Employer Sanctions Opponent Holds Fund Raiser for McCain

Employer Sanctions Opponent Holds Fund Raiser for McCain

By Bob Haran,
American Conservative Republican

If you think Sen. John McCain has finally gotten the message that the people of Arizona want illegal immigration controlled, you might be mistaken.

I came across a invitation to a fundraiser, paid for by "Friends of John McCain," the Arizona senator's campaign committee.

The flyer for the fundraiser says, "Jim Click and Donald Diamond cordially invite you to a Reception with U.S. Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts In support of the reelection of U.S. Senator John McCain."

Now if you don't know who Jim Click is you haven't followed the employer sanctions against hiring undocumented workers issue in Arizona. Jim Click is a Tucson auto dealer and big time campaign contributor who along with; Mac Magruder, James LeVecke, Mary Rose Wilcox and others formed the group, Wake Up Arizona coalition, back in 2007 to oppose any sanctions by the state of Arizona against employers who illegally hire undocumented workers and they vowed to defeat any legislator or candidate that supported employer sanctions.

Russell Pearce was the architect behind Arizona's successful employer sanctions law which has resulted in thousands of illegal aliens leaving Arizona. Pearce was also the target of a very nasty campaign in 2008 to oppose his state senate bid orchestrated by political consultant Nathen Sproul and financed by members of the Wake Up Arizona coalition.

Donald Diamond is a Arizona real estate developer and long time major campaign contributor to McCain with a history of shady real estate deals, see
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/22/us/politics/22diamond.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

If you want to help John McCain and illegal immigration, the fund raiser will be on Saturday, March 6, 2010 at the Arizona Inn at 2200 East Elm in Tucson, VIP Roundtable is only $2,400 per person and the Reception is only $1,000 per person.

I don't think I will attend, hope you don't either.

CRUMP SUPPORTS WISH LIST CANDIDATE FOR SENATE

Sam Crump, the first to announce for retiring Congressmen John Shadegg's seat, before the ink was even dry on Shadegg's announcement, has shown that he is ready for Congress by telling the Precinct Committeemen of Legislative District 6 who to support as a replacement in the Arizona Senate for Pam Gorman, who was to first of the "I Want to be in Congress" legislators to dump her responsibilities to the state of Arizona and resign.

It seems that Mr. Crump doesn't trust the Precinct Committeemen of his own district, who represent the Republicans in District 6, to be capable of deciding for themselves who should represent them in the Arizona Senate. In fact, he doesn't feel that anyone from the District 6 Republican Committee should represent the district.

Mr. Crump has decided that when it comes to representing conservative values and the people of District 6, if you are running for Congress, it's best to support someone who makes campaign contributions. Crump is therefore not supporting one of the District officers, (thank you for your hard work), not supporting a Member of the Republican State Committee, not even supporting a Republican Precinct Committeemen. No, Crump has decided to support someone who is unknown to the district committee, who never attended a district meeting, but she does make campaign contributions so she must be the best qualified, right? Or is that left?

Congressional wannabe Crump, who jumped over the Colorado River from California in 2002 to try his hand at Arizona politics after failing to win election to the California Assembly has decided that the best person to represent District 6 would be a person with very strong Libertarian roots, who supported ,five day Republican, Tony Bouie in 2008. You may remember that Bouie was also supported by the, "Wake Up Arizona Coalition" of greedy business people opposed to employer sanctions and Russell Pearce.

Campaign contributions can tell us a lot about what a person stands for. Take the case of Lori Klein, the person Crump is trying to get the Republicans in District 6 to support. After looking through the Secretary of State's Web Sit www.azsos.gov/ , I discovered that, thou she claims to be pro-life, she contributed to WISH LIST, (Women in the Senate and House), a pro-abortion group of Republican Women. Gee, now we know why Ms. Klein didn't attend the annual Arizona Right to Life March. Libertarians don't believe that the government should stop women from killing their children, only us nasty conservative Republicans want that.

Now, before we lowly grassroots people decide who to support for Congress, maybe the candidates should clarify their position on abortion before they get into that lifetime position we call Congress.

Thinking about it, maybe us grassroots people shouldn't be making decisions, after all, we all at one time supported these people who have no integrity or loyalty to anyone but themselves, who put their personal ambition first and we the people last.

OPEN LETTER To PAM GORMAN With COMMENTARY

Dear Senator Gorman;

You seem to have forgotten whom you work for, please let me remind you, you work for the people of Arizona. I am a citizen of Arizona and a resident of the district you represent in the Arizona Senate, therefore, as a citizen of Arizona and a voter from the your district, you work for me.

Since the majority of the Arizona Senate and the Governor of Arizona are unable to reach an agreement concerning raising the sales tax temporarily by one cent to help close the budget gap and save some services to the people of Arizona and since you and Senator Ron Gould have blocked referral of this question to the ballot, I now want you to allow my fellow citizens and myself to decide this question by the process of a legislative referendum.

Enough is enough, you have made your point, you are against an increase in taxes, however, I really do not care about your making points, your ambition or some pledge you made to get votes, I care about Arizona.

If the governor can trust the people, why can't you?

Bob Haran,
Phoenix

This letter was sent to Senator Gorman via E-Mail on Monday, August 31, 2009.


xxx
COMMENTARY:

I have made this letter to Senator Gorman public in an effort to get her to put the people of Arizona and her party before her own petty ambition, being nice doesn't seem to work with her.

The American Conservative Republican was started because I was seeing too many elected officials and candidates for office putting their ambition and party before God and country and politics before principle. I have seen this in people from both parties and every ideology. That "me first," mentality is hurting America and our state and our party. Pamela Gorman is a good example of the politician who puts their ambition before all else, including the good of the people and her party.

