I attended the Tuesday rally outside Rep. Martha McSally’s office along with 125-150 others. It was organized by McSally Take a Stand, which, according to the group’s handout, “has been calling for Congresswoman Martha McSally to hold public town halls in order that her constituents in CD-2 can speak with her in person.” Petitions with over a thousand signatures were delivered to her office. The group even rented a room for a town hall in late February during Congressional District Work Week when representatives are supposed be in town to meet with constituents, and invited McSally to attend. The event will go on with or without the Congresswoman.

Tuesday afternoon after the rally was over, McSally held a tele-townhall, a quiet event where people ask questions from their home phones and she answers from the safety of her office. One questioner asked why she hasn’t scheduled any recent face-to-face town halls. McSally defended herself by saying Democratic activists just want to use those events as political theater to ambush Republicans. And you know, she’s not wrong. Democrats do hope to score political points by holding her feet to the fire and making her as uncomfortable as they can. I admit, it takes courage to schedule an event knowing you’re going to be attacked verbally, to stand up in front of a group of constituents, many of them hostile to your ideas, and do your best to hold your own. But for someone who puts her 26 years in the Air Force at the top of her official biography, touting her courageous combat missions flying the A-10 Warthog in Iraq and her refusal to wear Muslim garb when she travelled off-base in Saudi Arabia, McSally is showing a distinct lack of courage under political fire.

By way of contrast, let me note an example of courage from her predecessor, Rep. Ron Barber. When Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was shot during her Congress on Your Corner event January 8, 2011, Barber was among 18 others shot at the event. Barber went on to win the congressional seat in 2012. He didn’t have to continue Gabby’s Congress on Your Corner tradition, but he chose to anyway, standing in the public square and taking questions and comments from constituents. Given his experience two years earlier, that had to be far more terrifying than facing a roomful of people at a town hall. His first of several Congress on Your Corner events was held four days after he was sworn in, a frightening echo of Gabby’s January 8 event which was held four days after she began her third term.

It’s also worth noting that Rep. Giffords stood in front of raucous, rowdy crowds during three town halls she held when the Tea Party was in full-on attack mode over the proposed Affordable Care Act. I attended one of them held in a packed high school auditorium. Republican activists were bussed in from around the Tucson area to disrupt the event. They stood and booed everyone who spoke in favor of the proposed health law, drowning out their comments. They cheered with equal fervor when someone spoke on their side, though they interrupted their cheering long enough to allow the speaker to be heard. Gabby stood her ground throughout the event.

It’s McSally’s choice whether she stands in front of an audience at an open, public town hall. However, she might consider the example of the two people who held the seat before her as she makes her decision.

This article appears in Feb 2-8, 2017.

51 replies on “Rep. Martha McSally, Former Rep. Ron Barber, and Courage”

  1. ” she might consider the example of the two people who held the seat before her as she makes her decision.”

    David, one was shot point blank and the other could not win reelection. I would say that she has made a wise decision.

    And in case you haven’t noticed the ACA has collapsed under it’s own weight.

  2. Thank you for highlighting something we have been saying since the election. I would add that we made it very clear to the Congresswoman when we invited her to our Town Hall last Thursday (5 days before our public event) that we would be happy to work with her on a format for our event that would make her comfortable. Additionally, we are hiring TPD at our own expense to ensure her safety and ours. To keep the event civil and productive, our e-ticket requires that you agree to follow guidelines of civil discourse. We intend to have a list of ground rules on a large screen and 2 moderators that will help to enforce the ground rules. We communicated all of this to her and she hasn’t bothered to reply except to call us operatives. If asking her to answer how she is representing us with the opportunity to ask follow up questions pointing out her own contradictory statements is an ambush, then maybe she is too fragile for this job.

    Marion Chubon
    McSally Take a Stand

  3. The lunatic fringe are the Trumpeteers commenting. Amazing how they spent 8 years calling Obama every name in the book, but these assholes elect a President who’s actually a criminal, not just black.

