The Only Decent Thing to do...

...would be to resign now.

Governor Napolitano accepted the position of DHS Director, but isn't going to leave until she is actually confirmed.  That selfish decision will leave make Arizona's transition much more difficult.  Napolitano will give the State of the State address in January.  And Jan Brewer won't be able to take office until late January or early February. 

So the entire Governors staff and agency directors will change in middle of the Legislative Session.  How will Brewer get a budget staff together?  Are agency Directors briefing her on transition issues?  Are the ninth floor staff and agency Directors going to be doing their jobs, or are they putting together resumes and cold calling future employers?  Seriously, how much good policy can get accomplished in the next two months?  Unless Napolitano's administration is going to copy Clinton's trick of pushing through a bunch of last minute rule changes, then the answer is not much. 

Traditionally, the Governor is sworn in on January 2nd and the new legislature convenes a week or so later.  By staying in office an extra two months after accepting the DHS job, Gov. Napolitano once again puts her own interests above those of the state.  Not that that should be much of a surprise. 

Len Munsil has similar thoughts here.   

Comments

[Dave K.]

Anyone taking bets on whether the furniture gets trashed, ala the Clinton "transition"?

[ron]

Question: How do you give the State of the State address when you are no longer the governor?

[Patrick]

I don't agree. Of course legislative leaders want this because they can use cash flow issues -- which should be easy to deal with in a special session -- to use as leverage to take a pound of flesh out of programs they don't support. That might happen anyway in the 2009-2010 SS after the new Legislature gets started but it shouldn't happen now when there are some quick fixes that could be done next week to buy time until then. She should stay.

[elinor stickney]

Can we start calling Jan Brewer "Governor presumptive"? Also, when will she hold her first press conference. How long she has to wait before being sworn in is immaterial.

[NetrootsDemocrat]

Oh, God, some people cannot leave well enough alone. Y'all got the state and the whole kit and kaboodle handed to you, on a silver platter (unelected, I might add). You guys can now create that rightwing utopia you have drooled about for decades or all you lives. But that's not good enough? You want it a couple months EARLY now? Wow!

Janet was duly elected by a 2-1 margin, just to rub things in a bit. She can do what she wants. FWIW, I'd have left Arizona too if I were her. Here's why:

Elections have consequences. And most people are too timid and wimpy to actually - GASP - blame the voters. Well, she and the state Democratic Party did ALL they could to warn people of a fire-breathing rightwing legislature. And it must've fallen on deaf ears. Thus, those suburban and ex-urban hausfraus and other so-called "moderate" Republicans who support abortion rights, who want all-day kindergarten, who want a safer public and state GOVERNMENT run prison system, good roads, and who want good K-12 PUBLIC education for all kids in Arizona, and who want quality healthcare and a state government that works and is NOT drowned in a bathtub! But, alas, these same hausfraus and others voted GOP because "that's what they usually do and that's what hubby does."

Well, ya reap what ya sow.

But as a Barack liberal, I must warn Joe Arpaioi and Russell Pearce and that county atty guy Thomas: Eric Holder will NOT put up with these heavy-handed (and that's putting it as politely as I possibly can) tactics against people who have brown skin or who happen to be gay.

I have a prediction: The new federal administration will indeed send federal troops into Arizona. But NOT to "seal the border", but to put a stop to a draconian state government who will undoubtedly overstep their authority and abuse innocent immigrants or even people who were born in the US, served in uniform, pay their taxes, but happen to have brown skin.

As a gay civil rights lawyer who works for a gay civil rights group on the east coast, the prospect of what will go on in Arizona keeps me up at night. Wait for a Selma II. Only this time it will be in Phoenix and involved brown, instead of black, people.

What a joke. The owner of this blog is a law student. I am not sure if he has taken ConLaw II which covers the BofRs and the 14th Am, etc. (Note: I personally believe that the greatest political words of governance EVER written by a human is the 14th Amendment. And this amendment will act as a bulwark against guys like Pearce, Thomas, Arpaioi, Bob Burns, Weiers, and all those overzealous LOCAL police and sheriffs who, as LOCAL law enforcement have NO (i.e., ZERO) authority to do ANYTHING at all about the border. The Mexican-American border, international border, whether it be the one in NM, CA, TX, or Arizona is a FEDERAL responsibility and ONLY a federal responsibility. And the owner of this site knows, as a lawyer, that it DOES NOT MATTER ONE IOTA if the feds (in some rightwingers' opinions) totally abdicate this responsibility, the state of Arizona STILL cannot legally do a thing about it.

