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Experience, prominence make McCain best choice
John McCain is the better choice in the race for U.S. Senate. One of the few veterans in the Senate who has truly paid for his service as a prisoner of war in Vietnam for five and a half years, McCain has demonstrated a pattern of leadership that places him above the other candidates. He has taken the lead in efforts to curb smoking and reform campaign financing. He is an expert on military affairs, and has worked hard to retain Arizonas military bases as part of our national defense. Yet he is admired for consistently opposing pork-barrel spending, unlike most of his Senate cronies. Ed Ranger, McCains Democratic opponent, would increase federal funding for education, develop policies for clean air and water and create tax incentives and other programs to benefit middle-income families and senior citizens. While worthy goals, admired by at least one member of the board, Rangers candidacy does not reach the level of the service that McCain has provided Arizona with. Similarly, third party candidates John Zajac and Bob Park would not make the best candidates for Senate. Although some of the board feels that Zajacs consistent ideology of privatizing large wasteful areas of government makes sense, he does not realistically stand a chance of being elected. The leadership skills and forthrightness of John McCain make him the best candidate for this race. Moreover, with the possibility of a Year 2000 presidential bid, McCain has the potential to bring Arizona to the forefront of national politics. Standing on his support for higher education funding and pragmatic approach to politics, Democrat Tom Volgy is our man for U.S. Congress from Arizona District 5. Volgys record both as City of Tucson mayor and University of Arizona political science professor speaks for itself. He is a pragmatic dealmaker with a firm grounding in the more esoteric field of political science. Plus his links with the UA can only improve university-federal relations. In speaking with Volgy last week, we were not only impressed with his devotion to higher education funding, but also with his proactive ideas about public campaign financing ideas he put into practice during his stint as Tucson mayor. His premise involves voluntary spending caps in order to receive matching funds from government. Also impressive was his apparent comprehension of dealmaking. As a member of the minority party, Volgy realizes that consensus building will be his only weapon in a Congress that is largely, and vehemently, Republican. Murphy split sharply with Volgy on his commitment to federal aid for college students and public education. Murphy opposed both vehemently while Volgy was a vehement supporter of both. Clearly, Volgy, with his long-time experience in education has a better understanding of the needs of students today. That said, the opinions board did split 3-2 between Volgy and Libertarian congressional candidate Phil Murphy. Murphys ideology of smaller, less intrusive government appealed to some, but in practice would be largely ineffective. We endorse Volgy, and despite the close split with Libertarian Murphy, we were rock solid on one facet of todays election: Just dont vote Jim Kolbe. The position of Secretary of State requires overseeing Arizonas elections and voters, and is first in line to become governor should something happen to the governor. Art Hamilton is the better candidate for this position, based on his solid record of 26 years in the House, 17 of which he was the Minority leader. Betsey Bayless does not have the experience Hamilton does, having served mostly in administrative-bureaucratic positions in government. Appointed to Secretary of State when Jane Dee Hull became governor, Bayless is already serving in the position. However, her lack of experience in elected office, with all of its responsibilities to an electorate, makes her the poorer choice for a position that requires accountability. Because of Hamiltons years of service to Arizonans, who re-elected him year after year to state representative, we can expect him to stick to his goals if elected. Hamilton has stated that the best use of the Internet in the Secretary of States Office in the future would be to use it for voting, which is a great idea, for students especially who tend to use computers more than most people. This idea, along with Hamiltons other goals of educating and energizing Arizonans about voting, presents a clear and realistic picture of what should be the focus of the Secretary of States office. Therefore, we endorse Hamilton for Secretary of State.
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