Stylitics - The Lifestyle of a Political Hack

Winning The Case for Cool

2009-05-14T21:06:00.002-07:00

Without all the frills of a downtown bar or even the convenient location, Magnums Cigar, Wine, and Liquor Emporium is becoming one of Phoenix's hottest hang-outs. The bar, a traditional setting boasting oak with marble inset tables and bar tops, spares no expense to achieve a comfortable and designer setting.

On top of comfort the bar is pleasing to the eye. Incredible artwork and designer posters appropriately line the walls. However, walking into the bar itself present a religious experience for liquor lovers of all kinds. Stocked with micro-brews from all over the world, a respectable gallery of wine, and a shelved bar back full of traditional and exotic liquors no patron will go thirsty.

Without question, the bar staff rivals the best of the best (think Durant's) and ensures a pleasant experience. After just one trip to the bar a return visit was met with a memory of my first visit and a nearly accurate guess at my favorite drink (grey goose martini, dirty, on the rocks).

Enough about the bar, you'll have to check it out to see the rest. Walking into Magnum's you would never know the swanky outfit you are about to enjoy as it is located in a strip mall at 7th street and Union Hills (SE Corner). Upon entrance you recognize the passion with which owner, Amar Patel, approaches his work. A beautifully stocked wine and liquor inventory presents the patron with their regular everyday choice spirits among others for special occasions.

Then, after a quick glance around the place you notice IT, the humidor. Your first visit requires a tour from one of the very capable staff. If Amar is there, ask him to talk you through the many selections offered in his meticulously stocked humidor.

Now you are certainly wondering, what the hell does this have to do with politics? Easy enough to explain, you see, Amar found a loophole in the no-smoking policy set by the ballot initiative a couple years ago. The no-smoking policy is not applicable to businesses reporting more than 50% of its sales are made up by the sale of tobacco and tobacco accessories. By combining two other tobacco-only locations in an LLC Amar was able to establish that his business, which also just so happens to be a bar, meets the 50% threshold.

What does all this mean? Smoking cigars and cigarettes is allowed in Magnum's, the only bar of its kind in all of Arizona.

Democratic Firing Squad

2009-05-14T11:44:00.002-07:00

Over the years I've been involved in Democratic politics and, by proximity, involved with the Arizona Democratic Party. I have never been very impressed with its organization of work or ability to prioritize the work of a state Party. The "work" is not too hard to identify: candidate recruitment, beat up Republicans being targeted for the next election, and set up a coordinated campaign. Clearly we're not talking about an exact science here.

However, the Party's structure is delivering a difficult mechanism for decision making and now is becoming responsible for inaction. The state's economy, a Republican leadership willing to make massive cuts to education in the face of polling that says voters will punish them, and endless material for attacks all offer the party the opportunity to damage Republicans seeking re-election next November. Their inaction is a disservice to the state and to the many Arizona voters that call themselves Democrats.

Now, I am not a Democrat and haven't been for around 4 years. I registered "No Party Designated" a number of years ago so that I'd begin receiving mailers from candidates and initiatives seeking to win over the "Independent" vote. Being a young, white male makes me the target of many conservative campaigns. This gives me little room to complain about a Party that I do not belong to and by design am not able to officially influence.

On the other hand, maybe I do have a right to complain a bit about their inability to leverage this situation into big 2010 gains. The Democratic Party not only has the responsibility for supporting candidates whose ideals align with the Party's platform but also to advocate for voter approval of that platform. That means an Independent like me (and 28% of voters in Arizona) are becoming the Party of Persuasion. Those with the best and most consistent message will get our votes.

Without exception, I have never identified with any relevant parts of the Republican Party though they are reaching out to me consistently. This shines a spot-light on the major gap between the message delivery necessary to win over left leaning Independent voters in the next election and the necessity to turn these low efficacy voters out to vote at a high rate in next year's General Election.

No New Tax Pledge -- Sort of...

2009-05-13T14:25:00.002-07:00

Childish games of a legislature filled with incompetent leaders has been the cause of incredible discomfort for many communities in Arizona. Today, their actions to sweep funds from school districts who have wisely put away extra cash for tough economic times marks just their next disrespectful act. This legally allowable savings account was responsible for saving jobs and providing resources for students when the very same folks cut school district budgets by millions earlier this year.

Here's the problem for the Republicans that voted with their Party "Leadership" on the legislation; this action will increase property taxes for homeowners. That's right, the folks who took the "No New Tax Pledge" earlier this year have now just violated their oath by passing this law.

