John McCain

Members of Arizona’s Congressional deligation have been meeting and greeting constituents across the state this week while Congress is in recess.They’ve also been meeting and greeting across Congressional District lines.On Tuesday, Rep. Harry Mitchell, a Democrat who represents Arizona’s 5th Congressional District, met with law enforcement officials at the Mesa Police Department, which just happens to be located within Arizona’s 6th Congressional District.Then on Wednesday, Rep. Jeff Flake, a Republican who represents the 6th district, spoke at a breakfast meeting at the Fiesta Inn Resort in Tempe, which happens to be within the 5th district.Of course, Mitchell’s and Flake’s events focused on different aspects of the same topic, immigration. And that issue crosses boundaries — congressional distrist boundaries, international boundaries, political party boundaries…

Sen. Jon Kyl, one of the architects of the new Senate immigration reform bill, isn’t the only lawmaker taking heat for the measure. (See previous posts.)Rep. Jeff Flake told a group of pro-immigration reform business leaders on Wednesday that his offices in Washington and Mesa received about 500 telephone calls the day after Kyl and Co. went public with their compromise measure.Flake’s aides told him that the calls were overwhelmingly against the proposal."I said, ‘How many positive calls?’ They said, ‘We’re hoping for one soon,’ " Flake recalled.Flake told members of the group Arizona Employers for Immigration Reform that he suspected the surge of telephone calls were the result of phone networks organized by anti-immigration reform advocates.He urged pro-immigration reform forces to create their own phone networks to lobby lawmakers in both the Senate and the House.Arizona Employers for Immigration Reform leaders are doing just that. Furthermore, at the breakfast meeting at the Fiesta Inn Resort in Tempe, the organization’s leaders distributed flyers with the addressess of key lawmakers for a letter-writing campaign. The organization’s Web site is www.azeir.org. Flake, a Republican whose Congressional District is based in Mesa, co-sponsored a different immigration reform bill this year. He said it was too early to get a good read as to whether the House will move forward on his bill or start with a version of Kyl’s Senate bill.Either way, Flake said he thinks there probably is enough support to pass an immigration reform bill in both the Senate and the House. Probably.

John McCain touched on his Senate voting record in an e-mail to supporters on Wednesday. It’s been a touchy issue along the presidential campaign trail in recent days.Through last week, McCain had missed 50 percent of the Senate’s votes this year because the Arizona senator has been campaigning in New Hampshire, Iowa and South Carolina, among other early primary states. Critics had siezed on his frequent no-shows for Senate votes, complaining that he was shirking his day job.For example, McCain’s critics — both of the Republican and Democrat variety — have been happy to point out that Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have voted on proposed legislation with far greater regularity.However, the notion that Arizona would be better served if McCain resigned from the Senate to campaign for the Republican presidential nomination is pretty shaky.Consider this: If McCain resigned, Gov. Janet Napolitano would be responsible for naming a Republican replacement to serve the rest of McCain’s term. It’s a sure bet that she would not select a qualified and respected successor along the lines of Jeff Flake or John Shadegg.No, not a chance.Napolitano, a Democrat who might have eyes on the Senate seat herself in 2010, likely would name either a way-past-prime-time clock-puncher or a nowhere-near-qualified pretender to hold the seat until she or another strong Democrat runs for the office.In any event, McCain was sure to point out a recent Senate vote in his e-mail to supporters."Last month, when I officially announced my candidacy for President of the United States, our campaign kicked off a series of events all over the country. It’s been a busy month campaigning throughout Iowa, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, California, Texas, Florida, New York, Alabama, Oklahoma, and Washington, D.C.," McCain wrote. "But even though I have been campaigning all over the country, I am mindful of my duties and responsibilities as a United States Senator. Just last week, I voted to continue the funding necessary to support our proud and dedicated service men and women on the frontlines. I was profoundly disappointed that my Senate colleagues, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, instead chose political expediency over leadership as two of the eleven Democrat Senators to vote against the funding appropriation," he wrote.The e-mail conveyed two important messages to supporters: 1) McCain voted; and, 2) He differed with Dem front runners Clinton and Obama on a critical issue.

Jon Kyl, one of the architects of the Senate

Arizona Republican Party chairman Randy Pullen went into serious damage-control mode Friday. The only question was exactly whose reputation he was trying to defend — Jon Kyl’s or his own.Pullen sent a blast e-mail to Republicans statewide to defend Kyl, whom Pullen said has served the state and nation with

Rep. Harry Mitchell will be among the featured speakers at the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry

On-line surveys are completely unscientific, but they’re still interesting.Consider the East Valley Tribune

Not only is Rep. Harry Mitchell using ex-Rep. J.D. Hayworth’s old office in Washington, now Mitchell is using Hayworth’s old bills.

Mitchell, D-Ariz., and Rep. Dean Heller, R-Nev., cosponsored the bipartisan Lower Colorado River Multi-Species Conservation Program Act on Thursday, according to Mitchell’s press office.

The measure is designed to create a long-term regional program to protect endangered species along the Lower Colorado River, while addressing Arizona’s, Nevada’s and California’s water and energy needs.

“This bill has been more than a decade in the making, and I believe it is a worthy, bipartisan compromise,” Mitchell said.

Mitchell’s former Republican opponent had a role in that decade-long process, Mitchell’s press office noted. Hayworth introduced the bill in the 109th Congress.

The legislation would:

– Protects 26 endangered, threatened and sensitive species on and along the lower Colorado River in Arizona, California and Nevada from Lake Mead to the U.S.-Mexico border for 50 years.

– Create more than 8,100 acres of riparian, marsh and backwater habitat for protected species, and stock more than 1.2 million fish to augment populations of two endangered fish.

– Condition continued operation of impacted water and power agencies on compliance with the MSCP’s environmental requirements.

– Direct the secretary of the Interior to manage and implement the MSCP.

Mitchell didn’t consult with Hayworth before re-introducing the legislation, because other members in both parties had worked on the measure before Hayworth became involved. Mitchell said he is familiar with the topic because worked on similar measures in the Arizona Legislature before winning Hayworth’s seat in the U.S. Congress.

Since losing the election in the fall, Hayworth has moved onto a radio gig with KFYI-550 AM.

The producers of "American Idol" might be onto something.They were able to narrow a large cast of contenders and pretenders into a final election during the span of just one television season. In the end, 74 million people voted and elected Glendale teen singer Jordin Sparks as the winner Thursday.In contrast, the presidential campaign will stretch two entire years. Even the pretenders will hang around for at least one more year. And based on voter turn-out of the 2004 presidential election results, about 122 million people will vote.Of course "American Idol" merely picks a pop singer, while the presidential election selects the leader of the free world, still…