Oh, and before I forget--hey Arizona?

[DFW]

I don't always mix the personal with the political, but when it involves friends, it becomes difficult to separate the two. I happen to know exactly 4% of the sitting governors: Maine's Janet Mills, and Arizona's Katie Hobbs. I see Janet over New Year's, and she's really fun to be around. Smart, sly, and with a wicked sense of humor. Since I'm never in Arizona, I only get to see the state's two Senators, both of whom are personal friends, in Washington. Katie Hobbs sent me a note asking if I was going to be in Dallas on April 17th, and in this case, I was. But I had little time, and she was on some business (presumably fund-raising) in Dallas. I asked if she had the time to come visit me in my head office in Dallas, and, surprisingly, she did. Her security guy called, and I put him in touch with our security guy, and we were good to go. She showed up with her two car convoy, and we had about 90 minutes (30 of them stolen) to spend. About ⅔ on personal stuff, and then the usual rest on politics. The best news, if not exactly surprising, is that she gets along with, and works well with both Mark and Rubén in the Senate. They stay in touch, and do not try to work around each other or try to steal anyone's thunder. Democratic Arizona is definitely WAY different from Republican Florida or Republican Texas. The border is always a sticky issue, although, as usual, Republicans try to make more of it than it is. Katie may come across as what can only be described as "ladylike," but she is smart and aware, just like Janet is in Maine. A true "progressive realist," if there can be such a thing. In January, I think I did a post about how Arizona could be proud of its two Senators. I got reminded that I should have extended the comment to the Governor as well. I can only WISH that Texas will some day be so fortunate!

[AZJonnie]

1. People on Nextdoor around here (East Valley) had a big thread arguing about whether it was Katie's 'fault'

that a bunch of money that had been going to family members of caregivers for elderly and disabled folks in AZ was soon to be cutoff. Of course the wingnuts have their spin that this is 'state program' even though it's at least partly federally funded. And that the federal funds were scheduled to run out soon (I gather it was some COVID-related expenditure), and it was all Katie's fault because she didn't 'plan for it' so now these poor caregivers are going to be shafted. I figure it's BS spin so I stuck up for her and said basically if the AZ GOP congress wanted to find the money for it, they certainly could. But I don't really know the details.

Anyways, thanks for the insights DFW! I've only met Adrian and Greg Stanton but certainly not one-on-one or anything lol. Very cool stuff!

[DFW]

2. I suppose I should have had someone take a photo

But it was so natural and informal, I didn't even think of it as some political event, more just a friend stopping by.

Next time!

One funny moment--when passing through one division, we had a quick chat with one of our people about her division, and I didn't even get the chance to make a proper introduction. Our woman, who is a nuts-and-bolts employee, and one of those unsung people without whom the place would not run nearly as well, was chatting with Katie, knowing nothing more that she was a friend of mine. At the end, when we were about to leave, I casually mentioned that "my friend here is the Governor of Arizona." her eyes nearly popped out of her head. That was good for a laugh!