  5. The ACA didn’t “collapse under its own weight,” like the fool above supposes- the insurance companies raised their rates because to them money is more important than people. The state-level GOP also refused the Medicaid expansion from the Feds because they also actually hate human beings too- especially poor, brown, black or female people- in any combination you like.

  6. David, could you please provide us with a link to your advocacy that Barbara La Wall appear in public debates with Joel Feinman, her opponent in the Democratic primary for Pima County Attorney?

    She declined at least 7 requests made by 7 different groups who had very reasonable requests to make: to hear the candidates in a Democratic primary contest respond in a debate format to the public’s questions about their perspectives on justice system issues in Pima County. Here’s what Tim Steller wrote about it in the Star:
    “For weeks, Pima County Attorney candidate Joel Feinman has been pointing out incumbent Barbara LaWalls unwillingness to debate him at a series of scheduled events. Feinman, a Democrat like the incumbent hes challenging, has even posted online a ‘LaWall debate clock’ showing the events he says shes ignored or declined to attend. […] “Her reason veers dangerously close to a sense of entitlement: ‘I believe the circumstances of this race are different. This is not an open seat. My record is well known.’ “

    “This is not an open seat.” What an interesting comment. It seems to imply that there are parties behind the scenes — not the voters in regularly scheduled primary and general elections — who determine when a challenge to an incumbent is acceptable or needed.

    (FYI, readers, here’s how to tell whether a blogger’s concern is really with candidates making themselves accessible to the public and with applying those standards uniformly to all comers: unlike David Safier, they will ask the same of incumbent Democrats and Republicans, and of challengers in both parties (and of challengers who are Greens, Libertarians, Independents….) If they don’t, you can assume their real concern is with trashing a political adversary like McSally, not with ensuring the electorate has the opportunities it needs to understand candidates’ positions and make informed choices in an election.)

  7. Lavender “…not just black”.

    He’s not. He’s half white, the half he and his lemming liberals hate.

  9. Lavender

    No

    Accept your official status as pissant for at least the next 8 years and generations when it comes to the Supreme Court.

    Elections have consequences – remember that one?

  11. What is it about speech that the left fears so much? Whatever it is makes them resort to name calling to try to accomplish their goals.

    Is it simply youth on parade?

  15. You are very welcome.

    But wait until Sessions is approved tonight and the FBI hammer drops on DC. You are not going to believe what is in that swamp. Both sides will be shocked!

  17. David, your second to last paragraph reads like something I read elsewhere. Did they copy you? I can’t remember where I saw it first.

  19. Someone who WON’T stand and face constituents is becoming the textbook definition of a politician. They serve their donors who enable them to broadcast misleading messages advertising themselves to voters. They do not serve the voters themselves.

    If you want that to change, you have to change the campaign finance system. Good luck with that. We live in a plutocracy, and the people at the top like it just fine that they can (and do) buy “our” government and “our” elected representatives.

  21. Can any of you explain how a candidate that you did not vote for, and subsequently despise, is suppose to represent you. Does she not owe her supporters the issues that promises were made upon? That doesn’t seem to include the losers, unless they want to act civil. And we see where that is headed.

    Many of you act like second grade children. Do you really think through your positions?

  22. Yes, Concerned Mom, if that’s what you really are. McSally represents the 2nd Congressional District of Arizona. All of it, not just who she picks and chooses. If she was anything like the tough fighter she pretends to be, then she wouldn’t be so scared of hearing views that don’t mirror her own. As it is, she’s just another chip off the old coward-in-chief.

  23. Peabo the Pissant. Has a nice ring to it. Enjoy your Trump excrement sandwich each and every day.

  28. Maybe a phone-in is better for many reasons. Did ANY of you consider that? Not all of us have cars. I can’t afford a sitter to go have my say. If you love our planet, why NOT keep cars turned off. No drive or bus=no car emisions. McSally area is large with people all over and not eveyone gets to go. Why not have everyone with issues call in? Why aren’t we working smarter?

    I see a LOT of bullying going on. Not so much civil discourse. Shame on BOTH sides. Nasty is just nasty. Rude is just Rude. And whining will always be whining. So sick of spin and posturing on tv and radio. Make things better. Volunteer at a shelter. Help a child to read. Walk pups at PACC. Picking fights for the sake of drama is so tired. I hope we outgrow this my team your team bigotry. It’s no who we were meant to be and is far below our potential.