Pam Gorman was first elected only five years ago as a Republican to the Arizona House and moved up to the Arizona Senate in 2006 and at the beginning of this current session she was elected Senate Majority Whip. The position of Whip requires a certain level of party loyalty as it is the Whip's responsibility to make sure the votes are there to advance the position of the party caucus over the position of the opposition party. I'm not someone who demands blind party loyalty against what someone feels is in the publics best interest, we are not tin men without a brain, incapable of making our own decisions, we are human beings and the Republican party is not the Army or a corporation where the troops or employees must follow orders, but we do function as a party by a certain amount of loyalty and cooperation. Gorman seems to be lacking in both loyalty to the Republican party and cooperation with the party leadership.

During the 2008 primary in District 6, Gorman endorsed a candidate for the Republican nomination for the Arizona House who was registered as a Democrat only five days before filing for the position. The person Gorman endorsed was also being funded by the business group, "Wake Up Arizona," who have vowed to defeat any legislator or candidate who supported sanctions against employers for the hiring of illegal aliens. Not only did Gorman endorse, this life long Democrat, she did negative auto-dialer calls against a conservative Republican candidate with firm roots in the party and who supported employer sanctions, our current Representative, Carl Seel. Where was Gorman's Republican party loyalty? During the general election Gorman failed to appear for the Clean Elections candidates forum. Where was Gorman's accountability to the people of District 6?

On March 13, 2009, The Arizona Guardian reported that there was a blow-up in the Arizona Senate between Gorman and Senate President Bob Burns.

Here is what Paul Giblin and Patti Epler of the Guardian reported.

"Some Senate Republicans were mulling the possible removal of GOP Whip Pam Gorman, a day after a blow-up between Senate President Bob Burns and Gorman about the latest budget fix nearly cost Gorman her position.

The true strength of the movement could not be ascertained on Friday, but some members told the Guardian that a vote of no confidence could be called as soon as Tuesday."

The Guardian also quoted a senator who spoke on condition of anonymity as saying, referring to Gorman,
"She has a list of people she's alienated - and it grows daily."

Where was Gorman's cooperation with the party leadership? Can't we Republicans all just get along?

Gorman would later be kicked of the Rules Committee after voting against the Republican leaderships agreement with the governor on a one cent sales tax referral and still later she would resign as Majority Whip.

From 1994-99, I had the honor to serve as chairman of the district Bob Burns represented in the Arizona House, he is very easy to get along with and one of the most responsible and respected elected officials I have known. Bob Burns has always put the state of Arizona before himself.

Gorman has so little trust in the wisdom of the people, she blocked, along with Senator Ron Gould, the opportunity to decide for themselves to temporarily increase the state sales tax by one cent to help protect critical funding for education, public safety and Arizona's most vulnerable citizens such as children and the elderly or not to increase the sales tax.

Gorman's irresponsible actions in the Arizona Senate has called into question the Republican parties ability to govern when they have control of both houses of the legislature and the governors office, is dividing the Arizona GOP at a time when unity is necessary and has given the Democrats great leverage in budget negotiations with the governor, who unlike Gorman, cannot just say no and pass the buck to someone else.

The budget is one area where party members should cooperate with their caucus. Each member of the legislature cannot have their own budget for the state, the best they can get is a budget approved by the majority of their party. If there is cooperation amongst members of the majority party they should be able to get a budget to their liking passed and after negation with the governor, signed into law. If the majority party cannot work together and vote together, the minority party will hold the balance of power and want a budget more to their liking and less to the liking of the majority. 47 of the 53 Republicans in the legislature reached an agreement with the governor on a budget that offers income tax cuts to individuals and corporations in Arizona, which should help stimulate Arizona's economy, in exchange for a referral to the voters of a one cent sales tax increase to capture some that increased spending. The Wall Street Journal praised the agreement, as did many Arizona conservatives and business groups, but Senator Pam Gorman decided that she knows best and those 47 Republicans don't understand. I would like to know what advance degree in Economics Senator Gorman has to think she knows better then the Republican party, the governor, the Wall Street Journal and the voters about public finance? The only people that seem to agree with Gorman, besides Gould, are the no tax, no government, extremist on the lunatic fringe.

The latest I have heard regarding the budget is that Gorman still being stubborn and will not cooperate with Republican leadership to resolve the budget in the GOP's favor.

Gorman acts as if she is a party of one or is she really a Libertarian and Republican in name only. Wherever her political loyalty might be, her performance as an elected officials has been unacceptable. She is doing more harm then good to Arizona and the Republican party. If she is this selfish she should not hold any public office.

For God and country,

Bob Haran,
American Conservative Republican

McCain Hit Man Targets Pullen

Jeff Vath (the one in the picture with breasts), AKA "Fat Boy", has viciously attacked Arizona Republican Party Chairman Randy Pullen in his blog, Political Mafioso.
In a multi-colored, garish post, the McCain sycophant, who has obviously overindulged in the McCain Kool-Aid, goes on a long rant against the Arizona GOP chairman with multi, unfounded accusations and lies.

Vath is a Republican Precinct Committeemen and die hard John McCain worshipper who counts among his friends two time loser for state chairman, Lisa James, and her husband, Wake Up Arizona Coalition member and employer sanctions opponent, Gordon James.

The Wake Up Arizona Coalition is a group that has taken the extreme vow to defeat any legislator or candidate who supports sanctions against employers who illegally hire undocumented workers. Randy Pullen is one of those who supports enforcement of our immigration laws, including employer sanctions.

He also counts among his Republican friends on Facebook, Arizona Corporation Commissioner and former campaign aid and staff member to Democrat Governor Janet Napolitano, Kris Mayes. In addition, the notorious Nathan Spruol, who was the director of a vicious character assassination campaign against Arizona Senator Russell Pearce, the author of Arizona's Employer Sanctions Law is a friend of Vath.

Also listed as a friend of Vath are professional illegal immigrant advocate and hater of Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Daniel Ortega.

