<nbsp/> Cooperation can help get things done

On the morning of Dec. 8, 1984, Arizona native John R. Norton III entered the West Wing of the White House and was greeted by Robert "Bob" Tuttle, President Ronald Reagan's director of personnel. Reagan had asked the Arizona agribusiness titan to serve as deputy secretary of Agriculture.

Norton III, a Republican, accepted the president's offer, and his name was placed before the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry. The Senate, at the time, was controlled by

the Democrats, and Norton III expressed trepidation about his potential "grilling."

Significantly, Arizona's entire congressional delegation rallied around its native son. Junior Sen. Dennis DeConcini, a Democrat, hosted a reception at his McLean, Va., home, where he introduced Norton III and his wife, Doris, to Democratic senators on the committee. DeConcini's wife's family, the Hurleys, were long acquainted with the Nortons through their family enterprises and their political affiliation with Arizona's growing and increasingly influential Republican Party. Of course, senior Sen. Barry Goldwater supported Norton III's confirmation.

From the House of Representatives, Arizona's delegation -- Morris Udall, a Democrat, and Republicans John McCain, Eldon Rudd and Jim Kolbe -- prepared statements in Norton III's behalf.

Udall, in characteristic fashion, offered an amusing comment but left no doubt about his support for his fellow Arizonan: "John is an unusually well-qualified person, and he is superior to everyone I know. I do not know why anyone in his right mind would want to take on this job, but the country is lucky that he is, and you will make no mistake if you confirm his nomination."

That snapshot in my new book, "The Norton Trilogy," represents another Arizona and another time, when the public's interest and civility were part and parcel of the political process.

Though contrasting ideologies and partisanship existed in the 1980s, the political atmosphere was less toxic. Differences were noted, respected, and after 5 p.m., ideological fealty remained at work. Congressmen and senators from differing parties socialized and dined together. The bipartisanship exemplified in Norton III's successful nomination in 1985 has receded into history.

Two political giants who respected each other and their respective pioneer families, Democrat Carl Hayden and Goldwater, set the tone for the bipartisan support reflected in Norton III's confirmation hearings. Shortly before his retirement from the Senate, Goldwater spoke of Hayden.

"Let me put it this simple way," he stated flatly, "whenever my service in the Senate is terminated, I hope that my service to the country and my state equals a small fraction of what Carl Hayden has provided in both areas," adding, "Carl Hayden outgrew party personality early in his political career."

Though bipartisanship is one of several themes that runs through "The Norton Trilogy," the book is also a study of the roles that federal reclamation, law, politics and individual initiative played in the settlement and growth of this often unforgiving region of the country. In short, this volume is a rumination on the history of water and agribusiness in the American Southwest through the lives

of three generations of John R. Nortons.

The work details the earliest efforts at irrigated agriculture in the 19th century through the monumental Arizona vs. California Supreme Court case that helped determine where the life-giving waters of the Colorado River would be divided and into the critical events that have shaped the late 20th century and early 21st. The Nortons were at the center of these and other developments that made Arizona into a vital population and agricultural center.

Pioneers such as John R. Norton (1854-1923), who was one of three members of the legendary Breakenridge Survey of 1889 that located the site of what became Roosevelt Dam, and John R. Norton Jr. (1901-87), who, by the 1930s emerged as one of Arizona's leading agriculture producers and livestock growers, shaped the very landscape of the western United States.

And John R. Norton III built upon the accomplishments of his father and grandfather to become one of the region's major agribusiness entrepreneurs, deputy secretary of the Department of Agriculture in the Reagan administration, and one of the West's leading philanthropists in education, health care and the arts.

The Nortons, moreover, reflected the region's evolution in politics from the late 19th century to the early 21st. Norton Sr., a Kentucky native who moved West, was a southern Democrat who won election to the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors and sought to rival Hayden in turn-of-the-century Democratic Party caucuses.

Norton Jr., not as politically active as father or son, nevertheless expressed his "Pinto Democrat" leanings when he chaired the "Democrats for Wilkie" effort in the 1940 presidential election. He was well on his way to Republican registration.

And Norton III, perhaps the most active and astute of the three in political affairs, continues to champion conservative causes.

As former Sen. DeConcini stated recently, "The Norton family reaches back in the history of Arizona as far as the Udalls, Goldwaters, Babbitts and DeConcinis, and this family and its accomplishments serve as an historical metaphor for the growth and development of Arizona and the Greater Southwest for the past 150 years."

Bruce Babbitt, former Arizona governor and secretary of the Interior Department, added a more personal observation: "During my years as governor, John R. Norton III was my go-to Republican. Working together, we discovered a lot of common ground for making water policy and promoting agriculture. The remarkable history of three Norton generations should help us understand and renew bipartisan cooperation."

Beyond the Nortons serving as exemplars of a more civil and dignified political culture, former Republican Sen. Jon Kyl, who penned a robust foreword to "The Norton Trilogy," correctly asserts that "the Nortons have made Arizona and the nation a better place," and their intergenerational legacy "is as much an American story as it is an Arizona one."

In contrast to current political vitriol and divisiveness, Arizona residents can look back upon a long history of political evolution and change, vigorous and productive political debate, and, in several significant instances, bipartisan cooperation and support from its political leaders.

Reaching across the aisle to find common ground has been a part of Arizona's political history, and, in the best of all worlds, its future.

Jack August Jr. is a visiting scholar in legal history at Snell & Wilmer. His new book, "The Norton Trilogy," is the latest of several books he has written about the American West.

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'Coming to terms' with cancer

Manuel "Manny" Cruz says he's unsure how long his "shelf life" is, but he knows his biggest fear as he faces inoperable lung cancer.

