HighGround Public Affairs Consultants

Do Republicans really need a greater wake up call than what former Governor and current Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and Current Attorney General and Gubernatorial hopeful Terry Goddard gave us this past week?

Our former Governor Janet Napolitano spent the state to the near brink of fiscal insolvency before skipping town and taking a new job in Washington.  Since then, she has refused to admit she took any part in Arizona’s financial problems despite years of spending beyond her means.  Now as current Secretary of Homeland Security, in spite of a failure in airline security, she is telling the country that the “system worked” and “everything went according to clockwork.”

Back here in Arizona, we are faced with a federal healthcare plan that puts another $4 billion in unfunded mandates on the state and affords special favors to states like Nebraska with Arizona taxpayers picking up part of the tab.  The forced participation also raises questions about whether the plan violates the 10^th Amendment.  However, while the constitutionality of these actions have drawn the questions of 13 Attorneys General from across the Country, our own Attorney General Terry Goddard has said that he would wait to opine on the constitutionality of Obamacare until it is “ripe.” 

Well, something certainly smells ripe here. Read the rest of this entry »

Apparently, some campaigns are in need of a federal set aside program for substantive political rhetoric.  The latest missive from the floundering gaggle of wannabes and couldabeens fails to recognize the fact that the current governor has a wide range of supporters who agree with her on some issues and disagree with her on others.  The Morris family has been strong supporters of the Governor for her courage to face political reality despite the fact that they disagree with her overwhelmingly pro-life record. 

But that’s what real campaigns are about, bringing people of different backgrounds and outlooks together. Having a creative PR guy grasping at every empty opportunity as your policy director may be a good way to hide your own weak record, but it insults the intelligence of the pro-life community.  Also, this guy apparently forgot that Planned Parenthood was founded by Barry Goldwater’s wife.  Perhaps, he should go down there and apologize to the statue.  The rhetoric would obviously fall on deaf ears like the rest of his campaign, but at least this time he would have a good excuse. 

Despite her disagreement with them on this particular issue, we know that the Governor is proud to stand with Jason and Paulina Morris (as are we), strong supporters of the Republican Party, and fellow Republican delegates who joined then Secretary Brewer in nominating Senator McCain for President in 2008. 

Brewer’s Record on Protecting the Sanctity of Life 

• Prohibited partial-birth abortions based on the federal model that has been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.
• Required that minor girls receive written, notarized consent from a parent or guardian prior to obtaining an abortion.
• Mandated that women receive information they need prior to deciding on whether to have an abortion and allow for at least 24-hours to reflect on that decision. Arizona is now the 22^nd state to require a 24-hour waiting period and the 34^th state to require informed consent.
• Required that doctors perform surgical abortions in order to protect the health of women.
• Expanded existing protections for doctors, pharmacists and other health care workers to refuse to participate in surgical abortions or prescribe prescriptions for chemical abortions.

It shouldn’t be a surprise today that politicos will attempt to assign blame to Kevin Tyne, but the reality is that Kevin was an equal to any Chief of Staff who has served any previous Arizona Governor. 

The times, however, are radically changed.  Due to the spending spree of the Napolitano administration, the State has been left with little or no politically palatable alternatives to resolve the current budget impasse.  Tough choices have to be made.  Read the rest of this entry »

We are proud to announce the launch of the new HighGround website.  In addition to learning about our company, the new AzHighGround.com will feature blog posts from members of the HighGround team on public policy issues, best practices, and other interesting news of the day. 

We’ll also be launching our HighGround twitter to keep people up to date with the latest information.  So, check back often to see what is going on in the world of politics and get the latest news from the HighGround team.

Op-Ed by Chuck Coughlin – Arizona Republic 08-27-09

“Throw the bums out” seems to be a common sentiment these days regarding our state Legislature. While the emotion underlying the sentiment may be justifiable, the facts point to a different conclusion; there is a need for systemic changes.

First of all, because of the Federal Voting Rights Act, the legislative body is not representative of the public. Legislative districts are drawn to ensure minority representation. The net effect of creating “majority-minority” districts is to simultaneously create “strong majority” districts. This is referred to as creating safe districts for a political party, leaving only seven competitive districts with registration within 5 percent of each other.

The remaining 23 legislative districts in Arizona are elected in the primary, in which winners face only token opposition in the general election. Low voter turnout empowers the far left and the far right with disproportionate influence. Read the rest of this entry »