Here's how it works: Districts go to the voters to increase property taxes to pay for buildings, new technology, and even higher salaries for employees. When the voters approve these taxes sometimes the district gets more cash than they are constitutionally allowed to spend and they save it for the next year just in case the legislature cuts their budget. If the legislature doesn't cut their budget the money has to be returned to homeowners through a percentage reduction to their tax rate. Guess who's not getting that reduction this year? That's right, you got...you!!!

Now, you know me, I am all for good old fasioned tax increases that fund state government services. I understand their importance in our society and recognize my responsibility to pay taxes for the greater good. But, this sort of under-handed, back-door taxation will leave voters puzzled as to how their property taxes were increased without any notification.

If these legislators don't mind increasing taxes I've got a few I'd like to suggest. How about rolling back tax breaks for corporations who don't employ any Arizona workers? What about rolling back 10% income tax breaks for wealthy Arizonans earning more than $250K per year? And, how about taxing luxuries such as pet grooming and cart fees at your local golf course? These together could increase state revenue by nearly $2 billion.

Go to www.arizonabudgetcoalition.org to learn more about other options to solve the state's deficit.

Hundreds of Teachers to Rally in Deer Valley and Mesa

2009-05-12T11:52:00.003-07:00

All across the state of Arizona teachers, support staff, and administrators alike are fearful of loosing their jobs. With more than 7,400 on notice that their jobs will be eliminated if the legislature follows through with massive cuts to education, teachers and other school staff are rallying to save jobs.

This afternoon in Deer Valley folks will gather outside the DVUSD district office to demonstrate contempt for actions they are calling disrespectful. According to those in the district teachers are being let go with privately contracted employees are keeping their jobs, professional growth pay, thousands of dollars promised to teachers, is being withheld, and long-term teachers are being required to re-apply for positions they've held for years.

After scratching the surface just a bit, it becomes clear that the Governing Board President, Tom Boone (R-LD4), is at the heart of this debacle. As a state legislator Boone is positioned well to advocate for no cuts to education protecting district employees from job loss, loss in pay, and other disrespectful acts to their profession. Clearly his conservative idealism is getting in the way.

Across the universe in Mesa, public school employees are holding a vigil for RIFed employees. A vigil for RIFed employees, I had to say it again. Mesa employees enjoy some of the strongest benefits among teachers in the state. But now, with the state legislature attempting to slash nearly 20% of their budget their jobs are at risk.

Over the next few weeks many school employees, parents, and students will be out in mass to protest massive cuts to public schools. Learn more by visiting March4Schools.

When do you jump ship?

2008-10-29T10:32:00.004-07:00

In this election cycle we've seen a Democratic Party drunk with non-existent power. Napolitano and her crew are attempting to take-over one or both of the legislative bodies through a strategy that fell apart three months ago. Here's how they wanted it to work:

1. Be a targeted state in the Presidential Election. When McCain won the nomination their strategy took a blow.
2. Place several ballot initiatives on November's ballot--not to pass them but to create funding mechanisms to spend more money turning out the "right" kind of voters. Their health care initiative was the first to go, then the real payday loan reform initiative, and of course TIME and Trustlands were the final blow to this part of their strategy.
3. Maintain a couple moderate Republicans in the Senate, and even add one by electing Hershberger and then pick up a couple by targeting far right R's in primary elections. They failed to maintain the Jack Republicans in LD's 1 and 26 and didn't come close in other primaries.
4. Use all the money from national sources (DNC, DCCC, etc...) and money raised to support ballot initiatives to turn-out the base, spend $500K opposing Republicans in mostly solid R safe districts, and blow the Republican Party out of the financial waters.

I don't know about other political types out there but if I'm implementing a four part plan and the fourth part requires success of the first three, I might be a bit concerned at this point. The D's have spread themselves too thin. They're playing in districts that have no business electing Democrats.

Their strategy to take over the one or both of the chambers means they'd have to hold seats in 10, 11, 24 and 26. These seats are all in play and heavily contested. And they aren't even considering possibility of losses in 5, 17 or 23.

In order to get to 31 in the house, they need to pick up an additional seat in 10, 26, and win in at least two races in 12, 9, 20, 21.

It's likely that the D's will lose seats in both the House and the Senate.

jus cogens

2008-08-30T13:48:00.002-07:00

Secretaries of State have a lot of power.

