About half the time I’ve encountered Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio in recent months, he’s growled something along the lines of, “You’re the guy who used to write those columns attacking me, aren’t you?”

Yes, in fact, I am.

Back in 2003 through 2005, before I went on the political beat for the 2006 elections, I served as a metro columnist for the Tribune. Among the topics I wrote about was a Sheriff’s Office heroin ring bust that involved Scottsdale Unified School District students, and the school board’s subsequent decision to launch a drug-sniffing dog program at the high schools.

I criticized both developments. I wrote the drug bust was over-hyped and that the drug-sniffing dog program violated students’ civil liberties.

For example, in a column that ran on May 13, 2005, I noted that the so-called heroin ring bust turned up exactly three kids who were thought to have used heroin while they were students in Scottsdale’s five high school. Most of the “investigative leads” were pretty flimsy to start with, and most of the others involved marijuana, rather than heroin anyway. I wrote…

That’s not exactly an epidemic considering Scottsdale’s five high schools have a total of 8,300 students. To be precise, Arpaio’s high-profile investigation exposed 0.04 percent of the student body as heroin users – if Arpaio’s numbers are to be believed at all.

In contrast, 1.7 percent of 12^th-graders nationwide are thought to have used heroin at least once in their lives, according to a 2002 study by the president’s Office of national Drug Control Policy. By those measures, Scottsdale schools are remarkably heroin free.

In the same column, I criticized the school board for its 4-1 decision to send drug-sniffing dogs to patrol the schools. I wrote that no clearing-thinking person could have come to such a decision, which indicated to me that the board members themselves must have been on something. I wrote…

Board member Molly Holzer said, “I’m excited to try this because it does send a strong message.”

Oh, it sends a strong message all right. It sends a message that we should forget about putting drug-sniffing dogs in schools. We should put them where they’re needed. We should put them in the board room.

In the same column, I wrote…

Board member Eric Meyer cast the loan dissenting vote, because he didn’t see the measure as a deterrent. He grasped the idea that drug users can stash their dope in their cars rather than in their school lockers, making dog patrols useless.

Now here’s the back story. Every time I wrote one of those columns, one of Arpaio’s people called the Tribune’s top editors the first thing in the mornings to complain that I was attacking the sheriff. It got to the point that Tribune managing editor Chris Coppola asked me, as a curtsey, to e-mail him a copy of all Arpaio-related columns the day before they ran, so that he would have a chance to read them before his phone started ringing.

Now, flash forward to my recent encounters with Arpaio. As I mentioned, when we’ve spoken either by phone or in person, he’s frequently brought up those columns, but not in an angry way.

In fact, just the opposite. It’s been more like he was reminiscing the good ol’ days. Clearly, the topic had been on his mind lately. I couldn’t figure why, but didn’t give it much thought, either.

Then earlier this week, an advance copy of his new book arrived in my in-box. The book, which was co-written by Scottsdale resident Len Sherman, is titled, “Joe’s Law: America’s Toughest Sheriff Takes on Illegal Immigration, Drugs, and Everything Else That Threatens America.”

Imagine my surprise when I got to Page 77 and came across a passage in which Arpaio discussed the school board’s decision to send in the dogs.

That didn’t make any sense to me. Dogs might be fine for sniffing out lockers, but how long would it take any students holding narcotics to figure out how to get around the dogs, to keep them out of their lockers and, for example, store them (in) their cars in the parking lot? In a fairly unusual event, the media expressed disdain that mirrored my own about the school board’s idea. The plan was destined to fall apart of its own ill-conceived weight.

Wow. Who knew? 

Cindy and John McCain/Photo by Tim Hacker, Tribune

In the past, John McCain’s airport press conferences in Phoenix were loose affairs. No longer. They’re getting bigger and security is getting tighter. 

Previously, following weekend stopovers in Phoenix or at his ranch in Cornville, McCain spent a about a half hour doing a freewheeling Q&A with representatives members of the local media and the traveling national media alike before jetting off for another weekend of campaigning. 

