Posted by
roadmaster on Saturday, April 24, 2010 9:59:15 AM
The forum was Sabino HS, and it was organized fairly well, except for all the introductions of the Sabino Young Republicans, the Principal, advisers, teachers, and parents, which was overdone and used up time. That said, the kids should be commended and we support their efforts. The format wasn't explained well enough and instead of remaining seated for the questions and standing at the edge of the stage to introduce themselves and again for conclusions, each candidate got up, sauntered around the table, pulled the mike over and paced in front out of the lights, for each question. Then repeated the process when time was up. Tedious.
John Justice did a good job as moderator (timekeeper) although he asked the audience to check his tongue at one point, thinking he may have bitten through it after a particularly dumb answer by Matt Jette. They should have set up a system of lights for John to turn on and off instead of having him raise his hand like he was requesting a trip to the bathroom. The questioners were Emil Franzi, Bruce Ash, and Ray Carroll, all impressive in their own right but limited by the some times simplistic questions submitted by the Young Republicans.
Jan Brewer's seat remained empty throughout, which is a shame on her, and Dean Martin was late, but came in swinging for the fences.
John Munger and Buz Mills started out like two peas in a pod, being from similar backgrounds and almost identical viewpoints, but Mills worked to separate himself somewhat as the evening progressed. Matt Jette was an unmitigated disaster! More on him later.
Each had a major fluff, we thought, except for Jette, whose every answer elicited groans from the audience. Munger was a little too squishy on the question about temporary work visas for Mexicans. Mills hit the right note on that one when he unequivocally stated, enforcement first, then talk about visas. Mills dodged away from the Rosemont mine question, however, when he called it a local issue and nothing to do with the governor office.
Except for being late because of traffic and an accident, Martin was strong on all questions. His answers were organized, understandable and to the point. Personally, I thought he got a little carried away with "bi-partisanship" a couple of times. My definition of that well worn phrase is that is means republicans bend over and surrender their principles. To me, that has been the biggest problem of the GOP in Washington.
Jette was a fish out of water. He is so "moderate" he and Megan McCain must be good buddies. He was confrontational, condescending, rambling, incoherent and a gaffe a minute - a junior Joe Biden except he wasn't funny. Besides his irritating habit of punctuating every sentence with "right?" he certainly drove home the point that he has a Phd, and we mere peasants do not! One of his biggest goofs was rebutting the Prop 100 question (he's in favors-BOO!). He kept referring to it as Prop 300 and finally after about the fourth time, the audience corrected him. Generally we found him to be arrogant and petulant with a sense of entitlement and self importance like Rodney Glassman, minus the tall good looks, singing talent and lots of Daddy's money to waste on frivolous things, like running for Gov or Senator. When asked how he would defeat Terry Goddard, I couldn't keep silent and muttered, "Be his running mate," which got good laughs from those seated around me. It seems to me you are debating the audience, as well as the other candidates, you may well be in the wrong forum. He would have been right at home in a dhimmicrat debate. If he is the "new" GOP, I'm going back to independent.
Generally, Munger was polished and well spoken. Mills was very likable, but a little too laid back, possibly compensating for nervousness, and not as verbose or organized. My wife and I gave the slight edge to Martin over the other two (forget Jette-we will). Martin hit every note and seems to have a deep understanding of the issues and has a good energy.
We could support wholeheartedly any one of the three conservatives we heard last night.