Gov. Brewer: I apologize, you were right
Ihate it when readers pay attention. Not all the time, of course. When I’m right, I love it. It’s those other times that bother me. Perhaps because there are so many of them, and so many clever and perceptive readers. Like this guy, who wrote: “Dear Discombobulated Eddie, I’ve been waiting patiently since Election Day for you to get off our sanctimonious high horse and do what you should have done the moment Trump was declared the winner and that he had carried Arizona: Apologize — publicly — to Jan Brewer. Well?” Darn. Got me. Again. Prior to the election former Gov. Brewer was, as I put it, “one of the few female public figures willing to stand up for Donald Trump.”
In one of those instances she was contacted by a reporter from the Boston Globe who was writing an article about what many people believed (incorrectly, it turns out) were the new battleground states, including Arizona.
Hillary Clinton’s campaign press secretary was quoted in the article as saying, “There are other states right now that are very close contests, but even if we manage to pull off a win [it] would not have that same symbolic significance.” He added that in a place like Arizona, “I think that speaks to demographic changes in the country that are really upending the normal map.”
It seemed to make sense. In Arizona, a coalition of a dozen or so local organizations calling itself One Arizona had spent months reaching out to minority communities, particularly Latinos, and had registered roughly 150,000 new voters. Since this constituency had expressed firm support for Clinton, The Globe writer wondered if it could tip the state to Clinton.
So he sought out Brewer, with her long experience in Arizona politics, and having won a state-wide election after signing the divisive Senate Bill 1070. The former governor responded with cheeky, dismissive confidence: “Nah... They don’t get out and vote.”
I took her to task for that. I was wrong. Again.
The registration numbers generated a lot of optimism. (Or was it simply wishful thinking?) Prior to the election one longtime voter registration activist said, “The person of the year is going to be the Hispanic voter. We guarantee record Latino turnout.”
Even if that were true, it didn’t change the outcome. Such people would like to claim that Latinos were responsible at least for the ouster of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. No. That had more to do with longtime Arpaio supporters who’d grown weary of all the controversies and the costs to taxpayers over the years. They still voted for Trump, but not for the sheriff.
Brewer was chastised by a lot of people after her remark. State Sen. Catherine Miranda, D-Phoenix, for example, said, “If this doesn’t get fire under our bellies to go out and vote, I don’t know what will. My message for all Latinos … is to get out to vote and prove her wrong.”
Or not.