The press conferences were simple enough – reporters simply walked into a large airplane hangar, found a spot among a row or two of folding chairs, and waited for McCain to emerge and take his place behind a podium. 

The actual Q&A session on Monday was unchanged, but the logistics had been given a wholesale security upgrade.  The location had been changed from a wide-open hangar to a more confined conference room. Furthermore, McCain’s public relations team asked reporters to show up earlier than usual and noted that access to the conference room would be restricted a half hour before its scheduled start. 

Long before McCain arrived, a police officer with an explosives-sniffing dog showed up. The officer instructed the dog to sniff every camera bag, every computer bag, every suitcase and every backpack in the room. For good measure, the dog also sniffed curtains, furniture, cabinets and artwork hanging on the wall. 

The dog, which was black and had a long droopy tongue, gave everything a thorough inhaling – no Bill Clinton style non-inhaling for that animal. The dog also stuck its head deep into every bag in the room. The officer apologized for the drool it left behind. 

Then, Secret Service agents ushered all the reporters and even McCain’s staffers out of the room. The agents wanded every person one by one with a portable metal detector before re-admitting them into the room.  The federal agents patted down or visually inspected everything that beeped, plus belt buckles, pocket buldges, waistlines and ankles.

They were friendly, polite and professional, which made the experience less uncomfortable than it might have been otherwise.

The security upgrades are just a sign of the times. If McCain wins the presidency, the security surrounding the most powerful man in the free world will increase even further.

For more on the press conference, which focused on the Republican candidate’s efforts to reach Hispanic voters and his plans regarding energy, check out today’s story in the Tribune. 

Jon Kyl

Sen. Jon Kyl penned letters to the editor that appeared in two of the nation’s leading newspapers Friday.

In The Washington Post op-ed pages, he differed with a column headlined, “Iraq War is Everyone Else’s Fault, Feith Explains.” The column suggested that there were no links between al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein.

Kyl wrote, “The historical record tells a different story.” The Republican senator from Arizona noted that in 2002, then-CIA director George Tenet described a connection in a letter Sen. Bob Graham, who at the time was the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

He also noted that in 2006, the U.S. Joint Forces Command discussed in a report relationship with Hussein and Osama bin Laden’s second in command.

Kyl wrote, “Critics of the war in Iraq often try to minimize – if not dismiss – the links between Saddam Hussein and terrorists. As they say, facts are stubborn things.”

In the East Valley Tribune’s op-ed pages, Kyl differed with an editorial headlined, “Don’t blithely give feds our DNA.” He differed with the newspaper’s concerns about the creation of a federal DNA database. The Trib argued that a federal DNA sampling and recording system could infringe on civil liberties.

Kyle wrote, “The Tribune has a right to disagree with my position, as it did in a recent editorial regarding a new DNA database, but it is not fair to characterize my effort as ‘blithely’ or lighthearted.

“The new regulations and the bill that led to them are the product of years of review and consideration. Since the bill creating this database was first introduced in 2003, my staff and I spent hundreds of hours consulting with experts in the field, opponents of expanded sampling, and other government agencies to ensure, among other things, that the regulations do not violate anyone’s privacy or result in misuse of data.”

He further argued that if such a database had been in place years ago, it could have helped identify the Chandler Rapist more quickly.

Darrell Ankarlo

Talk radio talker Darrell Ankarlo and Republican U.S. House candidate Laura Knaperek are slated as the featured speakers at the inaugural GOPallooza, a Republican networking event Thursday, May 1.

Ankarlo commands a microphone from 8:30 a.m. to noon weekdays on KTAR-FM 92.3.

Knaperek is one of several Republicans trying to unseat Democrat Rep. Harry Mitchell in Arizona’s 5th Congressional District, which takes in Scottsdale, Tempe, Fountain Hills, Ahwatukee Foothills and west Mesa. While serving in the state Legislature for a decade, Knaperek focused on education reform and children’s issues.

GOPallooza, which is the best-named networking event in recent memory, is set for 6 p.m. at Six Lounge and Restaurant, 7316 E. Stetson Drive, in Scottsdale. The event is hosted by the Republican Professionals club. It’s free and open to the public, though a club executives recommend RSVPs.