Vath also lists among his friends, Democratic-Socialist and self proclaimed bi-sexual, Arizona Representative Kyrstin Sinema, along with Democrats Terry Goddard and Paul Newman, (not the actor - the Arizona politician).

Obviously Jeff Vath is far from being a loyal Republican, in fact, becoming a RINO would be a step up for him.

I don't know where Vath gets his information, the word attribution seems to have no meaning to the overindulgent author of the McCain followers', Political Mafioso.

I don't know why, maybe it's because he's such a blind follower of McCain, but Vath has extreme hostility toward anyone who ever dared to disagree with Arizona's senior senator. It seems as thou Vath would prefer that everyone in the GOP act like sheep and blindly fellow, as he does.

Thankfully, Arizona Republicans are not followers and don't like Kola-Aid, they twice went against McCain and certain members of the GOP congressional delegation and defeated, Ms. James, and elected Randy Pullen as their state chairman.

Unfortunately for the Arizona Republican party, some members of the delegation are like children and when they don't get their way they throw a tantrum. McCain, and therefore his followers, didn't want Pullen and they didn't care what the grassroots of the party wanted, they wanted Pullen out and James in. They didn't get who they wanted as chairman and therefore went to war against the Arizona Republican Party.

This disrespect for the will of the majority of the Republican grassroots in Arizona by McCain and his gang has caused a great deal of friction between the Arizona Republican congressional delegation, with the exception of Trent Franks, and the Arizona Republican Party.

Congressman John Shadegg recently went so far as to first advise people not to get involved with the party because of what he described as poor leadership at the state and county level and then reversed himself and asked that people get involved to turn out the current leadership.

The disagreement between the grassroots, who Pullen represents, and the delegation is centered on the illegal immigration issue. A disconnect has developed between the grassroots of the party and those who have been in Washington too long. The grassroots of the party, and the majority of the people of Arizona, demanded that illegal immigration be controlled and the enforcement of all our immigration laws. Our Washington politicians came back and told us the solution to illegal immigration was a guest worker program and making those here illegally, legally here, but don't call it an amnesty, call it a path to citizenship.

They obviously were more concerned with providing cheap labor for their big dollar campaign contributors and pandering to the growing Hispanic vote, than defending American sovereignty. Our cheap, pandering, Washington politicians put party before country and politics before principle and instead of listening to the people, they told us that we were all racist for opposing illegal immigration.

Interestingly, McCain, members of the Arizona delegation, and many of the elected officials who supported Lisa James for state chairman had also received campaign contributions from members of the anti - employer sanctions group, the Wake Up Arizona Coalition.

Near the end of Vath's long rant against Pullen he writes, "The people of Arizona have lived through this long enough - now Pullen is attempting to bring his brand of the Wild West to D.C. and the RNC. The guy is a liability to the future of the Republican Party."

Randy Pullen is not a liability to the party, he represents the grassroots of the party, he represents the heart and soul of the GOP.

Pullen has worked for party unity from the day he was first elected by the party as their chairman. Pullen loyally supported John McCain, the GOP nominee for president, often being criticized by some in the conservative wing for doing so. In fact, since Pullen became state chairman, I can't remember him ever saying anything negative about McCain.

No, Pullen is not a liability to the future of the Republican Party, U.S. Senators who miss more then half of the votes in the senate may be a liability, overly ambitious Washington politicians who forget that they work for us and not the other way around may be a liability, Republican Members of Congress who attack the party leadership may be a liability, and overstuffed bloggers who viciously attack all who they disagree with may be a liability to the future of the Republican Party, but those that work for unity and represent the Republican grassroots will never be a liability to the future of our party.

For God and country,
Bob Haran,
American Conservative Republican

PS, to those who might object to my reference to Mr. Vath's obesity, I don't care, he has no problem viciously ridiculing others, he does it all the time, he has done it to me, let him have a taste of his own medicine. Jeff Vath is a coward and undeserving of any respect.

Phil Gordon - "SHUT UP"

STACKING THE DECK AGAINST ARPAIO
By Bob Haran

The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, (MCSO), has learned that the office of Congressman John Conyers, Democrat from Michigan, contacted the president of the local NAACP in an attempt to get the civil rights group to bolster the congressman's portrayal of Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his deputies as "racial profilers" during Congressional hearings, according to a press release from the MCSO.


The attempt to portray Arpaio and the MCSO as racial profilers was unsuccessful because the NAACP head had no complaints about the Sheriff or other local law enforcement involving racial profiling, therefore, representatives from the NAACP were not invited to testify at the hearings and neither was Arpaio. In fact, to stack the deck against Arpaio, only critics of Arpaio were invited to testify.


Conyers is the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and recently spearheaded a federal investigation by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Attorney General Eric Holding claiming MCSO deputies are routinely violating the civil rights of Hispanics in Maricopa County.


Yesterday, about forty MCSO deputies gathered in front of Phoenix City Hall to denounce accusations of racial profiling and recent comments from Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon making them seem like a racist sheriff's office of the old south of the 1950's era. They had a message for Gordon and others ignorant of police work, "Shut Up."


Arpaio said, "Conyers' phone call to the NAACP office right before these hearings convened was a blatant attempt to stack the deck against me and this office. It proves how hollow and corrupt this entire process is."



American Conservative Republican comments:


If there is any organization in this country that would be up in arms over racism and racial profiling of anyone, it would be the well respected NAACP.


The fact is that the vast majority of those demanding immigration control and enforcement of our immigration laws are not racist. It's true that some white supremacists have attempted to hitch hike on the illegal immigration issue to advance their own racist agenda, they are a tiny minority however, and they don't speak for the majority of us demanding immigration control and enforcement.


Those opposed to immigration control want to believe that we are all a bunch of ignorant, redneck, racist. But what about those of us who are of Hispanic ancestry, do they hate themselves? Or are they just good American citizens how put their country first ?