Oh, btw, to those legislators who sponsored and voted to pass that "prisons in Mexico" bill a few years ago: you have no idea how much you embarrassed yourselves and, thus, your poor state, nation and even worldwide. Here's an idea (if you can wipe the blood off your budget-cutting axe long enough to ponder this): mandate that ALL high-schoolers enroll in, and pass, a basic constitutional law class before they can graduate high school. THAT would spare yourselves the humiliation of these asinine ideas like Arizona prisons in Mexico. I live 3,000 miles away and even I laughed when I read about that prison thingy.

But the voters voted for y'all. So, guess what? The state that I, and, as of now, USED TO call home, has been written off by me. The voters are getting what they deserve and I hope they are happy. But, even though I still - unfortunately - have family there, will never again visit the state or spend one dime of tax dollars there that will surely go to LOCAL "law enforcement" to harass people whose only "crime" was living whilst having brown skin or loving someone who happens to be of the same gender.

Ten years ago I used to be a GOPer. What happened to you guys? But I have hope. Maybe the stimulus plan that our wonderful new president and Speaker Pelosi get through will spare the most painful cuts Brewer will want to do AND, hopefully, Obama sends federal troops down there to protect the state's minority populations.

You know what I'd love to see? And what folks like Gould and Harper, and Pearce may love to do? Secede. Just phone Todd Palin and see how it's done.

[Bill]

Greg, I have to disagree with your logic. There's a transition period after elections for a reason, and the same need exists now. I am quite sure if you asked Jane Hull or Rose Mofford, both would say that a transition period would have made their early days as Governor much better, not only for them, but for the state. I think it's highly unlikely the outgoing Napolitano appointees are going to be pulling any shenanigans -- there's no obvious personal animosity between the Governor and the Secretary of the State. So everyone should be able to act like adults and do the briefings that will help make a Brewer administration more successful.

[Dani]

I don't think it's selfish she's staying until she's confirmed. She has said herself she wants to be as involved with helping AZ's budget balancing as much as she can before she leaves. That seems more noble than just having her ditch us. ;-)

I do fear for this state after she's gone though... a Dem governor was the only sense of balance Arizona had.

[Reagan Republican]

I disagree with this argument. Every political system in this country prescribes transition PERIODS when power changes due to an election. The new administration does not take over IMMEDIATELY for the old administration, even though we know the old administration is on its way out. A transition period is necessary to ensure a smooth transition after an election, even though we know when transitions via election will (or could) occur.

When an event creates a transition of power during the middle of a term, the argument for a transition period between old and new becomes even stronger. Because the transition here is due to a (relatively) unforeseen event, an immediate switch of power threatens utter chaos in both administration and policy (budget) formation, certainly the last thing Arizona needs. This is why a death in high office is so traumatic--there is NO transition period.

Keep in mind: even in private industry, CEOs who are fired typically remain during a certain period to ensure that the new leadership is ready to take over and hit the ground running. This is not a partisan matter--it is a matter of good governance and administration.

[Dave K.]

"Maybe the stimulus plan that our wonderful new president and Speaker Pelosi get through will spare the most painful cuts Brewer will want to do AND, hopefully, Obama sends federal troops down there to protect the state's minority populations."

Wow! Federal troops, huh?

"Change you can believe in", indeed!

I sure hope you're right though. Talk about political suicide. Sure would save us the trouble of having to work to get Congress back ...

[Exurban Jon]

Well played, Greg. Well played.

[NetrootsDemocrat]

Dave K.,

You just provided a perfect segue into what I wanted to say next. Obama got more latino votes by percentage than ANY candidate for president ever. Remember up until FDR many blacks still voted for Republicans as residual affection for the party of Lincoln.

