Hermy (left) and Rudolph

One of my favorite movie quotes didn’t make the American Film Institute’s official list of the 100 greatest American movie quotes. You’ve probably heard of the list, which was released in 2005, or at least several of the quotes from the list. Here’s a quick sampling…

No. 1: “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn,” from Gone With the Wind in 1939.

No. 2: “I’m going to make him an offer he can’t refuse,” from The Godfather in 1972.

No. 3 “You don’t understand! I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I could’ve been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am,” from On the Waterfront in 1964.

I’d like to think the quote I have in mind didn’t make the list simply because it wasn’t actually muttered in a movie. It was delivered in a television program.

The line: “Hey, what do you say we both be independent together, huh?” from the ground-breaking TV special Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer in 1964.

Which brings us to a new organization called Grand Canyon Independent Voters. The collectively minded group of independent thinkers issued a press release this week calling for Arizona to open its presidential preference elections to independent voters. Right now, the Democratic presidential preference election is open only to registered Democrats, while the Republican presidential preference election is open to just registered Republicans.

“Independents pay taxes and deserve to have the right to vote in the presidential preference election. Independents are allowed to vote in all other primaries held in Arizona but are denied access to the ballot box in ultimately the most important primary, the presidential primary,” according to the association’s press release.

“The State of Arizona remains one of only 18 states that disenfranchise voters by not having open primaries.  The time has come for Arizona to join the majority of states and open its primaries to independent and unaffiliated voters,” according to the release.

The state Senate passed legislation by a 27-0 margin that would allow independents to vote in the contests, but frankly, I wonder whether the state House will give a damn.

 While John McCain had strong support at his rally in Prescott on Saturday, there were some people in the crowd with different political agendas.

Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and Ron Paul supporters held signs and distributed literature about their candidates as well.

One particular Paul supporter was fairly entertaining. As a row of newspaper reporters typed madly at their computers at an outdoor table immediately after McCain’s speech, the Paul enthusiast kept walking back and forth in front of them carrying a Paul campaign sign. He kept saying, “Remember the revolution! Remember the revolution!”

According to Paul’s Web site, his, ahem, revolution persists. It says, “Dr. Paul is continuing his bid for the Republican nomination in order to spread the message of constitutional government and personal freedom, take the GOP back to its traditional roots, and continue the grassroots activism his candidacy inspired.”

So noted.

Meanwhile, El Mirage resident William Crum made the trip to Prescott specifically to oppose McCain. He held a hand-made sign that stated, “McCain = 100 Years of War With a Draft (Men and Women).”

Crum, a Vietnam veteran, said he differs with McCain’s approach to the war in Iraq.

“His opinion right now is basically stay the course,” Crum said. “You know what? We can’t afford that. Our country and our service guys can’t stay the course. I mean, why else would they be going back three, four, five times? That’s why I feel that if this war keeps going, we’re going to have to start a draft again, because where else are we going to get people? The reason I believe that we’re going to have to get men and women is because there are not enough men.”

I covered McCain’s speech in the Tribune and my story can be accessed here.

OK, and quick note on Paul’s puzzling campaign sign, in which the letters E, V, O and L within the word “revolution” are backwards and in red. If you read just the red letters backwards, it spells ”love.”

Trippy, man.

Also, if you play some of Paul’s campaign speeches backwards, it sounds like he says, “Number 9,” “I am the walrus” and “Coo-coo ca choo.” Really.

John and Cindy McCain

One of the best applause lines in Sen. John McCain’s speech in Prescott on Saturday was a reference to his wife Cindy.

“I was introduced to Arizona by my wife, Cindy, whose love for this place I soon shared. Guided by her superior judgment, to which I am always indebted…”

At that point, McCain had to pause for a moment while the women in the crowd of more than 500 cheered.

Then he continued, “… we made the decision to raise our children here.”

Before McCain took the podium, one of his warm-up speakers, Sen. Jon Kyl, elicited a fair laugh himself. Kyl’s task was to introduce Cindy McCain, who in turn introduced her husband.

Kyl quipped, “My friends, we know that Cindy McCain will be the best first lady of the United States. I won’t even mention the first bubba candidate.”

For more on McCain’s day in Prescott, read my story that appeared in the Tribune.

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument (in Arizona)

Sen. Jon Kyl, who appeared on FOX News this morning, said he supports the idea of “getting about the job” of constructing a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border. The matter is in the news again because Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff cleared the way Tuesday for another 220 miles of fence and roads to be constructed through Arizona.

Kyl, the Senate’s assistant minority leader told FOX’s anchor Jon Scott, “You’ve got to secure the borders if you’re a sovereign country. And we’re never going to have further immigration reform in this country if we don’t get control of our borders.”

During the interview, Kyl discussed the differences between actual fence and virtual fence, and sized up the environmental arguments. The senator also helped the geographically challenged cable-news anchor locate the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in the proper state.

Here’s the transcript…

SCOTT:  Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff testifying on Capitol Hill this morning.  He’s expected to talk about plans for the virtual border fence — the federal government bypassing more than 30 laws and regulations to get it built faster.Let’s talk about it with Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl.Sen. Kyl, parts of this virtual fence, it’s my understanding, in Texas, would go through Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, for instance. And there are opponents who don’t want the roads built and that kind of thing that you need to maintain the towers. Right?