When the original Minuteman Project toke place in April 2005 in Cochise County, then Arizona Governor Napolitano and the mainstream media, called us vigilantes and Mexican hunters. The federal government assigned extra Border Patrol Agents, Napolitano sent extra DPS officers, the Mexican government secured their side of the border, and media from all over the world came down hoping to see a bunch of ignorant white guys shooting up the border and every Mexican they could find. They were disappointed to discover that the Minuteman came from all over the country and were for the most part military veterans and former law enforcement and not a bunch of Mexican hating racist.


Those opposed to any enforcement of illegal immigration, wither they be cheap politicians pandering for the growing Hispanic vote (Phil Gordon) or greedy employers profiting from cheap illegal labor (Wake Up Arizona Coalition), they weren't going to let the truth, get in the way, especially when they had no good argument against control and enforcement. With no good case to make against enforcement of our immigration laws, these selfish politicians and business people, resorted to labeling all those supporting enforcement as racist, therefore, the American Conservative Republican joins with the brave sheriff's deputies and says to all who dare to call us racist without any foundation, "SHUT UP."



You can help to make sure that Phil Gordon gets the message by emailing him at phil.gordon@phoenix.gov
with just two little words, "SHUT UP."


For God and Country,

Bob Haran,

American Conservative Republican

Shadegg Hires Lisa James.

Since I've been bloging, this is the hardest post I have had to write about because it involves a long time friend and also a Member of Congress that I have to utmost respect for.

My source for this news comes from my good friend Sean Noble's blog, Noble Thinking, http://noblethinking.com/ , which reports that Lisa James has joined Shadegg's Phoenix office as Deputy Chief of Staff.

Lisa James ran for Chairman of the Arizona Republican Party in 2007 and lost to Randy Pullen by only four votes. She ran again in 2009 for state chairman in a very contentious campaign which came down to Pullen representing the grassroots of the party and power coming from the bottom up and, James representing the establishment and country club Republicans and power coming from the top down with the party telling the grassroots what position to take on the such issues as immigration and employer sanctions. James again lost to Pullen in 2009 but by a much wider margin.

What concerned many GOP activist, including myself, was James connection with the Wake Up Arizona Coalition led by Mac Magruder, the owner of McDonald fast food franchises.

The Wake Up Arizona Coalition was formed in response to the passage in 2007 of Arizona's employer sanctions law against knowingly hiring undocumented workers, the Fair and Legal Employment Act. The coalition vowed to defeat any candidate or legislator who supports employer sanctions. Gordon James, the husband of Lisa James and owner of a public relations firm is a member of the Wake Up Arizona Coalition. Wake Up Arizona has been at the forefront of obstructing enforcement of the employer sanctions law in Arizona through legal challenges, all of which they lost. Since the law was suppose to go into effect in January 2008, no employers have yet been prosecuted for violating it.

In November 2008, Arizona voters soundly defeated a well financed initiative backed by the Wake Up Arizona Coalition, Prop. 202, which was designed to make the Fair and Legal Employment Act impossible to enforce.

Arizona Republican Party Chairman Randy Pullen is a strong supporter of enforcement of our immigration laws, including the Fair and Legal Employment Act.

Both the Maricopa County Republican Committee and the Arizona Republican Party at their most recent meetings have overwhelmingly passed resolutions written and introduced by me that "firmly support sanctions against employers who knowingly hire unauthorized aliens and supports aggressive enforcement of the Arizona Fair and Legal Employment Act."

It would seem that Shadegg has become out of touch with Arizona grassroots Republicans and doesn't understand the depth of feeling in the party over illegal immigration and the need to aggressively enforce sanctions against those employers who illegally hire illegal aliens. A unsecured border and the availability of jobs in America for illegal aliens is the greatest cause of the massive illegal immigration problem we face and Arizona taxpayers have been forced to pay for.

Hiring someone so closely connected as Lisa James is with the Wake Up Arizona Coalition, which has been very much at war with Arizona Republicans, is a slap in the face to grassroots Republicans.

Sean Noble and myself have been friends since we both helped John Shadegg win his GOP primary for Congress in 1994. Sean was Shadegg's campaign manager and I was considered Shadegg's top volunteer, I counted 76 4 x 8 signs I put up for Shadegg in that Campaign. Both Sean and me were very proud of the work we did and proud of Shadegg's performance in Congress. Every time there was a close vote in the U.S. House that went the right way, we felt we had something to do with it by getting Shadegg elected. With the exception of my service as a U.S. Marine, I have always considered having something to do with getting John Shadegg elected to Congress as one of my greatest contributions to my country.

Sean went to Washington with Shadegg and became his Chief of Staff. I was elected Chairman of my district, the old District 17, which is about the same area that is now District 9 and in 2000 I was the GOP nominee for the Arizona House in the old District 20, which was south Glendale and the Alhambra and Maryvale sections of Phoenix.

John Shadegg has been a good conservative Member of Congress and I'm still proud of having had a hand in getting him elected to his first term, however, the hiring of Lisa James is a big political mistake that will only hurt him with Arizona Republicans.

Sean Noble is a good man, good husband and father and a good friend. We have supported opposing candidates in the past but have always remained friends and I know we will not let politics get in the way of our friendship, however, on this issue we seem to be on opposite sides.

Bob Haran,
American Conservative Republican





The members of the Wake Up Arizona Coalition are:

* Mac Magruder, owner of McDonald fast food franchises.

* Ray Arvizu, owner of Arvizu Advertising & Promotions.

* Tom Barnett, owns Good Egg and Eggery restaurants and Burger King franchises.

* Steve Chucri, of the Arizona Restaurant Association.

* Jim Click, a Tucson auto dealer.

*Jerry Colangelo, former owner of the Phoenix Suns and Arizona Diamondbacks.

* Brian Day O'Connor, owner of a commercial real estate firm and a carwash, is the son of former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

* Nicole Dreier, representing Burger King franchises.

