It was another of Sen. Jeff Flake鈥檚 harangues, but the timing and setting of this week鈥檚 version were especially appropriate.
On Wednesday, Flake delivered at Harvard Law School. It happened to take place three days after President Trump said 鈥淚 hereby demand鈥 that the Justice Department conduct an investigation for him 鈥 a power that presidents are normally not afforded.
Flake used the opportunity to lambaste both the president鈥檚 debasement of the White House and the congressional response to him, which he called 鈥渟upine.鈥
鈥淭his is what it looks like when you stress-test all of the institutions that undergird our constitutional democracy, at the same time,鈥 the Arizona Republican said. 鈥淵ou could say that we are witnesses to history, and if it were possible to divorce ourselves from the obvious tragedy of this debacle, I suppose that might even be interesting, from an academic perspective, the way some rare diseases are interesting to medical researchers.鈥
People are also reading…
I of Flake since his decision not to run for re-election, not because I disagree with him, but because I agree with him and want his actions to match the strength of his words. Nonetheless, he was admirably topical when he went on like this Wednesday:
鈥淗ow did we arrive at a moment of such peril 鈥 wherein a president of the United States publicly threatens 鈥 on 鈥淔ox & Friends,鈥 historians will note 鈥 to interfere in the administration of justice, and seems to think that the office confers on him the ability to decide who and what gets investigated, and who and what does not?
鈥淎nd just this week, the president 鈥 offering an outlandish rationale 鈥 ordered an investigation into the investigation of the Russian attack on our electoral process 鈥 not to defend the country against further attacks, mind you, but to defend himself. Obviously, ordering investigations is not a legitimate use of presidential power.鈥
The president鈥檚 actions this week are deeply worrisome because they represent a turning of the government鈥檚 law-enforcement apparatus to his individual benefit. If you didn鈥檛 think so after he ordered an investigation on his own behalf, you might think so after his chief of staff and White House counsel to a classified briefing by the FBI and Department of Justice for members of the House Intelligence committee Thursday.
As the president pushes the boundaries of his power, Flake is at least there to remind us of this slippage as it鈥檚 happening, even if he doesn鈥檛 often use the leverage of his vote to counter it.
鈥淭he rule of law is an elemental value, a value that preceded and gave rise to our Constitution,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t is not an ideology subject to the pendulum swings of politics, or something to be given a thumbs-up or thumbs-down in a call-in to your favorite morning show. It is the basis of our system of self-governance. America without the rule of law is no longer America.鈥
Steyer pushing youth vote
In Wednesday about the clean-energy initiative, I left on the cutting-room floor one interesting aspect of Tom Steyer鈥檚 efforts in Arizona.
While he seems to be all about solar power, in good measure Steyer鈥檚 effort here is really about getting out the youth vote to help Democrats. When I interviewed him Saturday in Tucson, Steyer emphasized , an effort to mobilize young voters that is part of his group NextGen America.
Arizona is one of 11 states where NextGen Rising is contacting young voters on campuses, online and going door to door. It aims to help progressives win elections.
鈥淧eople think it鈥檚 too difficult, too expensive, therefore they don鈥檛 try and they don鈥檛 succeed,鈥 the California billionaire said. 鈥淲e know that statistically if we have a conversation with someone under 35, they have twice as high a likelihood of voting. It literally doubles the chance that they鈥檒l vote.鈥
The clean-energy initiative is part of that plan. If it makes the ballot, it will likely bring out some young voters desperate to support a measure they think could help curtail global warming. And even if the measure fails, it could help Democrats win. At least that鈥檚 the thinking.
Garcia, Farley share endorsement
At 4:42 p.m. Tuesday, state Sen. Steve Farley, a Democratic candidate for governor, tweeted that he was 鈥淪o proud to receive the endorsement of @AFSCME today.鈥
Two hours later, Farley鈥檚 main opponent in the primary, David Garcia, tweeted, 鈥淚t鈥檚 an honor to have the endorsement of @AFSCME.鈥
Huh? Was it some mistake?
No mistake, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees confirmed later. Its political action committee interviewed both candidates twice, along with contender Kelly Fryer, and couldn鈥檛 decide between Garcia and Farley.
鈥淲e were going back and forth between the two of them,鈥 Phoenix AFSCME leader Frank Piccioli told me. 鈥淏oth of them said everything perfect. We were left with a decision of how you choose between the two of them when they both seem so strong.鈥
So they decided not to choose at all.
Petitions go missing
Like a lot of candidates, Mark Robert Gordon, who is running for secretary of state, left some petitions at the Pima County Democratic Party headquarters in Tucson for people to casually sign as they pass through for meetings and other get-togethers.
But Gordon鈥檚 disappeared on May 10. Someone stopped in to say they were picking up petitions for the campaign, and a volunteer handed them over, said executive director Heath Butrum. The campaign has not been able to figure out who it was and suspects they were wrongly taken.
The campaign is unsure how many petitions disappeared. It was all the sheets signed between October 2017 and May 2018, said campaign manager Mark Leeper.
鈥淣obody related to our campaign, let alone anybody authorized to pick up signatures, picked them up,鈥 he said.
Butrum said the party has changed policies and now requires that each campaign leaving petitions assign somebody specific to pick them up, and that ID is required before the campaign representative leaves with the petitions.
