This may seem obvious to you in the wake of the revelations of the past week or so, but I write it because it seems to have escaped at least a handful of folks. Like Babeu and the people running his flat-lining political campaign.

My certainty that Babeu won’t win election to Congress has little to do with his being dragged from the closet, and not much at all to do with the allegation that Babeu supposedly threatened his ex-boyfriend, Jose Orozco, with deportation if Orozco went public with their relationship. Frankly, at this point I question Orozco and the New Times’ tale as much as I question Babeu’s judgement, which is saying something.

This demise isn’t about gayness and it isn’t about the Republican mindset. Instead, the end of Sheriff Paul becoming Representative Paul is actually a lesson in political storytelling.

Namely, your story always needs to feel authentic … or you’re dead.

Let me explain.

Over the past two years, Paul Babeu authored for himself a tale perfectly scripted for an Arizona Republican: A cop who operated with full respect for the law, a man determined to defend the border from a few million illegal comers. He portrayed himself as an Arpaio minus the baggage and bluster. And, even without expressly saying it aloud, Babeu managed to cultivate an image of honesty, courage and sound law enforcement judgement — at least in the eyes of the Republicans likely to vote for him in the 2012 election.

That story went to hell the minute pictures of Babeu in his Jockey shorts hit the Internet.

At his mea culpa press conference last week, Babeu tried to “build a danged fence” between his public life and private life, missing the point of the past 10 years of gotcha journalism, blogging and TMZ-style reporting. Nothing’s off limits in the 21st century, especially if you’re a politician fond of phrases like “transparency” and “leadership.” The days of the media covering for pols like Jack Kennedy have long since died

The tale of Babeu, the leader, and Babeu, the law enforcement icon, crumbled the minute a new, more interesting version of Babeu saw the light of day: Babeu, the libertine, working as cop by day and trolling the Web for sex by night.

Could Babeu have survived the revelation that he was gay? Perhaps, but only had he morphed the story on his own terms, a bit at a time, each moment underscored by dignity and grace and a heaping dose of courage. But there’s no way his political career will survive the bait and switch he’s pulled on his party’s voters.

The moral to the Babeu story? That story is everything in politics. Destroy yours at your own peril.

Oh yeah … and don’t post pictures of yourself in your Jockey shorts if you expect to have a career on Capitol Hill.

The following statement was issued on February 17, 2012, by Ryan McKinnon, Vice President of the Scottsdale FOP:

The night of February 14, 2012, was deeply tragic, as is any encounter that results in the loss of a life. Just as every police-involved shooting is investigated thoroughly and objectively, so will the events of February 14th be investigated. The more than 325 members of the Scottsdale Fraternal Order of Police hope that, as we await the results of that investigation, calm will prevail in our City and no one will rush to judgement about what happened that night or about our colleague, Officer James Peters.

We remind all concerned that justice has at its core facts, not emotions, and that every Scottsdale police officer considers the use of force the most critical decision any law enforcement member can make.

No officer begins a shift knowing how the night will end. But tonight, as they have since Tuesday, our thoughts and our prayers go out to everyone touched by the night in question, from Jim Peters and his family to the Loxas family to the neighbors impacted by what happened before their eyes.

The Safeway in Tucson: The scene of the crime

I have nothing negative to say about Giffords or about her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly. I believe both of them have displayed strength beyond measure in the face of tragedy and a grace so uncommon, I deeply doubt that 99 percent of us could have summoned it. I’m glad for Gabby’s triumphs since that awful 8th of January morning a year ago, and I’m heartened to see that Tucson, too, is well on its way to recovery from Jared Loughner’s evil onslaught.

But, with all that said, I doubt I’m alone in suffering from a degree of “Gabby fatigue.”

Simply put, of late I’ve found myself tired of the endless reportage of minutiae surrounding Giffords’ recovery and wondering (while worrying about my degree of cynicism) about the motives of those who indulge in such hype.

Is this a sort of politics at work, I find myself wondering, hero worship designed to create political advantage? Or is this deification nothing more than the usual selective ignorance we practice constantly in the American media?

Consider the plight of veterans, the severely wounded from Afghanistan and Iraq and a half dozen wars besides. Though their grievous injuries didn’t occur in such a public setting, these men and women are no less courageous, no less determined, no less inspirational than Giffords. All across the country, in medical centers and VA hospitals, we have stories every bit the equal of Giffords’ – and yet they almost never get a single column inch of space, nor a bite of sound on a newscast. The letters of support don’t pile up. The rounds of applause never seem to arrive.

Giffords, meanwhile, fascinates us merely by saying the Pledge of Allegiance.

