Politics: Arizona?s House of Cards

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Politics Arizona's House of Cards The state is a GOP stronghold. But an absurd agenda, stupid ideas, and a failure to listen to Latinos may change that. By David Weigel Posted Saturday, Feb 25, 2012, at 12:44 AM ET PHOENIX—Rep. Ruben Gallego invites me into the Arizona House of Representatives, and I take a seat near the lobbyists. Half a dozen of them are in the well-upholstered lounge behind the floor where members work and vote. Gallego runs a quick errand, and while he's gone I give up my seat to a lobbyist who wants to talk up a few Republican members. When he returns, my Democratic host ribs me for losing my chair. "Don't listen to these guys!" says Gallego, motioning toward the lobbyists. "They're a bunch of jokers." The freshman member from south Phoenix is joking. That's his style. His Democratic colleague Daniel Patterson, a soft-spoken ecologist who represents part of Tucson, is a lot more somber. The access that lobbyists have is unseemly. Much too much about this job is unseemly. "This capital has been really hijacked by extremists and out-of-state special interests," he says. As we talk, his Democratic colleagues are trying to fix that on the House floor. They are aiming to amend a disclosure bill by requiring groups that write model legislation to register as lobbyists. It's a shot at the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a free-market group that flies state legislators to conferences and advises them on how to craft libertarian-flavored bills: How to end public campaign financing, how to desanctify sanctuary cities, stuff like that. "The amendment's not going to pass," says Gallego. At least 50 of the 90 legislators serving in the ... To continue reading, click here. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate Why Has the Syrian Uprising Been Such a Dud on Facebook and Twitter? Finally, New Laws That Give Nannies and Maids Real Legal Rights Muckreads: Dissing Reagan, Loving Government. Archives Reveal the Other Side of Newt.	Advertisement
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