  29. Very disheartening to hear McSally will not meet with her constituents in a town hall setting. Her made-up reasons for not meeting with the people in her district is a total copout. This supposed fighter pilot and woman who sued the Air Force to change the ruling of what she had to wear when off base in Saudi Arabia, is now afraid to speak with people who may not agree with her decisions and votes. This is part of the job. If she can’t handle this and feels she is sacrificing too much, then she should resign. I’ve been asking questions through her office for two years now and have yet to get an answer. Yesterday I was told by her district director, that all the answers I needed could be found on-line. I want to know if she supports Trump, his policies, and his nominations for cabinet appts. I want to know what it means to secure the border and how she feels we should go about that and I want to know if she agrees that we can cut our defense budget in half and still cover everything we need, since then we won’t be wasting the taxpayers money. Can I find the answers to those questions on-line?
    Bob Dorson

  30. Good point, @Chris Wiegand, but if we don’t feed them, they’re gonna be stuck eating those sandwiches What, Again likes.

  31. Have you ever considered the thought that she is not afraid to stand in front of you? Maybe her assumption is that she knows what you want. She hears it every day. But the majority do not.

    Both sides could be making assumptions. Send her an email or a letter. It is better for everybody.

  32. Two words will forever describe The Trump junta and their supporters and history will use them, “delusion” and “fantasy”.

  33. And you would claim that those two words (“delusion” and “fantasy”) don’t describe your views about the superiority of public district schools as deliverers of “education,” “Frances Perkins”?

    I suppose it depends on what you mean by “education.” Some of us mean the development of excellence in reading, thinking, writing and using the scientific method — things that currently cannot happen for most students in most classrooms in a mammoth, mis-managed and chronically troubled public district like TUSD.

    You — and McSally and David Safier and all participants in the debate about what public institutions should be and how elected officials should manage them — must try to tell the truth and formulate public policy on the basis of facts. Policy formed on a basis of lies, wishful thinking, and utopian fantasies cannot meet the needs of the real people in our communities.

    We are all bicker-weary and fantasy-weary. Meanwhile, real people suffer as policy serves the needs of politicians and not of the people who work for a living in this sad, rapidly deteriorating region, state, and nation.

  34. McSally is a coward if she won’t face criticism. Giving the excuse that those who don’t support her might show up and make themselves heard is a lame excuse for a representative to refuse to engage their constituents except in the most controlled of circumstances (tele-halls are completely controlled and pre-screened). More importantly, it shows her basic contempt for viewpoints other than her own or those who support her. She should listen to those who oppose her, they might just have something valid to say that will change her mind. Sad.

  35. BTW, Tucson Weekly should really require commenters identify themselves. Would make for a much more polite environment. Those who comment anonymously are cowards who lack conviction.

  36. Town Halls, where constituents get to ask questions face to face of their congressperson, are a time honored tradition. But McSally, like her Republican colleagues, does not feel any responsibility to respect the rules and honor Democratic traditions. She and her colleagues have created new rules where the president can cite false information to the country day after day. Trump is a textbook fascist in that he attacks the credibility of the media and the courts. McSally is complicit. and must be unseated in 2018 to protect our Democracy

  37. Republicans are not the only ones throwing up obstacles to transparency and access these days. Anyone who is paying attention (and is HONEST and CONSISTENT in applying their standards) can find plenty of examples of this type of behavior on both sides of the aisle, as was noted in one of the comments above RE Barbara La Wall. (See also: Hillary Clinton & e-mail, Hillary Clinton & transcripts of Wall Street talks.)

    Kudos to Pamela Powers Hannley for speaking up about the fact that Democrats are also engaging in transparency-blocking behaviors:

    https://tucson-progressive.com/2012/05/30/keep-the-press-free-we-cant-let-democrats-become-republicans-video/

    Ironically, given Safier’s attempt to contrast Barber’s behavior with McSally’s, one of the Democrats criticized for transparency-blocking behaviors in the above-linked piece was “Jeremy Lasher, Southern Arizona Field Organizer for the Ron Barber campaign.”

