At our Friday press conference on crime, I said “For a Governor who claims a background in prosecution, Janet Napolitano has been deafeningly silent on the issue of crime. Tragically, it has taken the presence of serial murderers and rapists in our community to draw public attention to our state’s serious problem with crime.” In a previous post, I made it clear I am a huge supporter of local law enforcement, but was concerned about the lack of leadership being provided by Janet Napolitano and Terry Goddard in combating crime given Arizona’s worst crime rate in the nation during their entire terms of office.
In response, the Democratic Party issued this press release. In addition to again trying to turn my critique of Janet Napolitano into an attack on local law enforcement, the release includes this choice quote:
Democratic party Chairman David Waid responded to today’s press conference from Washington, DC, where he was attending the Democratic National Committee’s Rules and Bylaws Committee. “Munsil has been deafly [sic] silent on crime for his entire career and he’ll never utter another word on crime after he looses [sic],” said Waid. “It is disappointing that candidates for Governor and Attorney General would use issues as sensitive as rapes and serial killings for political gain.”
Deafly silent? Look David, if you’re going to steal my lines at least learn how to spell. And for your information, here is how “deafly silent” [sic] I have been on crime for my entire career:
Even though she is 6 years older than me, I was involved with the law enforcement community long before Janet Napolitano left her job as a trial lawyer to be Bill Clinton’s political appointment as US Attorney in Arizona. That was her first experience with law enforcement. By the time she was appointed US Attorney in 1994, I had traveled the country teaching thousands of prosecutors and law enforcement officials how to effectively prosecute child pornography and obscenity crimes that led to the abuse of women and children, and was co-author of a book used by prosecutors nationwide. Another legal manual I wrote included a foreword written by President Reagan’s Attorney General, Edwin Meese, a member of my board of directors. I had been appointed by Gov. Fife Symington to the Arizona Juvenile Justice Advisory Council. I had worked with former Chief Asst. Attorney General Steve Twist on Arizona’s victim’s bill of rights. I had been appointed a special deputy county attorney by Rick Romley, and been involved in anti-drug coalitions in our community.
That’s right, long before Janet Napolitano began creating her phony political image as a tough on crime prosecutor, I had trained thousands of prosecutors around the nation, co-written two books used by law enforcement, and been actively involved in many facets of local law enforcement.
Falsely claiming that I have never been involved in fighting crime during my career demonstrates how worried the Democrats are about our campaign. Like it or not, they are going to have to defend Janet Napolitano’s liberal ideology, soft on crime judicial appointments, and weak record of addressing our nation’s worst crime rate. And lying about my background isn’t going to help make your case.
You wanna debate who’s tougher on crime? Bring it on.