All of us love a hero, but I also have to wonder when a political hero begins to unravel the process of making laws and governing. Politics, after all, is a business premised on healthy (and sometimes unhealthy) disagreement. In Giffords, we’ve anointed a representative with whom disagreement comes across as uncharitable, mean-spirited or, as in the case of George Morris, himself shot that day in Tucson, something far worse.

“Every time I see them on TV,” Morris told the Republic’s Richard Ruelas about Giffords and Kelly, “it makes me want to vomit.”

Me, I’ll save my nausea for the tawdry and the truly evil, like that mugshot of Loughner’s hideous smirk. My fatigue at Giffords’ press clippings doesn’t mitigate my hope that she has a happy ending. I wish her the very best in her recovery, a return to normal so every day, so regular, that no one sees fit to report it as news.

I want to thank the Phoenix Police Department, the city Prosecutor’s Office, the members of the Arizona Senate Ethics Committee, all the witnesses and the independent counsel for their diligence and their compassion. Together with my family and friends, I believe now it’s truly possible to move forward in a positive direction.

Contact:
David Leibowitz
(602) 317-1414
david@leibowitzsolo.com

12,500 REASONS TO VOTE NO: ANTI-BILLBOARD CAMPAIGN AMASSES 12,500 SIGNATURES BEFORE WEDS. COUNCIL VOTE
BALLOT CAMPAIGN GATHERS STEAM AS CITY HALL SEEKS TO EXPAND BILLBOARDS; PRESS BRIEFING AS 12/7 COUNCIL VOTE LOOMS

PHOENIX, AZ – Just two days before a crucial Wednesday vote of Phoenix City Council – a vote that could drastically expand enormous billboards all over the City – the campaign to let voters ban new billboards in Phoenix will brief the Valley media about a significant milestone: Already, only three weeks into the campaign, Save Phoenix Views has collected more than 12,500 signatures to put the initiative on the ballot.

“We want to make sure the Phoenix City Council hears us loud and clear before they vote Wednesday: Residents don’t want new billboards near their homes or spoiling our mountain preserves and beautiful views,” said Jim Mapstead, volunteer chairman of Save Phoenix Views. “We don’t need more 70-foot-tall TVs on a stick to distract drivers or more eyesores to ruin the beauty that makes Phoenix special.”

The Save Phoenix Views initiative – which needs about 25,000 signatures to get on the ballot – bans the construction of new billboards in the City as well as the modification or conversion of existing conventional billboards into digital billboards. The ballot measure will have zero impact on on-premise business signage.

The Phoenix City Council is currently scheduled to vote on a new, more liberal set of billboard regulations at its December 7, 2011 meeting. That proposal, which would open up new freeways to billboards and which includes loopholes that could vastly increase the number of billboards in the City, prompted the initiative.

“This new law is exactly the opposite of what the City should do. Instead of potentially adding hundreds more billboards, Council should restrict new billboard construction,” said Mapstead. “The unfortunate thing is, their failure will force voters to hold a special election to do their job.”

Mapstead, the campaign chairman, will be available to discuss the vote and the initiative at a signature gathering station in Phoenix.

WHAT: MEDIA AVAILABLITY AND BRIEFING ON ANTI-BILLBOARD CAMPAIGN
WHO: Chairman Jim Mapstead and Save Phoenix Views signature gatherers
WHERE: Mesquite Library, 4525 E Paradise Village Parkway N, Phoenix 85032
WHEN: Monday, December 5, 2011 from 10 am to 11 am.

For more information, please contact David Leibowitz at 602.317.1414.

# # #

State Lodge Remembers Fallen DPS Officer Chris Marano

PHOENIX – The Arizona State Lodge Fraternal Order of Police and the fellow officers who served with Arizona Department of Public Safety Officer Chris Marano believe justice was done today, with the conviction of Georgia Lynn Baker in the murder of Officer Marano.

Baker was convicted today on all three criminal counts she faced for the incident that claimed Officer Marano’s life, including a charge of first degree murder, one count of theft of means of transportation and unlawful flight from a law enforcement vehicle.

Officer Marano, 28 years old and a father of four daughters, was a three-and-a-half-year DPS veteran when he was killed on December 17, 2009, in the aftermath of a freeway pursuit that took place while Baker was high on drugs. A Navy veteran, Marano was a model officer during his time with DPS, as well as a good friend, a valued colleague and a loving husband and father.

“Chris was everything we ask DPS officers to be,” said John Ortolano, President of the state FOP lodge. “He was strong, kind and courageous. All of us hope that today’s verdict brings some comfort to the Marano family and to Chris’ many friends and fellow officers. We need to thank the detectives of DPS for their hard work on this case, along with the prosecutors who won at the trial and the members of the public who came forward as witnesses and to support the Marano family.”

Chris is survived by his wife, Shelly Marano, and their four children, all under the age of 10. Shelly is a Correctional Officer with the Arizona Department of Corrections currently assigned to the Lewis Prison Complex.