Wherever you stand on these initiatives, I can't believe the failure rate is as high as they've tested for the mere fact that it's so overwhelmingly annoying to get approached by what appear to be homeless people collecting signatures. I don't feel like they're clever enough to make up thousands of names and addresses and I can't fathom someone whose not registered to vote being willing to take the time to sign anything that requires standing next to these people. Yes, I said these people and I'm speaking incredibly condescendingly about them. Those people. Maybe I haven't thought this out enough but I'm just not making sense of the numbers on an interpersonally interactive level.

Maybe we should just let the courts decide all the initiatives this year in consultation with Jan Brewer? Marking my ballot is so cumbersome and time consuming and they seem to know what's best.

Friday afternoons at Durant's is hopping for the political scenesters. If you're a climber or have trouble making friends this is a great place to go and kiss some ass and buy drinks for folks on both sides of the aisle.

The Happiest Protest On Earth

2008-08-15T07:40:00.002-07:00

This morning I thumb the power control on my computer, a slow speed rig with upgrades and duct tape holding it together. As per my usual routine I get online to snoop around the news and see what's happening in this wonderful world of ours. Usually I am not at all surprised by the news of the day. It'll usually include some war, a little bit of corporate mongering, and a side of teachers having sex with their students. You know...the normal stuff.

Today however I read a story about a group of workers protesting their employer over a labor dispute. This is not unusual since we still have at least a few states who recognize organized labor. The article's description, however, read: Peter Pan Arrested. Holy cow these protesters actually wore company costumes to protest their employer.

Read more here about the happiest protest on earth.

Breaking News - TIME legal challenge could work

2008-08-13T09:15:00.004-07:00

Stylitics has learned from high ranking elections officials this morning that there are significant issues pertaining to the method used to count signatures at the Maricopa County Elections Office. Thousands of signatures were tossed into the pool of invalid signatures with brief checks and no in-depth research. If the name that appeared in the "Print Name" column of the petition was not immediately legible then the signature was deemed invalid.

According to the TIME campaign co-chairman, David Martin, the legal team over at Perkins, Coie has a beat on at least enough signatures to achieve the 95% threshold (information from TIME campaign press release).

Other campaigns are taking deep breaths awaiting an official decision on TIME so they can go to their financial backers with at least some assurance their investments are safely invested in initiatives that will find this November's ballot.

TIME is not out of the woods on this yet, however. According to the same county elections source there may still be enough irregularities in petition signatures to confirm the decision made by Arizona Secretary of State, Jan Brewer.

The hacks are having a field day with this at this point. Depending on what happens there may be a few job openings for experienced political consultants...

Dirty tricks from a dirty trick

2008-08-12T07:14:00.003-07:00

This campaign season has brought out the worst in Arizona's political candidates. Sure we all get excited at the notion of real politics being waged by campaigns in targeted districts but recognizing the importance of a fair fight is important to hacks. As I get older I appreciate the hard work that goes into fundraising, collecting fives, and managing a campaign budget.

That's why it pisses me off when vandals make their way into our world...

One of hundreds of Jackie Thrashers signs ripped down by jerks.

Is that even possible?

2008-08-11T19:10:00.002-07:00

Earlier today I was sitting at Lux, a coffee shop on Central Avenue with amazing coffee and all the atmosphere you want. There's a great cross-section of hip downtowners and professionals that everyone fits in. At the meeting I was told that the Secretary of State announced that TIME and Medical Choice Arizona would not make the November ballot due to low validity rates for collected signatures.

In a conversation with a high ranking official at the Maricopa County Recorders office of Elections I confirmed the rate of invalid signatures-48.7%. This number is perplexing for a couple of reasons:

1. I have never been a part of a campaign that didn't require some level of quality assurance prior to payment for signatures collected. Random samples and weekly checks could have easily eliminated this problem.
2. The signature gatherers were some how able to collect a higher rate of invalid signatures than the percentage of qualified electors in Maricopa County. Among all Maricopa County residents qualified to register to vote 59% are actually registered. How is that even possible?

This isn't even the end of this fiasco. Sources tell Stylitics that other troubled campaigns include No New Home Tax, Our Land, Our Schools, and the anti-equal opportunity Repeal of Affirmative Action. Arizona could end up with very few ballot initiatives on the November ballot. What will voters do with these newly shortened ballots that only take a few minutes to understand?