* Barry Goldwater Jr. son of the former senator.

* Danny Hendon, owner of Danny's Family Car Washes.

* Steve Hilton, Chief executive, Meritage Homes.

* Gordon James, husband of Lisa James and owner of public relations firm.

* James LeVecke, owns Carl's Jr. franchises.

* Jeff Moorad, general manager, Arizona Diamondbacks.

* Mary Rose Wilcox, Maricopa County supervisor and owner of El Portal restaurant.


Thankfully, people are wide awake to the Wake Up Arizona Coalition.

Employer Sanctions Wins Again

What part of illegal don't these people understand?

The latest attempt by opponents of Arizona's employer sanction law, the Fair and Legal Employment Act, has been defeated, again. Hiring undocumented workers is illegal under federal law. The Arizona law allows the state to pull the license of any business that knowingly hires undocumented workers.

On Monday, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals refused to hear a challenge to the constitutionally of the Arizona law. In September of 2008, the federal appeals court ruled in favor of upholding Arizona's employer sanctions law.

There has been strong opposition to the Arizona law since it was passed by the legislature and signed by former Governor Napolitano in 2007. The law took effect in January of 2008, legal challenges, however, by groups such as the Wake Up Arizona Coalition, have obstructed enforcement and no employers have been prosecuted for violating Arizona's employer sanctions law thus far.

In November, Arizona voters soundly defeated an initiative backed by the Wake Up Arizona Coalition, Prop. 202, which was designed to make Arizona's employer sanctions law impossible to enforce.

In 2007, the Wake Up Arizona Coalition, headed by McDonald's franchise owner, Mac Magruder, vowed to defeat any candidate or legislator who supports employer sanctions.

Lisa James, who is the wife of Wake Up Arizona Coalition member, Gordon C. James, ran for chairman of the Arizona Republican Party and lost to incumbent Randy Pullen in January 2009. Pullen supports employer sanctions and helped to defeat Prop. 202.

The members of the Wake Up Arizona Coalition are:

* Mac Magruder, owner of McDonald fast food franchises.

* Ray Arvizu, owner of Arvizu Advertising & Promotions.

* Tom Barnett, owns Good Egg and Eggery restaurants and Burger King franchises.

* Steve Chucri, of the Arizona Restaurant Association.

* Jim Click, a Tucson auto dealer.

*Jerry Colangelo, former owner of the Phoenix Suns and Arizona Diamondbacks.

* Brian Day O'Connor, owner of a commercial real estate firm and a carwash, is the son of former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

* Nicole Dreier, representing Burger King franchises.

* Barry Goldwater Jr. son of the former senator.

* Danny Hendon, owner of Danny's Family Car Washes.

* Steve Hilton, Chief executive, Meritage Homes.

* Gordon James, husband of Lisa James and owner of public relations firm.

* James LeVecke, owns Carl's Jr. franchises.

* Jeff Moorad, general manager, Arizona Diamondbacks.

* Mary Rose Wilcox, Maricopa County supervisor and owner of El Portal restaurant.

Thankfully, people are wide awake to the Wake Up Arizona Coalition.

Gee, I Wish I Wrote This.

Sometimes we come across a post in another blog that is so good we say, "gee, I wish I wrote that" The ACR felt that the following post was so good that we asked permission of Sonoran Alliance http://sonoranalliance.com/ to reproduce it on American Conservative Republican, which SA kindly did.

By the Sonoran Alliance

Winners and LosersPosted by AZ Insider under Campaigns & Elections , Political Parties[22] Comments


With the GOP Convention finally behind us, its time to take a look at the day’s winners and losers. Before the comments sections asks why Lisa James isn’t listed on either list, we would suggest that it is far too early to judge that. Like almost every campaign, things got a bit rough and Pullen fans might rate her poorly for that. Then again, she handled the outcome with class and James fans (as well as nice Pullen fans) would rate her highly for that. Put those two diverse groups together and you really haven’t settled anything. We suggest that it is the next 12 months that will determine how she is to be rated. If she disappears from the Arizona Republican Party in general, she would be doing poorly. If she followed up on her campaign pledges to get involved, raise money and help the Party win in 2010, she would be doing very well. She didn’t have to win her race to keep most of her promises, and we’re hoping that she does just that. Now, on to the fun stuff.


LOSERS:

Kyl, Shadegg, Flake - If showing up is half the battle, then it was over before it began. On top of that, their candidate lost and staff members for one Congressman in particular were very active in the divisive nature of the race and the attacks on Pullen. How they imagine that will benefit their boss if and when he decides to run for higher office is a mystery. This is two conventions in a row that they have all ended up as a minority in their own party. When do you think the message will sink in?

Dean Martin - In some dramatic plays, the hero of the play is engaged in a fight with an enemy when the cowardly villain sneaks up behind him and stabs him with a long knife. Of course, the hero dies a lot in dramatic plays, so maybe that’s why Dean Martin thought it would work in real life. His speech shocked numerous conservatives who used to think well of him. We say used to, because this bridge was burned down by Martin’s flame-throwing attacks on Pullen. For whatever reason or reward, Martin agreed to take on the roll of attack dog, but came across as childish and petty. In terms Dean should understand, his investment was high-risk, low yield, and has cost him a very pretty penny.

Wake Up! Arizona - Okay, in fairness, it wasn’t just this weekend. These guys have blown millions and gotten their collective butts kicked since last year. The lobbyists, headliners, blogs, cheerleaders, and consultants associated with this effort find themselves wearing a Scarlet Letter within the Republican Party that may not go away for a long time, if ever.

Barry Goldwater Jr. - Want to hurt your reputation and damage your credibility? Spend a couple of days calling the Ron Paul State Committeemen to urge them to vote for Rudy Giuliani’s State Chairman. Sure, we’re quite sure they’ll fall for that, right Barry? From what the RPers were saying, it didn’t get James any votes, but it cost Goldwater more than a few.