John Ortolano, President
Fraternal Order of Police
Arizona State Lodge

Gee, this bunch can't top the Cardinals' ratings?

Me: “So you don’t look so busy. Was it like this Saturday, too?”

Old Tired Lady: “Yep. Saturday, we had 14 people stop by all day.”

Nowadays, the vast majority of Phoenix voters vote by mail, as Lynh Bui’s story from azcentral.com this afternoon explains. The headline: “Phoenix turnout already exceeds last mayoral election.” As Lynh explains it, we’re actually trending toward a relatively busy 2011 election, compared to years previous:

More than 105,000 voters have turned in their early mail-in ballots and more than 3,000 have voted in-person for the Phoenix mayor and City Council election.

The more than 108,000 ballots cast so far in this election means the city already has surpassed the nearly 98,000 ballots that were cast in the last mayoral race four years ago.

I guess that’s supposed to feel like good news, but to me it’s cause for despair … mostly because I enjoy dabbling in statistics. I know — there’s lies, damn lies and statistics. But here’s one way of looking at Election 2011:

Total population of Phoenix, per the 2010 census ……. 1,536,630.

Voting age population of Phoenix, 2010 ………………….. 1,091,360.

Number of folks who actually registered to vote ………… 650,000 or so.

Number of registered voters who bother to vote ………… 150,000 or so, or a “better than expected” 24 percent turnout.

You follow I’m sure: In the sixth-largest city in America, the race to run the place for the next four years will only manage to interest about 14 percent of those who could vote — and less than 10 percent of residents overall. Here’s a bit of context for you, by way of comparison:

As bad as the Arizona Cardinals were last season, they still managed to entice about 20 percent of the Valley’s households to watch them on TV every Sunday. The moral to the story? Maybe someone should have persuaded Kurt Warner to run. Or maybe this race could have used more cheerleaders and beer and fewer direct mail hit pieces about non-issues like the City North vote.

Let’s try not to screw anything up. Then, sometime around the 1st of August, let’s spend like crazy in a 30 day sprint to Election Day on August 30th.

Money is tight. Attention spans are short. These facts advocate for the “be quiet and wait” strategy, especially for the 3 real candidates in the race: Greg Stanton, Peggy Neely and Claude Mattox.

Sadly, this means the next 6 weeks on the campaign trail could be very dull. Which is precisely why I’m glad Tea Party favorite Jennifer Wright is in the race.

Wright has precisely zero chance of becoming the next Mayor of Phoenix. None. Zip. Zilch.

Wright. Wrong.

But she is the most entertaining candidate out on the stump.

Take, for example, the most recent mayoral forum, hosted by the Downtown Voices Coalition on Thursday, June 9th. There, before a crowd of people who believe that downtown is the core of the city and a hub for economic development, entertainment venues and education, Wright argued that downtown is basically just another set of blocks in Phoenix. As she put it:

“I don’t believe the city should invest dollars in downtown. Once government gets out of the way, you see growth and development and downtown revival.”

I love the fact that not only was Wright dead wrong, but she was passionate about her wrongness.

In the 21st century and in the midst of the worst economic crash since World War II, government needs to do more than “get out of the way” to pave the way for economic revitalization. Government needs to efficiently collaborate and nurse along businesses big and small, making permitting easy and fast and finding ways to help businesses access capital. If that means creating foreign trade zones, do it. If that means spending a little bit in the form of tax credits on enticing big employers to come to Phoenix and create thousands of jobs, do that, too. And if that means creatively finding limited public dollars to help institutions like ASU and the U of A build even more critical mass downtown, then that too needs to be done.

The same holds for leveraging relationships with other cities and pushing for cross-Valley development, as opposed to pitting one city against another.

Cities that just “get out of the way” won’t encourage growth. They’ll miss opportunities, chances that will be captured either by neighboring cities (see “Mesa lands First Solar” stories galore) or by states like California intent on poaching our big employers.

I get that my argument is outside of Wright’s steady diet of red meat and easy talking points. And I know that it’s not as entertaining as being the contrarian, arguing against everything and everyone. But I do believe it … just as I believe Wright will be entertaining to the bitter end, when she gets maybe 9 percent of the vote and goes back to being, of all things, a lawyer.

In the mean time, keep up the good work, Jennifer. You have my attention, if not my vote.

The night of February 25 remains painful for me. Not only the assault I suffered at the hands of a man I once loved, but Scott’s insistence on blaming others and his failure to take responsibility for his illegal, abusive behavior.

Fortunately, the justice system has decided to hold Scott accountable. I support that decision wholeheartedly.

My thanks go out to the Phoenix Police Department, the city prosecutor’s office and the five independent witnesses who spoke out, corroborating the facts of that night. I look forward to putting this awful incident into the past.