Five rad places to spy on/hit on/work over hot political operatives

2008-08-06T10:23:00.002-07:00

1. The House lobby. A lot of shite goes down in the House lobby but one thing captures my imagination more than any other. It's home base away from home for those wily Williams fluffers. And they're hot. We all think Mike is a genius. Some probably believe an evil genius but who can deny his success. Even though the term "fluffer" has a fairly pejorative meaning unless you're incredibly open minded, no one really holds their disdain for Mike against these lovely ladies, except maybe the hyper-competitive women who are lobbying for someone else, themselves, or who work at the Legislature as staff. But guys get it. They're just looking to look hot for an honest day's wage. And to find them doing that, and some other lookers, just look to the House lobby, the open-windowed palace of dreams.

2. Durants. Need I say more? No. Will I? Yes. Not only is the food here amazing and each drink perfectly mixed, but you can find some heaping portions of hot political ass here during session. At lunch, just look around at the neighboring tables. At night, the bar, if you can find a seat, is a wonderful opportunity to mingle with the Players. But one unmistakable component of being a top political hack is one's ability to buy/impress young "talent" that you otherwise would never get but thanks to their Machiavellian aspirations and your political capital, they're right next to you at the bar. For me to hit on.

3. Lux. This is where you'll find the alternative-lifestyled hot political ass. The sexy guys and gals who make this independent coffee shop their home base are younger, more fun, more open-minded, and basically just cooler than the tools who used to spend their after hours drinking beer at Nixon's... You know who you are, tools. Not to mention, their coffee is great, and there's plenty of non-politicos to keep you sane.

4. Anywhere Kristen Boilini goes... A couple of the authors of this little blog have a bit of a crush on Kristen.

5. The Roosevelt. The initial cool factor has worn off for many but it's still a great place to see some sexy poli-divas doing their thing while daintily noshing on one of those amazing cheese plates and sipping on one glass of wine. You know you're actually interesting or powerful enough that they have no choice when she orders a second glass. Let you heart be your guide. Watch out if she orders a beer. For me that's an instant sign of poor grooming or hyper-competitiveness... and it makes me sound like a misogynist. But I'm not. I just play a lot of Texas hold'em and evaluate the hell out of people.

Looking for a real leader?

2008-08-04T10:27:00.002-07:00

The Democratic Party is fresh out at the top. Sure Barack Obama is fresh and new and presents all kinds of images of real leadership but the Clinton folks were right when they said, "He's untested." So who represents the Democratic Party, Nancy Pelosi? Harry Reid? Howard Dean!?!

This is absolutely unacceptable. It's like both Parties have been taken over by the drooling, knuckle dragging, wactivists found in the extreme wings of their party. What the hell is going wrong in this country that we are so starved for leader that John "my friends" McCain't is actually a viable candidate for President of the United States.

Take a look around...the world is leaving us behind. While we search for an adequate leader China and India are growing their way into the future by investing in infrastructure like roads, higher education, and technology. China's technological capacity has doubled that of the United States and is leading them to virtual government built to serve a population that is rapidly growing and becoming more educated.

We don't condone the type of politics China practices as it continues an endless attack on our environment and its residents' civil rights. But, their government is led by individuals with a vision for a better future, one where China is the world's recognized dominating power, not the United States. Unbelievable? Take a look at the U.S. dollars' stature in the world's economy. Now look at China's dollar. Oops. Not quite as strong as we used to be.

While our economy is in the crapper at the moment and as we hemorrhage jobs and the middle class is evicted from their foreclosed homes the rest of the world is taking advantage...taking advantage of this world power's lack of leadership.

Text Message Organizing

2008-08-01T01:57:00.002-07:00

An old friend adds your number to their cellular address book after a recent professional interaction and you'll think nothing of it. Until, you receive a text message at 7:30 PM on a Thursday evening. It reads "Arpaio is sweeping in Maryvale, 15 detainees, 3325 W. Durango." Now you have to make a decision, do I go, is this a protest, YES.

So, reluctantly, you tell your family that you have to (almost as if required) go to a protest, head to your car and drive into the Maricopa County Sheriff''s Complex where you'll keep an eye on Joe.

As you pull into the Complex there is a press conference happening, the Sheriff is talking about the sweep. He moans into the microphones of every major news station in Phoenix, "These are illegal street vendors without a permit and we have reason to believe that they are getting their corn from illegal drop houses." Seriously!

There are two women wearing white knee length laboratory coats searching the street vendor's make-shift convenient stores for "Health code violations" and taking temperatures of jars of mayonnaise. All this is happening while Arpaio spews into the microphone about how he's making Arizona a safer place. Blatantly describing his racially motivated schemes to media and anyone else who will listen.

Other organizers begin to show, a city councilman and his staffer, real citizen activists all motivated to show-up by a text message.