Bush lost latinos by what, 11 points? So, clearly, those voters are still in flux. However, YOUR side is really bending over backwards to permanently lose that bloc. I would submit that by the inevitably heavy-handed tactics that Arizona politicians will use against Hispanics in the next two years until - hopefully - Terry Goddard comes in to save them - Latinos will take notice and see how scary and anti-Latino the GOP has become. Since Texas, California, and New Mexico are all WAY less likely to use the tactics Thomas, et. al., will use, it is possible that the Arizona GOP will overreach...badly. And if it gets too bad, people in Obama's cabinet like Janet and perhaps Grijalva! at Interior (I am keeping my fingers crossed) who have his ear will urge he [Obama] will do SOMETHING. And once that happens, and latinos nationwide give Obama, and, thus, Democrats credit for helping them, the Hispanics will go running right into the arms of the Democratic Party to the tune of something like 90%. Just as blacks did right after LBJ signed the CRA and VRA in 1964 and 1965, respectively.

If this happens, Arizona's GOP - and Arizona's GOP ALONE - will be to blame. And it will result in a HUGE and growing voting bloc going fully into the arms of the Democrats - and staying there - a la blacks after FDR, LBJ, and Nixon's "Southern Strategery."

This will be funny. And some folks in DC with whom I have spoken, have thought my theory intriguing. Look for the national party (GOP) to intervene and try to head this off.

You watch at some of these nasty tactics that will occur in Arizona that may....,that may result in Obama having to send in federal marshals to stop some of it. And the country will be watching and this includes Hispanics. So I dare the far right in Arizona to do what they really want to do. In fact, I know that some AZ State Legs read this blog and I am doing them a favor by this warning. Perhaps I shouldn't and allow it to happen, resulting in a permanent minority-party status that will happen to the GOP, which will be MUCH deserved.

And to top it all off, you all want this to happen even earlier by Janet resigning, so that Pearce and Co. can get an early start on what I have portrayed here. To paraphrase Clint Eastwood: Go right ahead. Go ahead with that agenda that the Right has dreamt of since the days of the late Evan Meacham. So I hope Janet DOES resign right now. And we shall see the repercussions. And then you'll see the numbers from 2012 and the Hispanics will be Dem by at least 85%-15%. So CO, NV, NM, and, yes, Arizona will be forever gone for the Republicans on the national level.

So, please, Janet, quit early. Quit now!!!

[Jim Torgeson]

Our state is a mess. Since she can do nothing to improve it with her "iron fist," she should just show some grace and pass the torch.

Although Brewer will probably cut into programs I appreciate, at least there will be some balance.

Unfortunately, businessmen like me will probably have to take a bullet to make up for J-No's antics and the state will blame Brewer.

Such a shame, I was hoping for a real wild Governor's race in 2010.

[Craig]

Umm...at least she is leaving voluntarily (if not soon enough for most Reps and far too soon for most Dems).

Unlike, say, Fife Symington, who didn't do the decent thing and resign when he was indicted for bank fraud.

Nope, he didn't leave office until he was convicted and *had* to under AZ law.

Bottom line Greg - she shouldn't leave until she is actually confirmed by the Senate and takes office.

[todd]

Len Munsil - isn't he the guy should annihilated in the 2006 elections? Big surprise.

Anyway, not being a Democrat I don't feel any type of loyalty to Napolitano - but I am not sure why Dems would. She has amassed a great deal of political capital but certainly didn't seem willing to help Dems get elected in the legislature or really push some of the real pressing environmental issues Arizona is facing. She was complicit in AZ continuing to float on the housing bubble and staying in the good graces of the home builders lobby.

Dani is correct she has been a bulwark against the complete right-wing demagogues.

I am curious wether Brewer really wants to move into the 9th floor right now. Maybe should would rather let Napolitano be part of the mid-year cuts which are going to hit services very hard (how on earth can a state run when budget cuts might happen in the middle of a year, crazy).

If Brewer wants to be a viable candidate in 2010 she is going to have to take on some of the hardcore ideologues in the legislature. These are the same people who are also some of the most vicious so I don't envy her position.

