people are now saying that two years ago, your vote on one local issue didn’t count as you intended.

The allegations are serious, involving the vote counting after the 2006 election which authorized the Regional Transportation Authority. It increased the sales tax by a half-cent, but members of the Pima County Democratic Party allege they have evidence that proves the RTA plan never passed.

“We have credible evidence from the mouth of the computer operator who said that he rigged it,” says Bill Risner, the lead attorney in the case. The only evidence is an affidavit, a statement from a man who says the computer operator of the Pima County Elections Division told him at a bar on First Avenue he, quote, “fixed” the RTA election because his bosses told him to.

About 120,000 ballots are sitting in the treasurer’s office that could be destroyed, but the Chairman of the Board of Supervisors says the County would be happy to recount them. “They are the ultimate evidence, and I think they should be counted,” says Pima County Supervisor Richard Elias.   Click here to read more at Fox11 Television.

We have added a couple of links onto the right side of our page screen; we hope you will find them useful.

For some time we have included a link to the Arizona Democratic Party to encourage you to contribute to the state party organization. Now we have added a link to the national Barack Obama campaign website as well.

But our newest icon, needs a bit of description. The image transfers certain data from the Electoral-Vote.com website so that you can keep track of their latest postings. Electoral-vote.com is a site that keeps track of the latest polling information on a state by state basis. They track the latest polling information and categorize states as Democrat or Republican, Likely or Leaning. In this way they as polling information builds up, it is possible to whether or not a particular state is likely to vote for the Republican or for the Democrat. By adding up this information, they make predictions on political outcomes.

As we write this post, the website predicts that Barack Obama will get 317 electoral votes to only 194 for John McCain. Since 270 votes are needed to win, this prediction is that Barack Obama will be the next President. For the United States Senate they predict that the Democrats will, after the November election, hold a 56 to 44 advantage, a pick up of five new Senate seats. Please note that this website counts Joe Leiberman as a Democrat even if most of us think otherwise.

As we get closer to the election and more polling data becomes available, this website will make a prediction for the House of Representatives. But for now, they are merely showing the current makeup of the House. I have seen “guess-timates” of a possible Democratic gain of 20 or more new seats.

McCain now fears that he could lose Arizona in November because of anti-McCain attitudes of the Neo-Conservative wing of the Arizona Republican Party. In a press briefing, Rick Davis, McCain’s campaign manager, did not include Arizona as one of the 17 “historically Republican states” — though Arizona has voted Republican in every presidential election but one since 1952. The omission signals that McCain believes that Arizona voters may well opt for Barack Obama.

Washington Independent, June 10th 2008

PHOENIX–Sen. John McCain’s big struggle to energize a suspicious conservative Republican base and attract crucial independent voters is a national fight that encompasses his home state of Arizona. Despite representing the state in Congress for 26 years, McCain is now confronting a resurgent state Democratic Party and a burgeoning number of unpredictable independent voters.

While Arizona Republicans are bogged down with nasty infighting and a slumping number of registered voters, Arizona Democrats are gaining voters daily. Powered by Sen. Barack Obama’s voter registration drive, Democratic voter registration is up 2.8 percent in the last year and Democrats are poised to gain control of a majority of the state’s House congressional delegation for the first time in decades. {In the past year alone, Democrats have registered 60,000 more voters than the Republicans.}

The biggest shift in the Arizona political landscape has been in the number of voters registering as independents — up 7.6 percent in the last year. Arizona is now essentially a tri-party state — Republicans make up 38 percent of registered voters; Democrats, 34 percent, and independents, 27 percent. Securing a plurality of independents will be crucial to the presidential race here and Obama has the early edge. Without the enthusiastic support of rank-and-file Republicans, McCain could face a desert dogfight that could wind up costing him the White House in a close contest.

Click here to read more in the Washington Independent.

Originally this fundraiser was scheduled for the Phoenix Convention center; but McCain wasn’t able to sell enough tickets and the event has been moved to the home of Jack Londen at the Biltmore, a private home in a gated community (2400 East Missouri Avenue). The event is “secret” and the press are specifically excluded. But the secret is out and protesters will be trying to make their feelings known.

