“It is one matter for political candidates to attack incumbents on issues of law and order … Debating crime trends – and the records of sitting politicians regarding those trends – is political fair game, certainly.”

Guess what? That is exactly what Bill Montgomery and I did last week. We stood up at a press conference and challenged the record of Janet and Terry on law and order issues, and pointed out that Arizona has had the worst crime rate in the nation the entire time they have been in office. And we described our background with law enforcement and some of our specific ideas to make a difference.
But the editorial also says this:

“… the sudden burst of opportunism from political aspirants … linking the spate of despicable shootings and sexual attacks in Phoenix to the presumed priorities of officeholders is well beyond the limits of decency.” And also: “That which is not fair game – indeed, that which is contemptible in its outlandish callousness – is to suggest that one officeholder or another should be held personally responsible for a sudden, brutal spate of serial murders and rapes …”.

On several occasions at the press conference I was goaded by reporters to do exactly that, and I refused. In fact, I said explicitly in response to whether I thought Janet Napolitano was responsible for the serial murders and rapes – “No, you cannot tie any particular crime spree to a particular officeholder.” I simply noted that our worst crime rate in the nation was not getting much attention from our Governor, our Attorney General, and the media until this crime spree began to happen.
The media wanted me to blame Janet Napolitano for the serial murders so that they could attack me for doing so. I did not fall for the bait. So they attacked me anyway, accusing me of doing what I specifically declined to do, and following the talking points laid out for them last week by Janet Napolitano’s campaign team.
As I said, it’s easy to have high approval ratings when the media adopts your campaign talking points for you. Once we have a chance to debate these issues and speak directly to the people – without the liberal media filter – we will see where the people of Arizona stand.

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.