A few weeks back my family got hit with an illegal push poll that succeeded in spreading lies and distortions about me that have nothing to do with this election for Arizona’s future. We still do not know who was responsible for that descent into the gutter.
Now we have lies and distortions coming from a new source – an independent expenditure committee called the “Arizona Conservative Trust” with major funding provided by the “Arizona Values Coalition.”
Is this a new conservative organization in town, showing up just in time to attack someone who has stood for conservative values? I don’t think so.
The phony and deceptively named entities above have been behind a number of autodials, emails and a website attacking me. It is an independent expenditure committee, and as such, we should receive matching funds on whatever it spends.
The autodial messages and emails are almost uniformly lies and distortions. The website is juvenile and full of outright lies and distortions as well.
The question is this – who would be behind such a sleazy effort?
The first autodial hit the night before the primary election in a last-minute attack designed to keep me from winning the primary.
Obviously it failed, although we will never know whether my 11-point margin of victory would have been greater without it.
Because the primary was expected to be close, we had no idea which of my opponents was behind this attempt to smear me.
But if any of my primary opponents had been behind it, the effort would have ended last week.
Instead, after I won the primary, the attacks not only continued but intensified. Obviously, it was not one of my Republican primary opponents.
But surely Janet Napolitano – who pledged just last week to run a positive, issues-oriented campaign – would not allow anyone near her to have anything to do with these types of attacks, hiding behind deceptive names, making up lies about an opposing candidate.
Surely a popular Democratic governor who most people assume will be re-elected would not have anyone near her campaign resort to such tactics against a political opponent.
And surely the Democratic Party, which today called for “transparency” in this election process, would not be anywhere near such a fraudulent, dishonest campaign tactic.
I suspect the people of Arizona think their Governor and her political party should be above any association with people or entities responsible for such tactics.
I will continue to run a positive, issue-oriented campaign. I have already publicly repudiated attacks on Janet Napolitano on issues unrelated to her public policy positions as Governor. When I was attacked unfairly in a much more personal fashion, she did not return the favor.
I hope this time she will be willing to not only publicly disavow any connection to this phony organization, but will publicly repudiate anyone who is involved.
We are waiting. In the meantime, one thing is clear – someone is very concerned about the momentum of our campaign … so concerned that they tried to stop us from winning the primary with last-minute lies. And they are still concerned.