Arizona Democrat Party - Janet’s gone, their state party is in disarray, and they’ve just elected a Pima County liberal whose first proclamation is that our taxes are too low.

Kevin DeMenna - The lobbyist bet big, at least with his mouth, against Pullen. After explaining the GOP wins in 2008 as a “blind squirrel tripping over an acorn now and again”, he has to deal with a Party Chairman who appears to be stocking up on acorns. Bad news Kevin, the squirrel can see, he’s hungry, and he’s looking for nuts. Got any?


WINNERS:

Randy Pullen - Okay, that was an easy one. He won his race, and with a U.S. Senate seat and a Governor’s race in 2010, the Congressional delegation cannot afford to pout or withhold support from the State Party anymore. Pullen’s margin was larger than many expected, and he already has the support of most of the County and LD leaders, as well as members of the Legislature. He is in a much stronger position than he was in 2008. And rumor has it that he is the front-runner for the post of RNC Treasurer, which will be a real boon to the Arizona GOP as well.

Trent Franks - He did not take sides in the contest, making him the only House member in the delegation to properly gauge the pulse of the conservative grassroots of the party. His speech was also given very high marks by those in attendance. Plus, these meetings are rare and feature State Committeemen from all over Arizona, and Trent was the only member of the entire delegation who cared enough to show up.

Jan Brewer - Great speech, and she is finally holding Napolitano responsible for the mess that was made over the last six years. The people of Arizona deserve the truth about that and the Arizona GOP will be stronger when people learn that it was our members who were fighting against Janet’s insane budgets.

Brett Mecum - He’s only thirty years old and he’s already the Executive Director of a red-state Republican Party. No, its not the first time its ever happened, but folks in both the Pullen and James camp seemed to have good things to say about this guy and if you can manage to pull that off, during a heated campaign? Well then, you must have some pretty good political skills.

Rob Haney - Up from the ashes, he lost in LD11 only to win higher office as County Chairman of the fourth largest county in the country. Then, his backed candidate won re-election as State Chairman. And the amnesty folks thought Haney was a problem to them before?

Rural GOP Counties - Pullen swept a number of rural counties, from Mohave in the North to Pinal and Cochise in the South. It is likely a result of their seeing Pullen quite a bit more over the last two years than their own Congressional delegation, so its fair to say that Pullen earned it. Still, they were the margin of victory for Pullen and he would be well served to remember that.

J.D. Hayworth - The worse Jeff Flake and his staff did, the better it was for whoever ends up in the primary for Arizona’s next U.S. Senate seat. We’re sure Flake & Company had their reasons for antagonizing the party’s conservative base, but we can’t figure out what it is. The end result is the same though. A louder call for a reliable, conservative alternative, who will listen to the Party. You hear us J.D.? We know you do.

The Arizona Republican Party - Of course, we couldn’t finish without stating the obvious. The theme over the weekend was “unity”, even if not all of the various players were acting that way. Still, the sense among the Committeemen was that unity would prevail when the contest was over and, judging from the numbers of people wearing James stickers that stayed around to wish Randy well, their sense might just be right. Add to that a new Republican governor and an Arizona Democrat Party in disarray, and things are very good indeed for the AZGOP.

Political Mercenary for Hire

Arizona Republican Party Chairman Randy Pullen was re-elected yesterday at the parties Statutory Meeting held at Camelback H.S. in Phoenix. The election was a repeat of 2007 but not as close. Pullen's opponent, political consultant Lisa James, lost by only four votes two years ago. The vote, as I recorded it when announced was Pullen 521, James 475, other final numbers are going around, up or down one or two points either way, but it was clear that Pullen won.

It wasn't just Randy Pullen that won yesterday, it was a great victory for the grassroots of the GOP, which Pullen clearly represented or maybe it would be more accurate to say that James clearly represented the special moneyed interest who hire lobbyist and consultants like her, in this particularly case, the Wake Up Arizona Coalition, which was formed to oppose enforcement of Arizona employer sanctions law against knowingly hiring undocumented workers, which James' husband, Gordon James, is a member.

There are many different characters and types in politics, one type is the mercenary. A mercenary is someone who serves merely for wages, they really have no loyalty except to themselves and the almighty dollar. Of course they would never call themselves mercenaries, they use titles such as lobbyist, political or public relations consultant, government affairs consultant and, some are even politicians, they work for who pays them. This is not to say that everyone with one of those titles is a mercenary, there are some very principled people in politics and some make a living as consultants and even as elected officials. As politics as become more and more like a business however, more and more of the participants are really just mercenaries.

Lisa James is a mercenary, she makes her living as a hired gun, she works for who pays her. If you go to the Arizona Secretary of State's web site, at http://www.azsos.gov/ and search campaign finance, contributors, and go as far back as the web site allows, 1998, you will find that Lisa James has never given a penny to the AZ GOP or any candidate, not in 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, or 2008. She listed running the 2006 AZGOP Victory Program, for which she was paid $100, 000, as a qualification for her as state chairman, but still she wont contribute a single penny to any political candidate or party. Randy Pullen on the other hand has a long history of voluntary political work, for which he was never paid and, making political contributions.

There is another word that political mercenaries use to describe themselves, and that is as professionals and, those of us that are not in it for the money they refer to in a condescending manner as volunteers. Some of the people who are in it for the money I sometimes refer to as the hired help.

Yesterday the grassroots volunteers won and the Arizona GOP didn't slip into the hands of the mercenaries and those that pay them. The Arizona Republican Party still represents the average citizen and not the big money special interest and control of the Republican Party in Arizona is still from the bottom up under the leadership of principled people like Randy Pullen and not from the top down under the control of mercenaries like Lisa James.