“The idea behind GOPallooza is to celebrate the outstanding success of (Republican Club’s) free networking events thus far while setting an exciting new ton for the months ahead,” said club president Charles Jensen in a press release.

The club’s first monthly networking event was in October. For information, contact Jensen at (602) 403-5535 or  charles at republicanprofessions.org. 

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. 

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.

Harry Mitchell (front row, third from left) and Gabrielle Giffords (front row, fourth from left)

Democrat U.S. Rep. Harry Mitchell said he’s comfortable with being labeled by National Journal magazine as one of the key players in the “The New Center” movement within the U.S. House.

The March 8 edition of the magazine bases the observation on its latest annual analysis of congressional votes. National Journal slotted Mitchell 13 spots left of center among 429 members of the House. The magazine didn’t rank the remaining members of the House because of missed votes.

Based on 100-point scale that measures the political ideological spectrum, Mitchell is 39 points more liberal than his predecessor, ousted Republican J.D. Hayworth, who received a 85 percent conservative rating the previous year, according to the magazine.

Similarly, fellow freshman Arizona Democrat Gabrielle Giffords came in 22.5 points more liberal than her predecessor, retired Republican Jim Kolbe, who garnered a 65.7 percent conservative rating.

In fact, the House’s center is filled disproportionately with freshmen Democrats, according to the magazine.

The rankings seem accurate, Mitchell said. “It shows that – and I really believe this, too – the Democrat first-termers really are the middle of the road, the center. And most of them came from Republican districts, like myself,” he said.

Mitchell never exactly sought out the political center; it just worked out that way, he said. “I thought I represented my district. I voted with my district and that’s where it put me,” he said.

For example, Mitchell was one of six freshman Democrats to break with party leadership to oppose the Democratic budget resolution. Mitchell couldn’t support it because, in part, it failed to address an increase in government spending. He also co-sponsored a bill with Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., to extend President Bush’s cuts on capital gains taxes and estate taxes. 

While the magazine suggests the “majority makers” have a fair amount of clout within the House in general and the Democratic Party in particular, it doesn’t always feel that way, Mitchell said. He’s familiar with the so-called majority makers, but they certainly don’t act as a coalition by planning strategy together or deliberately voting together. 

“A lot of these people, I do talk to on the floor, just casually most of them,” he said. “I probably talk more to Gabby, because I served in the (Arizona) Senate with her.” 

Also, there’s inherent political risk associated with centralist politics, he said. “You get hit from people coming from the right and the left if you’re middle of the road. It’s like walking the double-yellow line, isn’t it?”

Bob Moran

Allow me to digress from politics for a moment to write about former Tribune sportswriter Bob Moran, who died Tuesday, a difficult day for those of us who knew him. 

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Actually, I knew Moran for years longer than he knew me. When I was growing up in Tucson and thinking about a career in journalism, he appeared in The Arizona Daily Star sports pages nearly every day. The guy made sense to me and I looked forward to reading him. 

Eventually, I earned a journalism degree from the University of Arizona and moved to Las Cruces, N.M., to cover sports for the Las Cruces Sun-News. Later, I returned to Arizona to take a job covering sports for the old Scottsdale Progress, which now sort of is the Scottsdale bureau of the Tribune. One of those first Saturdays, I ended up in the press box at Sun Devil Stadium for Arizona State University’s first football game of the season. By chance, I was seated near Moran, whom I recognized, but was too intimidated to appoach, because I regarded him as journalism deity.

As the ASU players were going through warm-up drills before the game, I marveled aloud to another reporter about ASU’s bruising new starting running back, whose name I have long since forgotten. Moran heard me gushing about the player. “No, he’s not the guy. The backup is the guy,” he said. So I pointed out to Moran why he was so clearly mistaken. The starter was taller and bigger than the backup. The starter’s thighs were as thicker than tree trunks. He came from a better football city. “I mean, just look at him,” I said. “No, the backup is the guy,” Moran said. 

I was crushed. My journalism hero worship obviously had been misplaced all those years. Moran couldn’t even grasp what was so plainly obvious to me.

