Thread: Sheriff Joe Arpaio still relevant in state (he says)

Sheriff Joe Arpaio still relevant in state (he says)


by E. J. Montini, columnist - Nov. 7, 2010 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic


It's Friday morning and an irritated Sheriff Joe Arpaio is on the line.

"E.J.," he says, "Yeah, I've got a bone to pick with you."

Arpaio heard about a blog I'd written about him after Election Day. It involved the fact that the sheriff wasn't at the Republican celebration on the night of the election, and wasn't much talked about by the speakers there.

It seemed to me that this might be the first time since 1992 that Arpaio hasn't played a big role at such a gathering.

I wondered if maybe Republicans were backing off from the sheriff because of his troubles with county supervisors or the fact that his office is being investigated by federal prosecutors. Why else would Arpaio spend Election Day in Louisville, Ky., giving a speech to sporting-goods wholesalers?

"Let me tell you," Arpaio says. "I went to Louisville and I talked to 500 people. I made these arrangements months ago. They wanted to pay me $10,000 and I said donate it to my youth-assistance program. So they did. That's why I was in Louisville on Election Day."

As for people shying away from Arpaio over his recent troubles, the sheriff says that it hasn't happened.

He claims that candidates from all over the state and country still seek his endorsement.

"In fact (Paul) Gosar (who defeated Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick) asked me to do robocalls for him just before the election," Arpaio says.

He'd been to Idaho to raise money, give a speech and endorse a candidate. And to New Hampshire. And to Nevada. He was in Kansas to give a speech for that state's eventual secretary of state winner, Kris Kobach, the lawyer credited with writing Arizona's Senate Bill 1070.

"I've been all over the country and I've been breaking records," Arpaio tells me. "Evidently people still want me. I have to turn down trips to talk to groups. I also have demonstrators wherever I go. They don't ignore me. I've been on over 3,000 television shows and magazines from overseas. Last week, I had Italy, Spain, Belgium and Ireland coming to see me. They don't go to see anybody else."

In his home state, however, Arpaio is no longer a needy politician's only go-to member of law enforcement.

Beginning with Sen. John McCain and trickling down to other elected officials, it seems as if stodgy old Republicans in Arizona are slowly divorcing themselves from Arpaio and marrying their futures to a "trophy sheriff" in Pinal County's younger, better looking Paul Babeu.

Arpaio isn't buying it.

He has an enormous campaign war chest for his 2012 campaign and he plans to keep immigration enforcement on the front burner in Arizona, thanks in part to new Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery (Arpaio endorsed) and new state Senate President - and de facto governor - Russell Pearce (also Arpaio endorsed).

"You know me," Arpaio says. "I've been doing immigration enforcement for years. I'm going to enforce one part of (SB 1070) about picking up laborers. That part wasn't thrown out. I'm going to continue with the crime-suppression sweeps. I'm going to do more, despite the Department of Justice investigating me. I don't know how much emphasis across the nation they'll do for immigration. I fear that it will be on the back burner (nationally). But I'll keep enforcing the human-smuggling and employer-sanctions laws."

And he expects other politicians to continue to seek his blessing.

"Just last week I had someone in my office who is running for mayor of Phoenix," he says. "If I'm taking so much heat, why are they still coming to my office for endorsements?"


www.azcentral.com

You go Sheriff Joe! You most certainly are not and will never be on the back burner, on the sidelines or ever forgotten. You, Russell Pearce and Jan Brewer will always be deep in the hearts and foremost on the minds of every American who loves our country and wants to stop the ravages of illegal immigration impoverishing and bankrupting our citizens and nation.

We love you Sheriff Joe and can't thank you enough for all you've done and all you are doing to help US and other countries stop illegal immigration.