[Name:]

Speaking of Symington, does anyone really want to give a single grand jury the power to remove the chief executive? That's essentially what is being said above. Gee, didn't Cheney just get indicted in Texas? C'mon, be reasonable. It's bad enough that the Justice Department or a county attorney might run awry, at least make them run and not walk into controlling every aspect of our lives and the people we elect.

[Craig]

Name - I actually agree with your point, I was just pointing out the hypocritical double standard of Greg's post and a number of the comments (i.e. - arguing that a Democratic officeholder who has earned a promotion should vacate her office even before her ascension is assured, while not mentioning a corrupt Republican officeholder who earned a conviction but hung on until the last possible moment)

The bottom line is that Napolitano isn't in Obama's cabinent until she is confirmed by the Senate and until that comes to pass, she should remain as governor.

[ron]

I assume Janet's first check doesn't arrive until she is in her new job. If she is like most of us, she doesn't have a bunch of cash laying around to tide her over between the two postings.

Sounds like some people are offering to ante up to the bar and put some cash down to buy out her contract.

[Name:]

Just to be clear, Fife's conviction was overturned after the appeals court found out how some jurors treated another who was not going to vote the way they wanted. So yeah, the process itself was corrupted, which is no way to install a governor. And while he was charged with corruption, he was not found guilty of corruption. That's another story.

Second, had justice been allowed to take its course the conviction would have been overturned and he would still have been the governor. So the resignation was sort of premature.

Third, Napolitano's departure is voluntary. And it comes at the worst possible time lawmaking and policy-wise. And it changes the party in the office. The timing is under her control, the change in party occupying the office is not. So what, the state constitution says. Because the voters elected a GOP SOS, that officeholder becomes governor through BOTH the electoral process (elected as SOS) AND the chain-of-command provision. And the fact that Janet is leaving voluntarily also means Brewer should not have to apologize for her party preference.

And it's not as if the Republicans have been away from the 9th floor for 100 years.

[Fife W. Peterson]

I agree, a resignation would be the only decent thing to do. Janet won the 2006 election by a 2 to 1 margin, sweeping every single county in the state of Arizona. Why would any Republican with even a microgram of respect for the concept of democracy dare to set foot in the governor's office and pretend they belong there?
The only decent thing to do: Jan Brewer should resign. The people of the state of Arizona did not elect a conservative Republican governor. Munsil, of all people, ought to know that, and shut up. Next in line after the resignation of Ms. Brewer would be Attorney General Terry Goddard.
If Brewer sets foot in the governor's office and unleashes a right wing power grab and lets Russell Pearce run wild with his racist lunacy, I think you'll see a recall start rolling very soon.
Democracy was restored to the United States of America on November 5, 2008. If the Republican party in Arizona wants to launch yet another assault on democracy, they'll pay a price.

[Sam]

And the voters didn't elect a milquetoast lightweight one-time gubernatorial loser for governor as well. I guess Goddard shall have to resign as well.

[Jim Torgeson]

Fife, using your logic, if the next DEmocrat in line was a dog catcher, that person should be Governor.

I voted for her, twice, and am thrilled to see her go.

[Jack]

Governor Napolitano SHOULD resign before she is confirmed but not now. Ideally, it should happen before her State of the State address but after a transition period. I don't think any of us anticipate any issues with her confirmation, but let the new Senate hold confirmation hearings on the national security team in January, before Obama is sworn in, and then, we will have a strong sense of Napolitano's chances of actually being picked. But a formal transition process should begin NOW!!!

[The Klute]

Greg,

This post would be funnier if you read it in the voice of Ben Affleck doing his Keith Olbermann impersonation.

Especially the first line.

[Roy Clark]

Upon hearing that the Governor was on her way out this old song came to mind-enjoy

I've made a small fortune and you squandered it all
You shamed me till I feel about one inch tall
But I thought I loved you and I hoped you would change
So I gritted my teeth and didn't complain.

Now you come to me with a simple goodbye
You tell me you're leaving but you won't tell me why
Now we're here at the station and you're getting on
And all I can think of is thank God and Greyhound you're gone

Thank God and Greyhound you're gone
I didn't know how much longer I could go on
Watching you take the respect out of me
Watching you make a total wreck out of me
That big diesel motor is a-playing my song
Thank God and Greyhound you're gone.

