The upcoming election is an important one as Arizonans will make some crucial decisions which could immediately impact our lives in the areas of border enforcement, healthcare, education and the economy. I have basically taken an anti-incumbent "Toss them all" theme to this year's political candidates. As CNN has so aptly put it, we suffer from a "broken government". The only way to change government is to change the people that we put in government. I am not voting for the candidate that has popularized this saying, but I agree with the sentiment. Despite the housecleaning approach that I think the country should employ, I have actually found myself endorsing just a few well-deserving candidates for re-election.

THE CANDIDATES

Governor's Race- Barry Hess (L). Janet, as she likes to be called in the tradition of other first name superstars (e.g., Michael, Shaq, John, Paul and Ringo, etc), has nothing to do with Arizona's success which is due largely to growth and the resulting housing bubble. Janet talks tough about illegal immigration but vetoes every piece of legislation that would help put the clamps on the problem. Under her leadership, Arizona has slipped to 50th in education. Munsil is too soft spoken to lead this State to where it needs to be. Barry Hess clearly won the debates between the 3 candidates. He is well-spoken, intelligent and has the courage to lead Arizona through some very tough times which just lie on the horizon.

Secretary of State- Ernie Hancock (L). Jan Brewer is too busy aiding and abetting voter fraud by refusing to follow the orders of the court for a manual recount of all votes. The court ruling is thanks to the actions of Hancock. If we cannot trust the election results, voting is meaningless. If you want your vote to count, Arizona must elect Ernie Hancock.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction- Jason Williams (D). Horne has overseen the dropping of Arizona's schools to 50th place. Arizona spends the least amount of money on Arizona's students in the nation. We have one of the lowest paid teacher work forces in the nation. Horne has overseen some very onerous restrictions on teacher recertification. And we wonder why we have a teacher shortage? Horne's stubborn adherence to the AIMS usage as a high stakes graduation test is amazing short-sighted. Where are the measures of reliability and validity for the instrument? Horne has stated at a Republican function last summer that, "No Child Left Behind is a disaster, but the money is too good to turn down". Mr. Horne, what about the welfare of Arizona's children? On the other hand, Williams is teacher-friendly. He opposes AIMS use as a high stakes test for graduation. He is also known for a common sense approach to English language acquisition for non-English speakers. Williams has served as a teacher. As a bureaucrat, Horne has no equal. However, Arizona's does not need another bureaucrat who is trying to climb the political ladder at the expense of our school children. This position calls for an educator. Horne has no experience in the classroom. Horne's job performance is very suspect as he has overseen failing scores for several of Arizona schools. If Horne were a football coach, we'd be comparing him to Dennis Green of the Arizona Cardinals and they both deserve to be pink-slipped.