George Bush is eager to hit the campaign trail to work make John McCain into his successor. For his part, John McCain and his lobbyist backers are eager to embrace the money aspects of politics that have made Republicans so popular all across the country.

Arizona Republic, May 27th

John McCain will bring his presidential campaign to town today, accompanied by the man he hopes to succeed.

President Bush will attend a private fundraiser for McCain at a home in Phoenix.

The White Hours said it is the president’s first campaign appearance with McCain since endorsing the Arizona senator in March. In a related story, George is reportedly eager to get out on the campaign trail himself this fall.

Bush also will stop at Silverado Cable Co., a small business in Mesa, where he will talk about the economy.

The fundraiser had been planned for the Phoenix Convention Center, but the site was changed. The Democratic Party said it will continue with planned protests there.

“This visit is a remarkable opportunity to show the rest of the country that John McCain will cozy up to anyone, even the most unpopular president in history, if he thinks it will get him one step closer to the White House,” state Democratic Party Director Maria Weeg said in a letter to supporters.

Bush Hits the 2008 Campaign Trail for John McCain

McCain says he wants help from George Bush

Reuters News, May 27th

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush has made it clear he is excited to get out on the campaign trail this election year to help Republicans keep the White House and retake Congress — but do they want his help?

Republican presidential hopeful John McCain has said he wants help from Bush, who can haul in enormous campaign cash. But McCain has walked a fine line with the unpopular Bush, backing the president on the Iraq war while bucking him on how to address climate change.

Bush will kick off raising money for McCain on Tuesday and Wednesday at three events in Arizona and Utah, but they will only be together at one and it will be out of the public eye. That has raised questions about whether Bush helps or hurts the Arizona senator.

“On the one hand (Republicans) want to keep their distance from the president in order to avoid being cast as a third Bush term, yet at the same time they need to tap into the fund-raising capacity of the president,” said Anthony Corrado, a professor of government at Colby College in Maine.

The Reuters/Zogby poll last week found Bush’s approval rating had fallen 4 percentage points to 23 percent, a record low for pollster John Zogby.

In a time-honored practice by presidents on the trail, Bush has scheduled non-campaign events on his three-day, five-state trip, which helps defray the enormous costs of hosting the presidential entourage for which candidates must pay.

Despite wrapping up the Republican nomination, McCain has lagged his Democratic rivals in raising money even though they have not finished their contest. McCain raised $18.5 million in April while New York Sen. Hillary Clinton pulled in $21 million and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama attracted $30.7 million. Click here to read more about Bush / McCain.

But there is trouble in Paradise! Poor Ticket Sales are Reported and the Event has been moved to a undisclosed home. Meanwhile lots of demonstrators are hoping to attend.

Bush to Raise Money for his man!

Unpopular President - Popular Republican Pastime

The Washington Post, May 24th

President Bush is hitting the fundraising circuit for Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the White House announced yesterday. The president will be featured at three McCain campaign fund-raisers in Arizona and Utah next week. The events will be secret and closed to the media, but the White House told reporters that there could be a joint public appearance.

“President Bush is fully committed, 100 percent committed, to making sure that John McCain is elected to be the next president of the United States of America,” spokeswoman Dana Perino said.

McCain has been walking a fine line between receiving fundraising and other assistance from the president and not appearing too close to the unpopular Bush. This will be the first time the two have appeared together since March 5, when the Arizona senator came to the White House for a formal presidential endorsement.

Meanwhile Nobody’s Buying Any Tickets; McSame and Bush Move Event to “More Intimate” Venue

Poor ticket sales, expected protests scuttle Bush-McCain fundraiser at Phoenix Convention Center; It is Being Moved to a private, undisclosed living room in the Pheonix area.

From the Pheonix Business Journal
May 23rd, 2008

A Tuesday fundraiser headlined by President Bush for U.S. Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaign is being moved out of the Phoenix Convention Center.

Sources familiar with the situation said the Bush-McCain event was not selling enough tickets to fill the Convention Center space, and that there were concerns about more anti-war protesters showing up outside the venue than attending the fundraiser inside.

