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Politics : Liberalism: Do You Agree We've Had Enough of It? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: T L Comiskey who wrote (56298)	12/1/2008 7:03:40 PM
From: Neeka	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 224718

So what will Bambi do if the committee's conclusion come true?

To: T L Comiskey who wrote (56298)	12/1/2008 8:16:24 PM
From: Neeka	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 224718

'Gov. Brewer' would shift power to conservatives The Associated Press Published: 12.01.2008 PHOENIX - Jan Brewer's 25 years of elected service in Arizona state and local government appears to be headed to a new high: the governorship. Next in the line of succession, the Republican secretary of state would become governor if Democrat Janet Napolitano is confirmed by the Senate to be homeland security secretary. That would mean big changes in state government, starting with a more conservative political ideology than Napolitano's but also improved relations with the Republican-led Legislature and a major change in the ranks of top officials in the executive branch. Brewer, a 64-year-old Glendale resident, is a former legislator and Maricopa County supervisor who was elected secretary of state in 2002 and re-elected in 2006. Her experience in county government will stand her in good stead as governor, said Sen. Robert Blendu, a Litchfield Park Republican who served in the Legislature with Brewer in the 1990s. "Jan is probably one of the most qualified governors in a long time," Blendu said. "She understands from the state level how the local people can be hurt, and that's really important to rural Arizona." Brewer is regarded as a Republican Party stalwart with strong ties to the business-oriented faction of the party. Republican legislators have clashed with Napolitano on issues ranging from gun and abortion rights to spending and the environment. Right now, Napolitano and lawmakers are trying to work out an agreement on a partial fix to a big budget shortfall that ultimately could require painful cuts. "Philosophically, we'll be a lot more parallel," Senate President-designate Bob Burns, R-Peoria, said of Brewer becoming governor. Much of the tracking of Brewer's ideology dates to her years in the Legislature in the 1980s and 1990s. During the entire time that Napolitano has been governor, Brewer was either in county office or secretary of state. Her current office's chief duty is to oversee elections. Napolitano has fended off may tax cut proposals, but grudgingly accepted some in deals with Republican lawmakers. While a legislator herself, Brewer backed tax cuts, one time praising another lawmaker's plan - which wasn't enacted - to replace Arizona's current system of graduated rates for the state individual income tax with a system based on a flat percentage. On abortion, then-legislator Brewer was a co-sponsor of legislation to require parental consent for minors to have the procedure. Napolitano is an abortion rights supporter who vetoed all restrictive bills that the Legislature sent her. While Brewer is regarded as a conservative, a longtime political observer said he wouldn't be surprised if Brewer doesn't move in lock step with the Republican-led Legislature on all issues. Some governors' positions evolve once they're acting on behalf of the entire state, said David Berman, a senior research fellow for the Morrison Institute at Arizona State University. "It's a different perspective. You get to the top, all of a sudden you're not quite the person you were," Berman said. Brewer's extensive background in government means she "might be a little more familiar with a variety of issues than most people" thrust into similar situations," Berman said. Napolitano has been in office six years, meaning Republicans have been shut out of most top jobs running state government for that period. That would change because Brewer almost surely would replace Democrats with her own choices. Brewer could draw on the ranks of former staffers to former Republican Govs. Fife Symington and Jane Hull as well as legislative aides and local government officials with experience in state government. "I think you're going to see her surround herself with experts with varying opinions and in different areas," Blendu said. While Brewer is a relatively unknown quantity to many sitting Arizona legislators, one incoming Democratic leader has firsthand perspective on her. "I was a page in 1987," said Rep. David Lujan, the incoming House minority leader. "She's a Republican. She's got her conservative views, but I know one thing . . . as secretary of state, she's expressed a willingness to work with us." One of Brewer's highest profile votes while a lawmaker came in 1988 when she and fellow senators decided whether to remove impeached Republican Gov. Evan Mecham from office. The House impeachment charges accused him of attempting to thwart a death-threat investigation and misusing a protocol fund by loaning money to his auto dealership. The Senate voted to convict Mecham, but Brewer voted in his favor. Mecham's actions, Brewer said after the vote, were "grossly inadequate, even seriously incompetent - but I don't find it purposely obstruction of justice." As secretary of state, Brewer pushed to convert most voting equipment to optional scanning of paper ballots and to make it easier for military personnel serving overseas to vote via fax or Internet. She defended a state law requiring voters casting ballots at polling places to show identification and for Arizonans to provide proof of citizenship when registering to vote. She unsuccessfully urged legislators to tighten state laws on initiative petition drives and voter registration campaigns. Also while serving as secretary of state, Brewer held top state leadership posts for the presidential campaigns of fellow Republicans George Bush and John McCain. tucsoncitizen.com