Last night at least 15 men and women were detained by Sheriff Joe Arpaio for selling corn out of a shopping cart. Organizers counted more than 50 Sheriff's Deputies among other county officials on the site. All this happened for 15 men and women trying to make an honest living five blocks from one of the most active gang neighborhoods in Phoenix. Maybe we should re-evaluate our priorities.

All this with a simple text message from an unlikely re-acquaintance with an old friend who happened to put your cell phone number in their address book. The more organizing changes the more it stays the same.

My kingdom for 230,047 valid petition signatures

2008-07-31T09:16:00.001-07:00

Greg Patterson over at Espresso has been all over the TIME initiative’s possible signature shortfall. I mean who doesn’t love a little hubris now and then?

But, the fun doesn’t stop there. Many hacks believe a number of ballot measures may be lacking.

The list of possible flops includes Prop 100, No New Home Taxes and Prop 104, Arizona Civil Rights Initiative.

For the moment, it’s up to Jan Brewer and the 15 county recorders to determine who’s got the right stuff.

After that, expect a slew of lawsuits aiming to knock off low hanging fruit. I hear there’s at least one petition checking sweat shop going line by line.
Only time will tell which stay and which go.

The Breakfast Meeting

2008-07-31T08:25:00.002-07:00

This morning I went to a meeting to discuss Majority Rules (Prop 105) an initiative on the ballot this coming November. Our meeting was at Matt's Big Breakfast.

Matt's is probably the best breakfast in town with a full menu of delectable treats including Arizona's best griddlecakes. The location is small and almost always has a line out the door but during the week, if you're there early enough, there is usually seating available. If you have to wait, trust me, it's worth it.

Now that we've established that the meeting location was adequate and met the culinary needs of the meeting participants let's talk about Majority Rules. Prop 105 is intended to stifle the initiative process by requiring 50% + 1 of all registered voters to approve ballot initiatives that increase spending in any way. Think this through for a second, average turn-out for an Arizona election in a non-presidential year is around 62% causing a ballot initiative to gain 81% of the vote to make up for the 38% who stayed home. Here's the major flaw: There are more than 130,000 deceased voters still on the voter rolls in counties across the state. Majority Rules not only gives a voice to apathy but also to deceased voters.

That means ballot initiatives that increase state fees for an individual (i.e. licensing fees), creates a board or commission, or puts more money in Arizona's public schools would now be impossible to pass by the Arizona electorate.

This initiative literally gives full autonomy to the Arizona legislature to shape statutory and constitutional policy. I think most of us can agree that giving a legislature and a Governor, who has run the state into a $2.2 billion deficit, that kind of power is bad for Arizona's future.

Oh how I love thee, Scott Wyland and the Stone Temple Pilots

2008-07-30T14:50:00.001-07:00

House bands are the staple of many a good lounge. As a political operator, I try to host many of my meetings in dark and formerly smokey places like the Chez Nous . Now there’s nothing wrong with Roscoe or Soul Power, but they aren’t my top choice for mood music. After last night’s show all I can think of is STP.

Here are 7 reasons to love STP in the form of a lame love poem. Enjoy.

Oh how I love thee, Scott Wyland and the Stone Temple Pilots
1) You, Scott, stumble on to stage in a three piece suit and cowboy hat and promptly fall and almost knock over the entire drum kit.
2) You, Scott and the Stone Temple Pilots, bang out with incredible force a set list that includes innumerable hits.
3) You, Scott, proceed to disrobe through the show.
4) You, Scott, throw nearly everything you get your hands on into the audience (e.g. clothing, bullhorn, towels, etc)
5) You, Scott, clearly ignore the advice of loved ones and medical practitioners and continue your heroin habit.
6) You, Scott and the Stone Temple Pilots, remind me of the limited happy days of my adolescence.
7) You, Scott and the Stone Temple Pilots, provide me with more than one song to populate my “getting’ luck play list.”

Time for a reality check...

2008-07-30T14:40:00.002-07:00

Arizona's blogging community is getting larger by the day. There are dozens of blogs committed to talking about a wide variety of issues including politics and lifestyle. Here's the issue: none of the current blogs recognize that there is a clear community of political hacks who's career and lifestyle are slaves to the political environment of Arizona. This blog is intended to provide a forum for discussion, debate, and discourse for vital issues facing Arizona's political community. At the same time this blog will discuss many other topics related to the community such as fashion, music, art, and other culturally ambitious topics. Please join us daily for articles that will make you think about Arizona differently.