    The video showing the shut down of a Democratic supporter’s attempts to videotape a Carmona campaign event for web posting concludes, “Here’s the lesson candidates: If you stand for transparency, be transparent. By seeking to avoid a problem video, you created a problem video.”

    (You can watch the fun little “problem video” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4t9M9Kc5u_g )

    It has been said before and will no doubt be said again in the comment streams on David Safier’s blogs: Transparency advocacy is only truly effective and persuasive when it’s non-partisan and uniformly applied to all comers.

  40. Oh come now, that’s no record. But it does say a lot about the depth of thought displayed by by the button pushers.

    The left has become bitter and violent and may now cost them to lose their place at the table. Madonna is going to blow up the WH? How far behind her are the rest of you?

    And something to ponder. When has the opposition scheduled and booked a town hall for a liberal that was attended by same?

    What are you people smoking?

  41. McSally may just be showing common sense here… she never likes to let people know how she might vote until it is too late to lobby her. Or she is waiting for the people who are paying the rent to tell her how to vote. Either way, she isn’t representing her district. She showed up from out of town and liked the neighborhood. But she ain’t from here.

  43. Whatever is being smoked is nothing compared to what you and your fellow Trump sheep are using.

    You don’t even realize the herder of your flock is leading you to straight to the wolves.

    Putin loves dedicated, ignorant, unquestioning followers that are just like you.

    Why else do you think he loves his little American orange puppet?

  44. But I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment; and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council; but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

    Come on AC.

  45. Talk about someone who should follow they’re own advice.

  46. Talk about someone who should follow their own advice.

  47. Many on the left don’t put much stock in that book, Rat T, but there are a good number of us that do.

    Even in the current ugly, “reactive” political scene, there are more on the left using non-confrontational, constructive means to forward our policy goals than there are people breaking windows and screaming obscenities. But you know the media: it will always be the bad behavior and the sensational story that garners the most coverage.

    As for this comment stream: Safier promoted the aims of a group that is targeting McSally, and this post was no doubt forwarded to their entire extended network, hence the large # of dislikes on posts that don’t jump on the “disparage McSally” bandwagon.

    And the usual suspects are of course offering up their vacuous, mean-spirited insults. Too bad they don’t just find another hobby. Seems to me they foster an inaccurate and negative image of what “liberals” believe and how they behave, damaging the very cause they seem to want to promote.

  48. Martha, Martha, Martha….
    If you can’t stand the heat….my advice is to get out of the kitchen. Being elected by taxpayers means one must answer to their concerns. It goes with the territory. Republicans are facing an angry bunch, with good reason. Own up to voting for strip mining, own up to not demanding Trump produce his tax returns. Own up to voting against any protection of the enviorment and any protection for women making choices over their own bodies. Martha needs to own up and face her constituents.

  50. I VOTED FOR MCSALLY, AND ATTENDED HER CONFERENCE CALL. IT WAS A TALKING POINT CAMPAIGN SPEECH. IT WAS RIDICULOUS, I JUST WANTED TO KNOW WHY DON’T THEY USE DRONES, SINCE YOU CAN GET A LADDER TO CLIMB OVER THE WALL, AND CAN TUNNEL UNDER. IT SOUNDS KIND OF RIDICULOUS TO ME TO BUILD THIS WALL. I WANTED TO ASK, WHY DID SHE DEFUND BOARDER SECURITY FOR THE 2017 YEAR, LEAVING 300 LESS AGENTS. TO TELL THE TRUTH, I DON’T HAVE TIME TO PLAY HER GAME. I AM NOT VERY HAPPY SHE HELPED MAKE THE INSIDER TRADING RULE IN THE HOUSE SO SHE CAN DO INSIDER TRADING. SHE IS CORRUPT.

  51. I was outside her Sahuarita townhall. She did not have the courage to let her car drive by the people holding signs. I would call that cowardice since no one was throwing stones. We just had signs.

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