If you would have told me that in one year I’d have the chance to help lead 3 winning statewide ballot initiatives, write speeches for the Governor of Arizona and the Mayor of Phoenix, see and hear my clients on CNN, Fox News and virtually every TV and radio station in Arizona, and read their op-eds in newspapers like the Washington Post, the Washington Times and the Arizona Republic, I would have laughed at you like we were watching a rerun of the Chappelle Show. And that’s saying something, because who’s funnier than Dave Chappelle?

On Fox News? To talk immigration? Gutsy.

Suffice to say, I’ve been fortunate to have gotten these opportunities. There are many folks who deserve thanks for the help and the faith they’ve extended to me, but that’s a post I’m going to save for another day. What’s on my mind instead this morning is what 2010 has taught me, the principles I believe have contributed to this run of great good luck. Call these a handful of “rules to live by.”

1. Make deadlines … every time.

In nearly 20 years as a journalist, I’ve never blown a deadline. In my first 20 minutes working at an ad agency, I think I heard 3 people say, “Can we call the client and ask for more time?” Now out on my own, I do what I promise my clients when I promise it. Mostly, that means taking care to promise things you can deliver, though it occasionally means moving Heaven and Earth to get something done. The bottom line? They call ‘em “deadlines” for a reason. It’s a line. After it, we’re dead.

2. The people you work with? Listen to their input. And pay them what they’re worth.

If there’s a word I’ve quickly come to hate, it’s “subcontractor.” Maybe I’m being too literal, but that word implies a hierarchy where the person doing the work is beneath the person paying the tab. I prefer to think of these folks as “really smart people who know more about X than I do.” That’s not a very wieldy term, but it’s deadly accurate. If we’re working together cutting a video, shooting a spot, laying down a radio ad, developing a Web site, I want to know what you think as well as when you’ll get it done and what it costs. As far as dollars go, it pays to be generous. You say you’ll do Y for 1000 bucks. I say, great, how about 1100 bucks? It costs me 10 percent more, but I get 50 percent more effort. And when it’s time to move Heaven and Earth, I know you have my back.

3. Don’t just recommend. Do.

Some of my friends in the consultant biz love to make suggestions – we should do this, have you considered that, hmmm, maybe this’ll work. Me, I like to think that my work is only beginning once we’ve crafted the strategy and stitched the plan together. When I tell my clients that they get me 24/7 for their retainer or project fee, I don’t just mean my mind. You also get the fingers I write with, the mouth I use to talk and make connections with and, if necessary, my feet to walk over to the studio and record a voice track. Whatever it takes. It doesn’t matter how big the client is, no one has enough people to do all the work one consultant can suggest. Surprise people … get off your ass once in a while and do it yourself. Then … lather, rinse, repeat.

4. When you have a client you don’t like, get rid of him.

True story. I had a guy I liked a lot as a person who was paid me $5000 to do a “quick project.” It seemed like fun, he has a cool company and he’s good people – except later I discovered that he’s a huge pain in the ass in the business world. He meddles with everything, sweats even dilemmas that don’t exist and tells you how to build a clock when you ask what time it is. The project should have taken 20 hours. Instead it took 50. That’s 100 bucks an hour, which is fine. But then you have to add in the 100 more hours I spent being aggravated at him and the 100 hours I spent dreading the 100 hours of work. You see where this is going.

We finished that project. He wanted to hire me to do more work … and I ran like hell. Money is nice. Peace of mind is nicer.

5. “The media” grows more irrelevant by the minute. Use them when you can. Go around them at every opportunity.

When I was in daily journalism, I saw firsthand how lazy many reporters can be. That education paled compared to what I’ve seen in 2010: Reckless disregard for the facts, blatant lying, agenda-driven interviews and stories, reportorial sloth and general unpleasantness. There are many, many good reporters, but the bad ones are so bad, they drag down the entire profession like Lerner & Rowe does with lawyers. How do you deal with such a cluster? Mostly by picking your spots. Say “no” to interviews you see going horribly wrong. Do interviews with the “good guys” who will treat you fairly. And never be afraid to challenge “the facts” when they aren’t particularly factual (and even if they are, provided you can do so within the bounds of reason and morality).

More importantly, talk to the public at every opportunity. Blog. Tweet. Post on Facebook. Send that email. Make a video and post it on YouTube. Send out links in every direction. Tell your most authentic, most engaging story at every opportunity, in a voice people want to listen to, in every medium you can find.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned in 2010, it’s that now Marshall McCluhan is dead ass wrong. Today, the medium isn’t the message. The message is the message. People want well-told tales, brimming with accurate facts and the occasional interesting turn of phrase or vivid image. They don’t much care who does the telling or where they find the story.

Be compelling and be on time. Do that and you’ll do very well indeed, if my 2010 is any indication.