Ex-Rep. Matt Salmon moves on
December 5th, 2007, 2:53 pm · Post a Comment · posted by Paul Giblin
Matt Salmon
Former U.S. representative and soon-to-be former Arizona resident Matt Salmon told me Tuesday that two highlights of his time in public office were passage of a federal law that prompted states to enforce life sentences against murderers, rapists and child molesters; and his work to free an imprisoned scholar in China.
That story can be accessed here: http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/103378
Interestingly, the low point of his political career came years after he left public office, when law enforcement officials arrested a number of former colleagues public corruption and related crimes.
Salmon said, “The one that broke me up the most, because I had looked up so much to him, was when I heard on the radio that Duke Cunningham had been indicted on bribery and many other things. I actually had to pull off my car to the side of the road, because I couldn’t see through the tears. It was a very, very hard thing for me.”
He said, “I always try to look for the best in people, and when I saw some of my colleagues engaged in those kinds of activities, especially people that I thought stood for a lot more, that was just a very, very sad thing for me, very, very disillusioning.”
Cunningham, a Republican representative from California, admitted in November 2005 that he accepted $2.4 million in bribes from defense contractors. In exchange, he used his influence to guide federal contracts to to contractors. Cunningham was sentenced to more than eight years in prison. Hearing the news that Cunningham had been arrested, Salmon said, was more difficult than losing the governor’s race to Democrat opponent Janet Napolitano in 2002.
Salmon said, “I worked my guts out, but I think in retrospect, I think she probably did me a big favor. I thing for a conservative Republican, honestly, in this state, I don’t think I would have been given nearly as many passes, as many do-overs.”
He said, “I just think it would have been really tough for me, because in tough budget times, my response would to dramatically cut spending and to get our priorities back in order that way. Obviously, that’s really painful, and I think, honestly, the press would have been a lot less forgiving to me than they have been to the current governor, so she probably did me a big favor.”
On a personal note, I’ll miss Salmon. His political career and my journalism career were intertwined in a small, but significant way. Back in 1994 when Salmon was running for Congress the first time, I worked as reporter at the weekly Phoenix Business Journal. The Tempe Chamber of Commerce planned to hold a candidate’s forum and a Chamber executive invited me to be on a panel to quiz the candidates on business-related topics.
I met Salmon for the first time that night at the forum. He was friendly and polite, just like every other time I have bumped into him during the years since. I also made another contact that night, a contact that led to an interview for an open position at the East Valley Tribune. About a week after Salmon took his new job in the U.S. House, I took a new job at the Tribune.
Although I always took a particular interest in the career of the guy I interviewed in front of an audience that night, I never covered Salmon much. While he was in Congress, I was on the business beat. Then about the same time he left Congress and moved into the business sector, I switched to the political beat. During that whole time, I might have spoken to him a couple of dozen times. Alas…
Forget any legislation or foreign affairs coup, in my book, Salmon distinguished himself with his honestly, thoughtfulness, good humor and gentlemanly demeanor — in any and all circumstances. Arizona would benefit from more people like Salmon, not fewer.