Correction- see comments

Lisa James endorsed by Kyl

Senator Jon Kyl has endorsed public relations consultant Lisa James for Chairman of the Arizona Republican Party.

Lisa James lost to Randy Pullen for chairman in 2007 by four votes.

In a press release issued by Gordon C. James Public Relations, Kyl is reported as issuing the following statement: "I support Lisa James for Chairman of the Arizona Republican Party because she will provide the leadership to increase Republican voter registration, raise funds, recruit candidates and execute a successful get out the vote effort."

ARIZONA CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICAN - Opinion

Jon Kyl's support can only help Lisa James, who has a paucity of significant endorsements, but it may further polarize a party already seriously divided over the issue of illegal immigration and sanctions against employers that illegally hire undocumented workers.

What is not being reported by the mainstream media is that Lisa James' husband, Gordon C. James, is a member of Mac Magruder's, Wake Up Arizona Coalition, which has backed legal action to block the Arizona Fair and Legal Employment Act and who have vowed to defeat any candidate or legislator who supports sanctions employers that knowingly hire illegal aliens.

Arizona Republican Party Chairman Randy Pullen, who defeated Lisa James for Chairman in 2007, has long supported immigration enforcement and chaired the successful 2004 ballot initiative, Prop 200, which requires proof of citizenship before an individual may register to vote or apply for public benefits by the state of Arizona.

Pullen also help defeat the 2008 initiative backed by the Wake Up Arizona Coalition, Prop. 202, which would have gutted the Arizona employer sanctions law by making it impossible to enforce.

As state party chairman, Pullen helped make it the official policy of the Republican National Committee that America first secures it's border before pursuing other legislation related to immigration, such as guest worker schemes.

As a Republican president and the party have been experiencing the lowest approval ratings since Watergate, the Arizona GOP, under Pullen's leadership, has increased it's majorities in both the Arizona House and Senate and increased the number of elected Republican Precinct Committeemen statewide from 2,700 to over 3,000.

It's not Pullen's accomplishments as state chairman that matters to those opposed to him however, it's his support for immigration control and specifically his support for employer sanctions for knowingly hiring undocumented workers.

Randy Pullen has done a very good job as state party chairman under some of the worst conditions, including opposition from Arizona's Republican Congressional delegation. He is one of the best state chairman the Arizona GOP has had in a long time and he is popular with the grassroots of the party

Not only does Randy Pullen deserve re-election as state party chairman, he deserves re-election without opposition from our out of touch Congressional delegation, including Jon Kyl.

The Arizona Conservative Republican does not approve of Senator Kyl's decision to endorse Lisa James and further divide the Arizona Republican Party.

Let the greedy business people of the Wake Up Arizona Coalition know that the Arizona Republican party can't be bought with party donations and will not be pressured to support a wrong headed policy that puts profit before country and politics before principle and takes control of the party from the grassroots, keep our chairman as chairman, re-elect Randy Pullen.

Wake Up Arizona Coalition Members:
• Mac Magruder, owns McDonald’s franchises• Ray Arvizu, owns Arvizu Advertising & Promotions, a Hispanic marketing firm• Tom Barnett, owns Good Egg and Eggery restaurants and Burger King franchises• Steve Chucri, president, Arizona Restaurant Association• Jim Click, Tucson car dealer• Jerry Colangelo, former owner, Phoenix Suns and Arizona Diamondbacks• Brian Day O’Connor, owns a commercial real estate firm and a carwash; son of former U.S. Supreme Court justice• Nicole Dreier, representing Burger King franchises• Barry Goldwater Jr., son of former U.S. senator• Danny Hendon, owns Danny’s Family Car Washes• Steve Hilton, chief executive, Meritage Homes• GORDON JAMES, husband of LISA JAMES, owns public relations firm• James LeVecke, owns Carl’s Jr. franchises• Jeff Moorad, general manager, Arizona Diamondbacks• Mary Rose Wilcox, Maricopa County supervisor, owner El Portal restaurant.

AZ GOP Statutory Meeting

The Arizona Republican Party will be holding it's Statutory meeting on Saturday, January 24 at Camelback H. S. in Phoenix. Officers to be elected at the meeting by Republican State Committeemen are, Chairman, First Vice Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, Assistant Treasurer and, Assistant Sergeant at Arms, along with three Members at large from each of Arizona's eight congressional districts.

With the exception of the chairman's position, only one candidate each has expressed an interest in the positions on the state executive committee, they are: for First Vice Chairman, Augustus Shaw IV of Maricopa County; for Secretary, Linda White of Pima County; for Treasurer, Timothy Lee of Pinal County; for Assistant Treasurer, Larry Pickard of Maricopa County and; for Assistant Sergeant at Arms, Buster Johnson of Mohave County. Further nominations for any position may be accepted from the floor at the meeting.

The only position that has two candidates is that of the Arizona Republican Party Chairman. Incumbent Chairman Randy Pullen is being challenged for re-election by political consultant Lisa James, both are from Maricopa County.

Lisa James started her political career working for the Illinois Legislature. In 1988 she was a volunteer for Jack Kemp for President and in 1992 worked on the Bush/Quayle campaign. Many people know Lisa from her work as Arizona director of the Bush/Cheney Arizona Victory 2000 effort.

In 2004 she was chairman of "No Taxpayer Dollars for Politicians," ballot initiative and the Arizona executive director for Bush-Cheney '04. Lisa served as the director of the Arizona Republican Party Victory 2006 campaign and in 2008 she chaired the Giuliani for President campaign in Arizona.

Two years ago Lisa ran for Chairman of the Arizona Republican Party and lost to Randy Pullen by four votes.

