In Arizona and elsewhere we have a lot of political posers who know very little about governing. Political posers will do anything to get elected and say anything to remain in the public eye. It’s political exhibitionism. It doesn’t get anything done. It’s all about self-promotion and demagoguery.
State Senator Wendy Rogers
Photo by Arizona State Legislature
State Senator Wendy Rogers first caught my attention during the Republican primary race in 2020. In scathing television commercials she characterized her opponent, incumbent Sen. Sylvia Allen, as a liberal who was soft on crime and anti-police. Rogers unseats Allen in bitter, expensive state senate primary brawl | Latest News | wmicentral.com. In truth, Allen stood out as one of the more conservative members of the senate.
With wave after wave of attack ads Rogers raised and mostly spent $551,000 to win this rural senate seat and outspent her opponent by more than four to one. An aggressive independent expenditure campaign augmented Rogers’ war chest and boosted her over the top while winning 59 percent of the vote. (Ibid)
Her self-promotion and controversial remarks have turned Rogers into the most prolific fundraiser in legislative history. She currently has a cash balance of over $1.7 million for a race in the new LD 7! SeeTheMoney (az.gov). Her opponent, Sen. Kelly Townsend, who has been re-districted into a race with Rogers, has an ending campaign balance of just over $13,000. 51F3EA07-B5A7-431E-B747-85689A7F9858.pdf (az.gov) Hmmmm . . .
Some campaign war chest!
Photo courtesy of depositphoto.com
Self-promotion and controversial remarks may work to raise a ton of cash, (mostly from out-of-state by the way), but it is not always an effective strategy if you want to get things done. Rogers has prime sponsored 81 bills this session. To date, none have made it to the governor’s desk. 12 of those bills made it out of the Senate and died in the House. Not all of the bills Rogers has sponsored are bad pieces of legislation. They cover a wide variety of subject matter, but the toxicity of her rhetoric has not made her any friends down at the capitol.
Of course, the mainstream media has vilified Rogers. Typically the MSM does that with Republicans. Unfortunately, the MSM turns a blind eye (or at best, does a one-day story) when it comes to the pronouncements of Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, or Ilhan Omar. The racial pandering, fear-mongering and division caused by the political exhibitionists of our day, while an effective tool for raising money, does nothing to solve our country’s problems. It is great, however, in magnifying divisions and prejudices.
Threading the needle not so easy!
Photo by Bekathwia
While trying to solve big, seemingly intractable problems, the really hard work in governing sometimes requires threading the needle. That delicate act becomes almost impossible when demagogues simply fall back on their talking points and stir up controversy with their sound bites.
The public elects their representatives to get things done. To do that, legislators must tone down the rhetoric, listen to each other and actually work their bills. Rogers should have done that. She could have swallowed her pride and had a heart-to-heart meeting with the Speaker. She could have made an effort to push her bills in the House after they came over from the Senate. Rogers might have had at least some success if she had made the effort and not doubled down on her controversial remarks. Instead, she chose to remain in the public eye and raise lots of money.