Another source said there were concerns about the media covering the event. They certainly don’t want pictures of Bush and McCain on the front pages again!

Bush’s Arizona fundraising effort for McCain is being moved to private residences in the Phoenix area. A White House official said the event was being moved because the McCain campaign prefers private fundraisers and it is Bush administration policy to have events in public venues open to the media. The White House official said to reconcile that the Tuesday event will be held at a private venue and not the Convention Center.

Convention Center personnel confirmed the event has been canceled at their venue.

Tickets to the event were to range from $1,000 to $25,000 for VIP treatment. Money was to go toward McCain’s presidential bid and a number of Republican Party organs.

Anti-war protesters were planning to be out in force. President Bush’s job approval rating stands at 31 percent, according to RealClearPolitics.com.

The McCain campaign referred questions on the fundraiser change to the White House press office.

Superior Court Judge Michael Miller orders Pima County Supervisors to release ALL past and future election data files to the Pima County Democrats (and indeed all political parties). This is a HUGE victory for election integrity.

Breaking News:

Pima County Democrats have prevailed in their suit against Pima County Board of Supervisors!

Judge Michael Miller of the Pima County Superior Court has just issued his ruling granting the Pima County Democratic Party’s request that ALL election data files, including future elections, shall be disclosed no later than the recording of the official canvass and declaration of the election results. This means that the Diebold database files held in trust’s vault are to be released. We are informed that these go back to 1998 and this data will be available for critical analysis to perhaps determine whether or not, certain elections have been tampered with.

In addition, of course, this means that future elections will be subject to timely disclosure meaning that both political parties, Democrats and Republicans alike, may subject these files to intensive computer based analysis for the purpose of detecting potential election fraud carried out against electronic voting machines and or scanned paper ballots.

No doubt, given the vigor with which Pima County Supervisors have fought against these disclosures, they will appeal to the Arizona State Supreme Court. They may even try to take this to federal court.

This is a landmark ruling that may well be the first such ruling in the nation. Congratulations Pima County Democrats! Wonderful news! If this ruling stands and spreads to other states, Democrats can fight back against election tampering such as was seen in the last Presidential election in such places as Ohio and Florida.

The Tucson Citizen is the first Tucson paper to put out this breaking story.

Judge orders county to release election databases to Democrats

GARRY DUFFY
Tucson Citizen

Pima County failed to prove its contention that the release of all electronic election databases to the Pima County Democratic Party would jeopardize the integrity of future elections and must release those computer records from past and future elections, a Superior Court judge has ruled.

Judge Michael Miller late Friday morning issued his under advisement ruling declaring that the interests of the state and public outweighed unproven vote security concerns voiced by county attorneys and witnesses.

“All existing electronic databases must be disclosed,” the judge ruled.

Judge Miller did not grant a new trial in the matter, as sought by attorneys by the Pima County Democratic Party. But his ruling amended a previous one in December 2007 that limited the database release to the primary and general elections of 2006. Click here to read the story in the Tucson Citizen.

TPM Muckraker, Greg Sargent, May 8th, 2008

Uncommitted Super-delegates Meet With Obama with Brad Miller switching.  But Gabrielle Giffords does not announce a choice.  According to C. J. Karamargin, her spokesperson, “For the forseeable future, the Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords will remain uncommitted.  Click here to read more at TPM.

This item is from “Down With Tyranny”, a Progressive Democratic Blog Site

Down With Tyranny, April 4th 2008

One of the many red seats the GOP is desperately trying to hold onto is that of indicted criminal Rick Renzi (R-AZ) who is retiring from Congress– and public life– and is likely to be facing as many as 30 years in prison for too many charges to list here. He has already stepped down as co-chairman of the Double Talk Express. Howard Shanker, the Blue America-endorsed candidate for the seat Renzi is abandoning is doing very well and my contacts in Arizona tell me that McCain has gone ape-shit and demanded the local GOP deep six their weak and hopeless candidate, Kris Mayes, and stick in a GOP good ole boy in her place.

