Apr. 18, 2010 12:00 AM
Non-stop calls register migrant-bill options

Voters weigh in . . . The phones were ringing non-stop Friday morning in Gov. Jan Brewer's office, mostly from residents encouraging her to either sign or veto Senate Bill 1070, the state's controversial immigration-control measure.

The bill, among other things, makes it a state crime to be in the country illegally and requires police to check the immigration status of individuals. It passed the House of Representatives on Tuesday and is scheduled for a final vote in the Senate on Monday.


Brewer, who doesn't comment on legislation before it hits her desk, has not indicated what action she will take.

But rest assured, if you call to offer your opinion, there is a receptionist on duty taking notes and tallying your thoughts.

• Everyone weighs in . . . Those looking to express their opinion - or at least see what other folks are griping about - in a less formal manner can just cruise the Internet, flip the TV channels or twist the radio dial. Arizona and its immigration bill have been making national news. Big time.

Fox News' Bill O'Reilly interviewed former state Sen. Alfredo Gutierrez. Fox's Geraldo Rivera debated the bill with Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Bill sponsor Sen. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, and Tucson-based Coalition for Human Rights co-chair Isabel Garcia yelled it out on CNN on Thursday. National Public Radio personality Diane Rehm chatted up the issue with her guests Friday morning.

Liberal Denver radio talk-show host Mario Solis-Marich declared Arizona the "Alabama of the new century" on a blog that made the Huffington Post website and encouraged people to join the Facebook page "Boycott the Police State Known as Arizona."

Seems like just about everyone has an opinion on the bill. Whether you want to hear them or not, well, that's another story.

• Bringing in the big names . . . The Arizona Democratic Party is pulling out all the stops for its upcoming fundraiser, tapping Vice President Joe Biden as the keynote speaker for the 2010 Arizona Heritage Dinner.

The event, which will be held on May 1, at the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa in Phoenix, is hoping to draw at least 800 people, spokeswoman Jennifer Johnson said.

Attorney General and gubernatorial hopeful Terry Goddard is listed as the special guest.

Biden's visit to Arizona comes as several prominent Democrats, including Reps. Gabrielle Giffords, Ann Kirkpatrick, and Harry Mitchell, are potentially facing tough challenges this fall.

But the event also is about supporting state Democrats, Johnson said.

"Obviously, the mid-term elections are really important," she said. "But we have a really crucial election here in Arizona. It's critical that we get the right person, i.e., Terry Goddard, in the Governor's Office."

Goddard is the presumptive Democratic nominee; he'll face the winner of a crowded GOP primary field that includes Brewer, State Treasurer Dean Martin, businessman Owen "Buz" Mills and former Board of Regents President John Munger.

Tickets for the event range from $200 to $10,000.

• Elephants and Rhinos . . . Andrew Thomas' first TV ad in his campaign against State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne is an Animal Planet spoof that plays off Thomas' characterization of Horne as a "Republican In Name Only. " And of course, as the ad says, "at the end of every RINO is a Horne."

Thomas, the "true conservative in the race," is a bull elephant. Then the ad devolves into something like Claymation as the elephant kills the Rhino/RINO and the announcer solemnly intones, "When elephants and rhinos battle each other in the wild, the elephants emerge victorious."

Quote of the week: "This bill ushers in a new chapter of disgrace for the state that resisted celebrating the life of Martin Luther King." - Chris Newman, legal director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, commenting on SB 1070.

www.azcentral.com