KYL:  Well, let’s, first of all, get a couple of things straight. The virtual fence is not what we’re talking about here. We’re talking about actual fencing. Secondly, actual fencing works. I was just in the Yuma sector between Arizona and Mexico. And because of the amount of fencing that’s been constructed there, the number of illegal border crossings is down substantially. Third, where it goes through federal land, especially, there is great consultation on environmental matters. It is true that they can accelerate the construction of the fence because of the waivers that the law provides for. It’s not as if the secretary is acting outside the law.

SCOTT:  Well, and that’s the argument:  The secretary is pushing through the fence by using these waivers, that, as you say, he has the power to invoke. Right?

KYL:  That’s right.  And he just testified — I just came from his testimony. And it’s very clear that Congress is pushing him to hurry up and do the fence. So he’s doing what we’re asking him to do. We gave him the authority for the waivers. We’ve given him the money. And we’ve said, “Get about the job.”And he says that he can complete the amount of fencing that he’s been talking about now by the end of this year.

SCOTT:  Well, then, good fences make good neighbors?  I mean there are an awful lot of people opposed to either a virtual fence or an actual physical fence.

KYL:  Yes. There are some people who would open our borders to illegal immigration. That’s not the policy of the United States. And I don’t know of anybody in the United States Congress, Democrat or Republican, that would admit to supporting that kind of a policy. You’ve got to secure the borders if you’re a sovereign country. And we’re never going to have further immigration reform in this country if we don’t get control of our borders.

SCOTT:  Well, it’s my understanding that the virtual fence, which I talked about earlier, going through some of those national monuments, that would require road building.Even though you’re not building a physical fence like the kind we see on our screen here, you need to build those giant towers, 100 feet tall or so. People want to put roads through some of these national monuments, and that has some of the environmentalists upset.

KYL:  Well, first of all, there are roads through the national monuments. Organ Pipe is in Arizona. I’m very familiar with our forests, our monuments, our game refuges. And in all cases where they are adjacent to the border, it is necessary to have protection at the border, but we also are very concerned about ensuring that the reason why they’re monuments or game refuges are not destroyed by whatever is constructed. But let’s just stop and think for a moment. Even a light on top of a pole or a camera on top of a pole has a very small footprint. And the roads that do need to be constructed in most cases are either already there or are very inobtrusive. It’s not like you’re building a paved highway through the middle of a national monument.

SCOTT:  All right, Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl, thank you.

KYL:  You’re very welcome, Jon. 

U.S. Rep. Harry Mitchell told the crowd at last week’s second-annual Statesmen’s Breakfast in Chandler that he learned the hard way that there are certain topics that are best treated with utmost respect – particularly in Snowflake, Ariz.

The town in the White Mountains was established by Mormon pioneers Erastus Snow and William Flake in 1878, and named after its founders.

Mitchell recalled traveling through the picturesque town a while back and stopping at an ice cream shop, where two girls were working behind the counter. He struck up a conversation with one of them.

“I was being a little flippant and I said, ‘Are you a Flake or a Snow?’ And she said, ‘I think I’m mainly a Flake.’ So there is a proud tradition there!” Mitchell said.

Absolutely. And that tradition extends beyond the White Mountains.

Mitchell shared the stage at the Statesmen’s Breakfast on Friday with one of the ice cream girl’s relatives, U.S. Rep. Jeff Flake, another descendent of William Flake.

In just its second year, the Statesmen’s Breakfast already has become a highlight on the local political calendar because of its bluster-free treatment of important policy matters. My story on the event is available here.

John McCain

Veteran campaign strategist Ned Barnett figures that John McCain is targeting two distinct audiences with his “Service to America” tour. The audiences: new voters and members of The Fourth Estate.

OK, no surprise concerning new voters. But, c’mon. The Fourth Estate? Isn’t McCain supposed to be a media darling? Isn’t he supposed to be every reporter’s best friend?

Barnett told me, “It’s not that they don’t know who he is, but they focus on, ‘OK, he’s the guy who did McCain-Feingold and he’s the guy who did McCain-Kennedy and he’s the guy who did these cross-over bills.’ So, they see him in action as what Obama has said what he would do in principal, but has never done in action, which is to cross over party lines and come up with bipartisan or coalition or compromise solutions to major problems and issues.”

So, if members of the media already know McCain in those terms, what exactly is McCain’s message for the press during his cross-country biographical tour this week?

Barnett explained, “He’s trying to say, ‘When you look at me, remember that Hillary is saying, “I’ve got more experience than Obama,” and her experience was eight years as first lady and she’s having to embellish what she did in Bosnia to even be taken seriously as having experience. So wait a minute. I have real experience. I had more experience in serving this country before Hillary was out of law school.’”

So McCain’s goal, according to Barnett, is to remind reporters that he’s not just a candidate defined by the issues of the day; he’s a candidate with a lifetime of experiences to prepare him for the job.

Hmmm… Well, as a member of McCain’s manipulated masses in the press, I’ll take that under advisement.

For more on McCain’s tour, which concludes in Arizona on Saturday, check out my story in the Tribune.