Lisa James is married to Gordon James and works together with him at Gordon C. James Public Relations. Gordon James is one of the original members of the "Wake Up Arizona Coalition," a group of business people, led by McDonald's franchise owner Mac Magruder, which includes Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox. The Wake Up Arizona Coalition was organized in response to the passage of the Arizona Fair and Legal Employment Act, which provides sanctions against employers who knowingly hire undocumented workers. This group has backed court action to overturn the law and were defeated and they have vowed to defeat any candidate or legislator who supports sanctions against employers hiring undocumented workers. The laws author, Arizona Senator Russell Pearce, who is a Pullen supporter, told Howard Fisher of the Capitol Media Services that, "These are folks who simply don't want the law enforced," and that the law protects companies that hire only legal U.S. residents from unfair competition and that Magruder and his coalition, "wanted employer amnesty."

Randy Pullen began his career as a high school math teacher and junior college computer programming instructor and later went on to get an MBA in Finance from ASU and worked as an accountant and consultant with Deloitte & Touche, where he became a partner in 1988. Randy is the founder and chairman of Wage Watch, Inc

Pullen was a candidate for Mayor of Phoenix in 1999 and 2003 and campaigned on a platform of fighting crime, reducing city spending and reforming the City of Phoenix immigration policies. He was the Republican National Committeemen from Arizona from 2004 until his election as Arizona Republican Party Chairman in 2007.

Randy has a solid history of opposition to illegal immigration, he was chairman of the 2004 landmark ballot initiative, "Yes on Proposition 200, Protect Arizona Now," which required proof of citizenship before any individual could register to vote or apply for public benefits in Arizona. Despite heavy opposition, voters approved Prop. 200.

Both Lisa James and Randy Pullen have web sites listing their supporters, Lisa at http://www.lisaforchairman.com/ and Randy at
http://www.randyforchair.com/index.html

Randy, who is popular with the parties grassroots, has limited his list of supporters to current members of the Arizona Legislature and current state party officers. Among those endorsing Randy Pullen are: Arizona Senators; Thayer Vershor, Sylvia Allen, Ron Gould, Linda Gray, Jack Harper, Barbara Leff, Al Melvin and Russell Pearce along with Arizona House of Representatives members; Frank Antenori, Cecil Ash, Andy Biggs, Tom Boone, Judy Burges, Steve Court, Sam Crump, Doris Goodale, David Gowan, Nancy McLain, Steve Montenegro, Frank Pratt, Doug Quelland, Carl Seel, David Stevens and, Jerry Weiers. State party officers endorsing Randy Pullen for party chair include; First Vice Chairman Larry Pickard, Second Vice Chairman Bill Bridwell, Third Vice Chairman Parralee Schneider, Party Secretary Linda White, Party Treasurer Timothy Lee, Republican National Committeemen Bruce Ash and, Assistant Party Secretary Marne Haney.

Lisa James seems to have listed all her supporters along with their spouses in some cases. Among those supporting Lisa James are: Arizona Senator Steve Pierce; Arizona House members; Nancy Barto, Rich Crandall, Laurin Hendrix, Bill Konopnicki, Lucy Mason, John McComish, Andy Tobin and, Michele Reagan who was endorsed by Planned Parenthood for the Arizona House. Former legislators endorsing Lisa James include; former Arizona Senate President Tim Bee, former Representatives Cheryl Chase, Laura Knaperek and Barry Wong. Other notables endorsing Lisa James are: former Maricopa County School Superintendent, Dr. Sandra Dowling, Wake Up Arizona Coalition member Barry Goldwater Jr., Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman, Justice of the Peace and former legislator Clancy Jayne, Arizona Chamber of Commerce President and employer sanctions opponent Glenn Hamer.

It has been reported that Arizona Right to Life has reviewed questionnaires completed by both Lisa James and Randy Pullen and found that both candidate's answer's were in-line with the agenda of Arizona Right to Life PAC.

ARIZONA CONSERVATIVE REPULICAN - Opinion/ Endorsement

There is a fight in the Republican Party between those who want the party to be controlled from the top down and those that believes it should be controlled from the grassroots up. Every American political party must be controlled from the grassroots up if it is to represent the interest of the average citizen. Corporations and military units may be controlled from the top down because those at the top have the authority to set policy and to remove or court martial those in the organization who do not comply with upper management, political parties have no such control over their members, not in this country.

For a political party to win election, it must be a bridge between the elected officials in government and the people, the grassroots of the party is the foundation of that bridge, they know the concerns of the people first hand, those in Washington or even at a state capitol may become distant from the average voter and overly influenced by lobbyist and other representatives of special interest who are only concerned with their own best interest and not those of the average voter.

This attempt to control the Republican Party by the Washington establishment has caused a serious divide in the party over the issue of illegal immigration. As the people and the grassroots of the party was demanding that illegal immigration be controlled, the Washington establishment of the party, called for a guest worker program and giving those in the country illegally an opportunity to become citizens, in effect, solve the problem of too many illegal immigrants by making them legal immigrants.

The establishment Republicans forgot that the GOP was not a corporation but is an American political party of free citizens who cannot be told what position to take on any issue. The grassroots of the GOP reflected the views of the vast majority of Americans, that illegal immigration was out of control, and demanded a secure border and enforcement of our immigration laws, but the establishment, country club Republicans weren't listening to the grassroots, they were listening to the demands of the business community to continue the supply of cheap immigrant labor. The top of the party, which sided with the business community, tried to force it's position on the grassroots of the party, who pushed back and demanded illegal immigration control.

This fight for control has divided the party and continues to this day. One side must win and the other acquiesce, if the Republican party is to continue as one of the two major American political parties. If the party establishment wins this fight for control, the grassroots will abandon the GOP and the Republican Party will go the way of the Whigs. As Republicans we cannot allow that to happen.

At the Arizona Republican Party Statutory meeting on January 24, 2009, it is obvious who represents the grassroots of the party and who represents the party establishment. The American Conservative Republican sides with the American people and the grassroots of the GOP and therefore wholeheartedly does hereby endorse retaining Randy Pullen as the Chairman of the Arizona Republican Party.