Arizona voters helped boost Bush

Whether you love him, hate him or couldn't care less, Thursday's the day to give George W. Bush his due.

Don't let the tempest over the inauguration's $40 million price tag distract from the event's historical significance. Only 15 of the nation's 43 presidents have won second terms, and Bush is the first Republican to do so since Ronald Reagan.

Arizona, of course, had a small hand in that feat. Bush carried the state, and the state in turn gave him 10 of the 286 electoral votes that allowed him to prevail over John Kerry.

Dejected Democrats are sure to wince as Bush begins four more years in the White House, though if a small news item out of Washington last week is any indication, their luck might soon change. Bob Shrum announced he's retiring.

Shrum is a Democratic strategist and speechwriter who played a leading role in eight presidential campaigns, including Kerry's. All of them - every single one of them - ended in defeat. Republicans will miss him.

I've placed the rest in the comment box below since it is AZ State stuff (mostly picking at the DEMOCs)

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Paton's legislative "dream"

Ban gay marriage. Make English Arizona's official language. Reduce the size of the state's health insurance program for the poor.

Those were the hot topics to come out of the Arizona Legislature as it launched a new session last week and began solving or, depending on your point of view, exacerbating the state's problems. Once again, the Republican-controlled Legislature seems determined to alienate predominantly Democratic Pima County.

It doesn't have to be that way, says one freshman lawmaker from Tucson. Rep. Jonathan Paton, a Republican from District 30, wants to bridge the divide by having the Legislature pay more attention to Baja Arizona.

A first step, Paton tells us, is to have the government reform committee he helps preside over as vice chairman meet in Tucson to discuss a topic of importance to Tucson, like funding for the trauma center at University Medical Center. Paton hopes such a hearing can be held in the near future on the University of Arizona campus.

But the ultimate goal, Paton's "dream," is to have the entire sausage-making factory meet for a day in the state's second city. "I think it's a cool idea," he says.

Will it happen? Ask House Speaker Jim Weiers. He can be reached at 602-926-4173 or jweiers@azleg.state.az.us.

Trasoff weighs council run

The Democratic attempt to oust City Councilman Fred Ronstadt could change dramatically this week if a former local TV newscaster decides to enter the race.

Nina Trasoff tells the Arizona Daily Star that she's seriously contemplating going up against the Ward 6 Republican, who'll be running for a third term.

"I've gone from 'not a chance in hell' to 'I'm thinking about it,' " says Trasoff, a former KGUN anchor who now works as a corporate communications consultant. "There's a lot to weigh."

The possibility of a Trasoff candidacy has Paul Eckerstrom, the recently re-elected Pima County Democratic Party chairman, rubbing his hands together in glee. As he sees it, she's got high name ID and valuable campaign experience, thanks to the statewide race she waged last year to join the Arizona Corporation Commission.

In that five-person contest for three ACC seats, Trasoff was the top vote-getter in five of Arizona's 15 counties. In fact, she carried one more county than John Kerry and earned more than 744,000 votes statewide.

As it now stands, the only Democrats officially coveting the Ward 6 seat are light-rail advocate and public artist Stephen Farley and artist and designer John Richards. Despite the formation of an exploratory committee last year, Janet Hare is not going to run. And Ted Prezelski, brother of state Rep. Tom Prezelski, signed up with the City Clerk's Office to run but withdrew after realizing he didn't meet the yearlong ward residency requirement.

Napolitano's sisterly words

Gov. Janet Napolitano offered words of wisdom last week to fellow Democrat Christine Gregoire, the newest member of the gubernatorial sisterhood.

Gregoire was inaugurated Wednesday as governor of Washington after eking out a salmon-skin-thin, 129-vote victory over Republican Dino Rossi. By comparison, Napolitano's 11,819-vote win over Matt Salmon qualifies as a landslide.

But as anyone in the sisterhood - or any other elected official, for that matter - can attest, size doesn't matter once the vote counting is complete. "You know you can get elected by 1, 100, 1,000, 100,000 votes," Gregoire says Napolitano told her, according to The Seattle Times. "The nameplate on the front of the governor's desk says 'Governor,' not 'Governor by 129 votes.' "

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