Tucson Sammy

NOTE: THIS ARTICLE WAS WRITTEN TWO DAYS BEFORE VERNON WALKER DROPPED OUT OF THE RACE

The Vernon Walker story will be the most significant in this election cycle. Mr. Walker is the Republican candidate in Ward V who is challenging Councilman-for-Life, Steve Leal. He has not a prayer, but that is not the issue.

If you have been reading the Weekly, you’ve learned of Walker’s legal problems, troubled business practices, delusional thinking, and stream-of-consciousness writing style. These revelations will have no effect on his Quixotic campaign, but could seriously jeopardize the campaigns of fellow Republicans Fred Ronstadt (Ward VI), and Kathleen Dunbar (Ward III). The two Republicans won four years ago despite a three to two Democrat registration advantage. It was hard last time; it will be harder this time.

Pima County Democrat Party Chairman Paul Eckerstrom has been wetting his pants in excitement over linking Walker to Ronstadt and Dunbar. Expect Eckerstrom and his surrogates to repeat “Walker-Ronstadt-Dunbar” in the same breath from now until November the eighth.

The one billion dollar (as in the City budget) question is: How did this happen?

I am a Libertarian in philosophy, and voter registration, and have worked with the Pima County Libertarian Party. Lord knows that, in our enthusiasm to field candidates, we have had our share of embarrassments – who, for some inexplicable reason, get all the press! We are, however, a young, expanding party of principle trying to break into the system, and occasionally we’re over zealous. The Republicans, along with the Democrats, are the system. How did this happen?

As someone who has had to answer questions such as: “Why didn’t you tell me he hosted a Public Access Television show on flying saucers when you talked me out of my ten dollar donation?”, I have no sympathy for Vernon Walker. He is an embarrassment to his party at best, and a slap in the face to every Republican campaign worker – paid or volunteer.

He must drop out of the race, either now, or last week.

Unfortunately, this is not obvious to Mr. Walker. It appears that he will need some counseling. Now, I will be the first to admit that gone are the days when Mr. Walker would be handed a pistol, be shown an empty room, and be invited to enter and do the right thing – and good that they are! Perhaps George Gobble, political advisor for Mr. Walker and Mr. Ronstadt, can repeat the performance of some local businessmen of the past.

I recall an article that appeared many moons ago in one of the dailies that reported the University of Arizona president as having “concerns over the propriety of using an institution of higher learning” for the filming of the movie “Revenge of the Nerds”.
A few days later, the same daily reported that, after meeting with members of the local business community “at an unnamed location in a warehouse on the south side of town,” the president reconsidered the idea and was actually rather enthusiastic about it, and as we all know, the rest is cinematic history! Perhaps this is the type of approach that would reach Mr. Walker.

Why is this so important? It is important because political parties – even the establishment parties – are not the playthings of malignant narcissists. Political parties are the result of years of work performed by dedicated people, many of whom are volunteers, who should not be made to watch their work go down the drain overnight (even if they are Republicans). In addition, Dunbar and Ronstadt should win or loose on their merits – not because of a shared affiliation. Similarly, Uhlich and Trasoff should win or loose on their merits, not on a smear.

The hard way, or the easy way, Vernon Walker must go.