Ducey gets an ad, and the public gets the bill
Gov. Doug Ducey on Wednesday held a “press conference” complete with guns, drugs, a dog, a Department of Public Safety airplane and law enforcement on hand so he could announce $2.9 million in funding to expand the Arizona Border Strike Force.
The same $2.9 million he announced in January, when he put it in the state budget.
The same $2.9 million he announced in March, when he put out a press release about it.
And yet again on Wednesday, only this time with county, state and federal law-enforcement officials present to sing his praises for a future campaign commercial.
All this, on the public’s dime. With immigration and the border once again a five-alarm issue, it seems Ducey needed a visual for his re-election campaign. Something more than Wednesday’s USA TODAY op-ed defending ICE.
Thus, his “press conference” to announce 6-month-old news — which, by the way, snagged him a choice spot on the front page of Thursday’s Arizona Republic.
There is nothing wrong, of course, with the governor shooting a campaign commercial showing him standing shoulder to shoulder with the border cops. But usually, the campaign — not the public — pays for campaign ads.
Capitol Media Services’ Howard Fischer reported that Ducey had both a campaign photographer and a videographer on hand to tape Wednesday’s invitation-only “press conference.”
Here’s how the event was described by Fischer, who has covered state politics for more than 30 years:
“It is not unusual for an incumbent seeking re-election to have their events at public venues, like on the Capitol lawn, videotaped by campaign staff.
“But only the media — and his campaign — were notified less than 24 hours earlier that the governor was going to provide ‘the latest updates on the Arizona Border Strike Force.’
“In fact, that invite was conditional: Only after those who received it said they wanted to cover the event were they given the location.
“The governor’s office did not respond to repeated requests for a list of those to whom the invitation was sent.”
When Fischer questioned the governor about the propriety of using public resources to tape footage for a campaign commercial, Ducey insisted it was a legitimate news event.
“This is a public event,” Ducey said. “Anyone who wants to come can come.”
Yeah, provided you received an invitation. And provided, once you RSVP’d to that invitation, that you were given the address of this “public event,” which was held in a closed DPS hangar at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.
I didn’t get an invitation (imagine that). But, curiously, Ducey’s campaign photographer and videographer did.
From what I’ve read, not much news came out of it, other than an update on the amount of guns, drugs and ammunition seized since the last update was given via press release in March. And the announcement — again — of $2.9 million in new funding.
And conveniently, a parade of law-enforcement officials coming to the microphone to tout the accomplishments of the Border Strike Force, which Ducey launched in 2015.
“I want to start off by thanking Gov. Ducey for his leadership on this issue as we all tackle the border-security problem together,” Rodolfo Karisch, chief agent for the Tucson Sector of the Border Patrol, told the assembled journalists and campaign videographer.
“We have sent a strong message to the cartel,” Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels said. “Smuggling in Cochise County will not be tolerated.”
But, of course, the star of the show — standing against a backdrop of officers, seized drugs, guns, a plane and a dog — was Ducey.
“We’re taking the fight directly to the drug cartels and the human smugglers, and we’re getting results,” he said.
Expect to see that sound bite in a campaign coming your way.