The following is the opinion and analysis of the writer:
Kathleen Winn
With disappointment and concern, I have watched the devolution of the Democratic Party, which has come undone during the rule of ailing President Biden. His term ended with most people wondering who was in charge for four long years. Regardless of your politics, it is obvious that democracy only works if the person you vote for and wins is really in charge of our nation.
Although many Democrats visualize the 46th President working off trained instincts based on his decades of experience, the reality is quite different. Most of President Biden’s cabinet was hapless or checked out, and he didn’t want to create more work while fighting cognitive decline. President Obama, Jim Clyburn, Kamala Harris, Gavin Newsom, Nancy Pelosi, and Chuck Schumer are having a hard time rebuilding credibility with the American people after the star-studded house of cards known as the Harris/Walz campaign left many loyalists feeling betrayed.
Democrats who have begun to shift rightward in their perspectives are doing so because they are seeing a rise in anti-citizen rhetoric, antisemitism, anti-intellectualism and an attack on the essence of femininity at the heart of their party. The truth is Tucson is suffering because local Democratic Party leadership has created the perfect storm of overregulation while ignoring public safety standards, allowing squalor and fentanyl in encampments after a pandemic, and an overall dereliction of duty that has resulted in a high inflation anti-business ecosystem, loss of jobs, and significant financial damage to the average Tucsonan.
Although we understand that President Trump’s name stirs up a lot of negative emotions for Democrats, their disdain for him seems to overshadow the reality that their party became a barter system for select elites to trade power while measuring outcomes that don’t matter. The average person walking the streets of downtown Tucson sees, hears or smells an assault on their senses every day while hearing sermons about equity, social justice or other high-minded luxury beliefs by Democrats who are adept at creating new problems instead of identifying solutions for existing ones.
Again, before you instinctively revert to blaming President Trump, I ask you to hold your all-Democrat Mayor & Council and the 4 of 5 Democrat Pima County Board of Supervisors accountable. Tucson and Pima County governments collectively spend over 4 billion dollars annually towards efforts that are supposed to improve the lives of Democrats and Republicans alike. Are you happy with the results?
If you didn’t know, Mayor Romero is working a side hustle as Chair of Adelita Grijalva’s congressional run while the City of Tucson faces a budget deficit, rising costs of living, and a free but drug-plagued bus system that costs over $100 million every year. Mayor Romero and Adelita Grijalva also explored raiding your wallets with the recent Prop 414 measure to raise taxes which the voters handily rejected.
The Democratic Party primary race for Congressional District 7, which controls all three Arizona ports of entry into the United States already includes Adelita Grijalva and a social media influencer in her early 20s who has more likes and followers than Mayor Romero and former Supervisor Grijalva combined. Does Regina Romero getting involved in this race seem like a good use of her time?
You and your Republican neighbors all deserve the best quality of life for the money you invest into our local and state economy regardless of who you choose on your ballots. If you are one of the 46,000+ people who just voted for Adelita Grijalva to hold a four-year term in November, she has resigned after just six months. Her replacement shall be appointed, not democratically elected.
I ask Mayor Romero to either resign from the Grijalva campaign or from her day job as she is unlikely to give her all to either endeavor given the current circumstances. We need leaders who are focused on the issues at hand, not political horse-traders whose thought processes and actions are controlled by the next election.
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