McCAIN FORCES ARIZONA GOP TO THROW CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE KRIS MAYES UNDER THE BUS

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.

Howard Shanker, who was endorsed yesterday by Arizona's most progressive and most admired member of Congress, Raúl Grijalva, is non-plused by the Republican in-fighting. "It doesn’t really matter who the Republicans run for the seat. Whoever it is, we get another rubber stamp Republican politician pushing for the continuation of policies that have been proven not to work over the past seven years. I am running to represent the people of this District, not some platform that is out of touch with what the people need or want. I will protect working families, champion alternative energy development, defend a women’s right to reproductive choice, and move to end the war in Iraq. No matter who the Republicans run for this seat, the best they can do is business as usual, and we know that the status quo is not acceptable.”

Please consider giving Howard a hand in banishing these Republican losers in another district ripe for change. The Blue America page is open... 24/7, and even contributions of $5 and $10 are very much appreciated.


UPDATE: O!M!G!

Last night I was reading David Brock's Free Ride and... wow!!! The vindictive and vicious old man, who has a long-running feud with the Arizona Republic actually had a reason for making the local GOP throw Kris Mayes under the bus. In 2000 Kris was a political reporter for the Republic and McCain wouldn't even let her on the bus. Brock reported on how national reporters-- who were all up McCain's ass and basically just passing along the p.r. line that was fed to them every day-- were surprised when Kris' little rental car followed the "Straight Talk Express" around the country. Eventually even McCain was too embarrassed and he relented. Apparently, though, he's still holding a grudge, one of the character traits the national media ignores but the Arizona media knows all too well.