But I persisted. “Why do you think the backup is the guy?” I asked. Moran looked at me and replied simply, “He makes things happen.” That was it. Then I was sure. Moran was a complete idiot and I was an even bigger idiot for ever idolizing him. 

The game started, but ASU’s starting running back never found a groove. The big bruising player struggled to get yards. He never picked the right routes. His timing was off. He dropped handoffs. He couldn’t shake a tackle. Moran never said anything. He just sat a few seats down on press row taking notes. By the end of the first half, the running back had plenty of carries, but almost no yards. 

The second half started, and ASU’s coaches benched the starter and put in the undersized, hardly-filled-his-jersey backup. A few plays into the half, the backup got a nice rush, better than anything the starter did the entire first half. Moran looked over at me. I pitied Moran, the old fool. He couldn’t even tell the backup just got a lucky break. Clearly, I had arrived on the Arizona sports journalism scene just in time.

Then, perhaps it was the next play, the backup running back took the ball again. He busted through a few tackles, slipped through a few more and began sprinting 50 or 60 yards for the endzone. As he ran, Moran stood in the pressbox and shouted, “He makes things happen! He makes things hap-pen! He makes things HAP-PEN!!” 

That day marked the first and only time I ever doubted Moran. After a couple of years at the Progess, I moved to Hawaii for four years, then returned to Arizona again and eventually joined the Tribune, though by then, my sportswriting days were behind me. Yet, there was Moran. That time, I mustered the nerve to introduce myself. Over the years, I got to know him. Imagine the thrill – getting to know one of your personal heroes on a personal level. Lucky me. 

I’ve always enjoyed retelling that story about that day in the ASU press box. I especially enjoyed retelling it when Moran was within earshot, because it always embarrassed him. After a few retellings, he knew how I was going to end it, and that was the part that particularly embarrassed him. I always told people that Moran actually was describing himself that day – “He makes things happen. He makes things hap-pen! He makes things HAP-PEN!!” 

I learned a lot about journalism and life from Moran over the years. Here’s a couple: A running back’s heart matters far more than his thighs; go to lunch with a variety of people, particularly people you wouldn’t think you have a lot in common with. There’s one other important point that transcended journalism and life, which he and I discussed often, but is far too personal to discuss in this sort of a forum so shortly after his death, and perhaps ever. I’m pleased to note, though, that he and I encouraged and applauded each other’s efforts in that realm. 

I thanked Moran privately for serving as one of my personal heroes, and I’m happy to thank him again publicly now. Moran made a difference. He made things happen.

John McCain

Immediately after John McCain became the presumptive GOP presidential nominee Tuesday, discussion among party insiders immediately switched to what possible strategy the maverick Republican could use to unify the party.

 McCain, himself, said he planned to reach out to people in different factions of the party the same way he has for the past several months on the campaign trail. He intends to meet and greet people and look for points of agreement based on American principals.

 There’s nothing wrong with McCain’s approach, but there’s a more qualified person to unify the Republican party, said Nathan Gonzales, political editor of the Rothenberg Political Report, a nonpartisan newsletter based in Washington, D.C.

“Hillary Clinton will be able to unify Republicans better than any Republican can,” Gonzales said.

“I don’t think there’s going to be people who have disliked McCain for years who all of a sudden are going to say, ‘Oh, he’s a great guy!’ But, if they say, ‘Oh well, President McCain or President Hillary Clinton?’ I think for a lot of Republicans, President Hillary Clinton is scarier than President John McCain,’” he said.

Careful readers will note that the name of this blog has changed. “Checking In” is out. “Paul Giblin on Politics” is in.

A brief explanation is in order.

When I created this blog last year, I thought the name “Checking In” was nothing short of brilliant – it suggested the notion of checking on political campaigns; it invoked the idea of checking in the appropriate space on a ballot; it gave new life to the name of a column I wrote about the hospitality industry years ago.

Everyone else thought the name was screwy.

So welcome to “Paul Giblin on Politics.” And feel free to draw whatever inferences you’d like from that name.