1/10 3:45 pm Five Districts Could Alter Composition of Legislature

Arizona’s new congressional districts may be getting all the attention, but the legislative districts contain a major surprise. The complexion of the Legislature for the next decade could be altered by what happens in five newly drawn districts.… Read More

1/10 3:45 pm Commission’s Independence Rests on a . . . Purple Dress

A purple dress she never wore turned the court hearing on the dismissal of the Independent Redistricting Commission’s chairperson into a constitutional showdown that may determine the independence of the commission for decades to come. … Read More

11/2 4:51 pm A Few Helpful Pointers for IRC’s Next Chairperson

Our help wanted listing outlines a few misconceptions he or she will want to avoid.

… Read More

10/19 6:08 am Other Factors Get Nod Over Competitiveness

The drawing of new legislative districts in the once-a-decade rite of redistricting is a teeter-totter that is tilting heavily to one side. Overemphasis on the voting rights of minorities and so-called “communities of interest” has left the ideal of competitiveness dangling in the breeze.… Read More

9/29 3:45 pm Redistricting’s Long-Reaching Effects

The remapping of congressional and legislative districts now under way will be the seminal event in shaping Arizona politics for the next 10 years. It will determine the nature of the state’s congressional delegation, provide the mandates its members take to Washington, and thereby color the state’s contribution to the national dialogue. All that may seem overstated. But, if the last 10 years are prologue, it’s true.

… Read More

9/17 4:09 pm Competitiveness Hinges on Two Critical Variables

Veteran Democratic legislator Richard Miranda doesn’t look the part of a troublemaker. Yet one of his recommendations represents much more of a problem for the Independent Redistricting Commission than the summer-long barrage from its conservative critics. … Read More

8/18 1:09 pm Method To Their Madness

We are so caught up in the debate over political outcomes, we’ve failed to call enough attention to the companion conflict over methods. Partisans on both sides approach problem-solving as a one-way street. Iindependent voters would prefer something different.… Read More

1/30 9:01 pm One Term, Different Ends

You say “toh-mah-toh”, I say “toh-may-toh”. You say “CIVIL discourse”, I say “civil DISCOURSE.” A close reading of public comments, and perhaps a close self-examination of our own interpretation, reveals that once again words mean different things to different people. The calls for civility can be interpreted either narrowly or more expansively. Where would you put the accent? On CIVIL or on DISCOURSE?

… Read More

1/15 12:25 am Civil Discourse Needs Right Aim

The civil-discourse movement took a few steps forward and a few steps back in the past week. Mere handwringing in the form of “now everyone has to play nice,” as well intentioned as that might be, has its limits. Somehow the techniques have to be developed to encourage, maybe even force, such dialogue. One starting point might be to build support by framing issues in terms that transcend the normal partisan divide.
… Read More

1/10 9:45 am Looking for Common Ground

This new edition can’t be published without noting that no thinking Arizonan can be anything but horrified – and outraged– by the shooting spree aimed at Gabrielle Giffords that took six lives and wounded many more. In its wake, will politics revert to form or can we find common ground?

… Read More