Thank God and Greyhound you're gone
That load on my mind got lighter when you got on
That shiny old bus is a beautiful sight
With the black smoke a-rolling up around the taillight
It may sound kind-a cruel but I've been silent too long
Thank God and Greyhound you're gone.

Thank God and Greyhound you're gone...

[jdleslie1]

I'm guessing that if the principals' parties were reversed -- the new president a Republican, the governor a Republican and the secretary of state a Democrat -- that Greg and Len Munsil would be arguing against possible resignation, saying it wouldn't be prudent to resign until she was confirmed.

[TS]

Maybe if Bush set an example by resigning right now ...

[Dave K.]

"You just provided a perfect segue into what I wanted to say next. Obama got more latino votes by percentage than ANY candidate for president ever.", etc., ad infinitum.

Ya' know, I'd argue if I thought it would matter, but it won't, so I won't bother. Posts like this do give me hope though. If you folks honestly believe stuff like this, it sure will make our lives easier.

It reminds me quite a bit of the AZDP casting about for someone or something to blame for the election debacle here in AZ. Of course, they finally settled on Prop 102, because after all, that surely made all the difference.

Couldn't have had anything to do with the fact that despite the millions they and their flunkies poured into the campaigns, nobody bought the charade that their candidates were anything but hardcore leftists.

Couldn't have had anything to do with the endless repetition of the same old BS that everyone has heard, and debunked, already.

Couldn't have had anything to do with the fact that they have been the standard bearers for the irresponsible spending spree that has put this state so deep in the red that it wil take years to get us out.

Nah, couldn't have been that.

Must have been the marriage thing. That accounted for the 5-6k margins in many of those races. Sure, that's the ticket!

That little dance by the AZDP, in turn, reminds me of the scene in the movie "The Blues Brothers", where John Belushi is on his knees in front of a highly agitated Carrie Fisher, who is holding him at rifle point and demanding an explanation for his absence at the alter some years earlier.

His response?

"I ran out of gas. I, I had a flat tire. I didn't have enough money for cab fare. My tux didn't come back from the cleaners. An old friend came in from out of town. Someone stole my car. There was an earthquake. A terrible flood. Locusts. IT WASN'T MY FAULT, I SWEAR TO GOD."

I fully expect the DNC to be doing a repeat performance in four years.

I'll wait ...

[TS]

Maybe Bush can set a good example by resigning now so the Dems can assume total control of Washington before Jan. 21 ...

[Sam]

You already said that. Problem is, Dick Cheney would be President.

I'd love to see the derangement out of the Ds then.

[Steve F.]

If the parties were reversed, perhaps the state wouldn't be in such a bind, and therefore the governor wouldn't have to drop the office like a hot potato, to hightail it out to a cushy federal position.

The billion dollar deficit ultimately is her fault, and she realized that her situation is going to become that much more uglier since all the moderate republicans that helped get the last budget passed are no longer in office (thanks to clean elections...lol!).

Only someone truly desperate would want to be director of Homeland Security under a far-left neophyte like Obama. Anything bad happens, she's gonna get the blame, even if it isn't her fault.

Maybe we'll get to hear him say "You're doin' a great job, Nappy!", right before he kicks her to the curb...

[Aaron]

With the very important budgetary decisions that need to be made in the coming year, it would be wise for Napolitano to resign now and speed the transition. While I generally agree that early resignation is not called for–as when some recently called for Bush to resign and set off a flurry of resignations until Pelosi is in power to do Obama's bidding–the short chain of command on the state level makes this a more practical scenario. Putting Brewer in right away with the new legislature seems to be the best route to take.

[jdleslie1]

Steve, give me a break. States across the country, many of them Republican-controlled, and the federal government, run by a Republican administration for the past right years, are a mess, but somehow Arizona wouldn't be in this mess if the parties were reversed? What fairy-tale world are you in? Republicans lost Congress because they proved unable to match their rhetoric about fiscal discipline.

Not saying the Dems have been better, just the Republicans have been failures at this, too. We the citizens are waiting for you parties to do something more than blaming the other party for the mess.