The local GOP didn’t have much to chose from; it was either Hayes, who is an Arizona Corporation Commissioner with little to offer but who hasn’t been arrested or involved in any major criminal activities, or a certifiably insane wingnut– and political semi-enemy of McCain’s– Sydney Hay. McCain’s infamous volatile temper exploded and he started screaming he doesn’t want any Hays or Mayes running for that seat and he demanded that local Republicans get former state Senate President, Ken Bennett, into the race. Bennett, like Hay, is a fanatic right wing kook but he has worse problems that have kept him out of the race. His son Clifton “confessed to police that he… sodomized the 11 to 14-year-old boys with broomsticks and flashlights in at least 40 incidents, court documents show.” Rumors have been rampant that his father, the then would-be congressman, got him off the hook. McCain says no one gives a damn about the broomsticks and demands Bennett get back into the race. McCain’s pal, Jim Click, a Tucson car dealer who is the Daddy Warbucks of the Arizona GOP, is also pushing for Bennett. Click and McCain may not care about “broomsticks” but the victims and their families are still furious. Zachary Motcheck, 13, the first to report the assaults to authorities, was angry when Bennett’s kid got off with a slap on the wrist. “I think it’s pretty stupid. “It’s unfair, and it’s just because Bennett’s dad is a senator… What they did was wrong, and they both deserved more jail time.” Although the county prosecutors had asked for 3 months in jail for the assault, the judge overruled them and gave Bennett’s kid 30 days.

McCain, who has his own set of lobbyist and corruption problems to deal with, is unconcerned with Bennett’s ethical problems. In 2004, Bennett sponsored legislation that would have allowed his family’s oil firm, Bennett Oil, to claim money from the State Assurance Fund for the cleanup of underground fuel leaks. The state had already paid Bennett Oil Co. $336,000 from the State Assurance Fund to help with cleanups. The fund was fed by a penny tax on every gallon of gas sold in Arizona. The bill would have required that the state pay even if the cleanup was covered by the oil company’s insurance. The bill would have reversed a court decision against Bennett’s company and ordered the state to pay instead.

Meanwhile, former Arizona Congressman Matt Salmon and Malcolm Barrett, chairman of the National Propane Gas Association, and a Prescott native like Mayes, have pledged their support for Mayes’ run. Barrett will serve as her finance chairman. This puts them at major loggerheads with McCain– who likes to think of himself as the king of Arizona Republicans.  Click here to read more of this story at Down With Tyranny.

This story is courtesy David Safier at Blog For Arizona.  Thanks David

It takes guts to be a whistleblower. The more stories you read about retaliation by their superiors and the disruptions in their lives, the more you have to admire these people’s courage at the same time you question their sanity.

In this case, the former ELL coordinator in Florence (about 50 miles north of Tucson, if you’re geographically challenged like I am) was fired because she participated in a complaint to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights “alleging that students and parents with limited English skills were not being accommodated as required by federal law in the Florence school district. That complaint resulted in an agreement for corrective action between the OCR and the district a year ago.”

Federal investigators decided her firing was retaliation for her whistleblowing and awarded her $57,519 in back pay and benefits. The District had even stopped her health insurance prematurely without her knowledge, revealing how vile they were.

It’s a long, involved tale well worth a read. Apparently the Superintendent was against the firing and went on leave as a result. The minutes of the closed-door session when the dust-up occurred are missing, for some reason, and the Board members dispute the Superintendent’s account, though the OCR accepted it as credible.

Check out this typical, “Shut up if you know what’s good for you” behavior:

On June 15, 2006, the whistleblower was given a “letter of direction” telling her to make no written statements concluding that the district was in violation of the law. She was directed to bring her concerns to the attention of administrators through the proper channels. She was prohibited from addressing the School Board directly.

It’s a classic case of whistleblower retaliation, and in this case, it sounds like the good guys were vindicated. The whistleblower, whose name is not mentioned in the article, is beginning a new job in another Arizona District. Let’s hope she keeps fighting the good fight, in a district willing to listen. Click here to read more in the Casa Grande Dispatch.  We will be reporting more on this story.