How to help

Friends of the Cruzes will hold an event and fundraiser from 5 to 7p.m. today at Culinary Dropout at The Yard, 5632 N. Seventh St., Phoenix. Donations are being accepted, with checks payable to the Manny Cruz Fund. Donations also can be mailed to 7604 W. Claremont St., Glendale, AZ, 85303-4212, or deposited at any US Bank location, account number 151705573393.

It's leaving behind Jessica, his 6-year-old daughter, who has Down syndrome.

Cruz, a Democrat who narrowly lost the Glendale mayor's race to Jerry Weiers last year, had launched his second campaign for state mine inspector when he was diagnosed in September with cancer in his lungs, spine and shoulder. He later learned that it had spread to his brain.

"It's surreal," said Cruz, a 47-year-old Arizona native. "But, you know, I'm coming to terms with it."

In the weeks since the diagnoses, campaign talk has been pushed aside. Cruz has compiled a "cancer book," which includes his appointments, lists of medications and definitions of words he had not heard before Sept.6.

During an interview at the kitchen table of his central Glendale home, Cruz contemplated what, by any measure, is a short future -- he says his doctors say from six months to two years, depending on how he responds to treatment -- with grace, humor and gratitude.

His tall frame now lanky from shedding 50 pounds in two months, he spoke softly and slowly about his professional career in mining and his political life, and lit up as he talked about his family and showed photos of Jessica, his "little silly."

Cruz is battling the cancer, recently completing 10 radiation treatments to shrink the brain lesions and undergoing daylong chemotherapy sessions every three weeks in hopes of prolonging his time with wife Valerie Revering, daughter Jessica and their four older children.

"Hey, you know, I'm not done yet. We've got things to do," Cruz said. "There's a wedding to plan. There are kids to take to the different events at their schools."

Stepson Chris will be married in April, and Molly, 15, -- "my little brainiac" -- is in her school's production of "The Tempest."Daughter Kim, 26, is attending Arizona State University after a four-year stint in the Navy. She has been a key source of support for her father, helping with Jessica, household chores and driving on the days when nausea and exhaustion take over.

"I've been truly blessed, with great family, great friends and a good life," he said. "And a great career that I absolutely loved, and to still be able to help people, help communities and give back."

Cruz is a fourth-generation Arizonan who worked in the mining industry. He's been active in the Democratic Party for years, but he only recently entered politics, with an unsuccessful 2010 run for mine inspector against Republican Joe Hart.

His grandfather worked the Ray Copper Mine, now owned by ASARCO, and died in his 30s of black-lung disease. Cruz's father told boyhood stories of handing out water to miners as they trudged out of the pit, before the towns of Ray and Sonora were wiped off the map by the original mining company.

Cruz's parents campaigned for Nixon and his political activism was shaped, in part, by them. His mother, Sally, changed her registration to Democrat to vote for her son in 2010, and spent hours working on his campaigns.

Cruz was honored Saturday with the chairman's award at the Arizona Democratic Party's annual Hall of Fame induction. He will be celebrated at an event today at the Culinary Dropout in Phoenix, which also serves as a fundraiser.

Arizona Democratic Party Chairman Bill Roe said Cruz was a tireless campaigner, and his mother was every bit as enthusiastic, even when they knew the registration numbers and the funding were stacked against them.

"He worked extraordinarily hard and energized a lot of people in two different races," Roe said.

After he lost to Hart in 2012, Cruz made good on a campaign promise and launched the non-profit Abandoned Mine Safety, which raised money to educate schoolchildren about the dangers of abandoned mines, and to close down some of the thousands of dangerous shafts scattered across the state.

After a tough loss to Weiers in the mayor's race, by about 4,000 votes, Cruz went back to work and soon started thinking about the 2014 race for mine inspector. Hart had served two terms and couldn't run again, and few people had both the qualifications and the interest to do the job.

"I had a really good feeling that this might be the year that I won that election," Cruz said.

In September, after a week of coughing and shortness of breath, Cruz saw his family physician.

"It doesn't look like it's anything we're going to be able to fix," Cruz said the doctor told him.

Now, instead of a campaign run, he's planning a video that he will record for Jessica.

She doesn't understand his condition, he said. When he coughs, Jessica runs over to pat him on the back.

He worries about Jessica, and about her mother. "One of the biggest things is knowing she needs that extra help. This little one right here," he says, "was going to be with us for the rest of our lives."

But he's at peace with himself.

"I believe that I'll be leaving this world a little bit better than when I got here."

Copyright 2013 The Arizona Republic|azcentral.com. All rights reserved.For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

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Analysis: Obama works to regain political standing

SAN FRANCISCO — SAN FRANCISCO President Barack Obama is urging donors to buck up and making a thread-the-needle appeal for bipartisanship with Republicans even as he calls for replacing the House GOP majority and holding his Democratic edge in the Senate.

Obama is seeking to gain back his political standing in the aftermath of his administration's botched launch of health care enrollment by defining himself as a pragmatic victim of tea party conservatives while casting his policies on the economy and immigration as popular remedies that could win bipartisan support.

"Right now in this country there is at least one faction of one party that has decided they are more interested in stopping progress than advancing it, and aren't interested in compromise or engaging in solving problems and more interested in scoring points for the next election," he told Democratic donors in San Francisco on Monday.

For Obama, the call for compromise is a veiled olive branch that also disguises a threat.

"What we're looking for is not the defeat of another party, what we're looking for is the advancement of ideas that are going to vindicate those values that are tried and true," he said at a fundraiser Sunday with House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi seated among about 60 high-dollar donors. "But to do that we're going to need Nancy Pelosi as speaker, because there's just a lot of work to be done right now."

Less than 24 hours later, pressing for an overhaul of immigration laws, Obama extended a hand to House Republican Speaker John Boehner.

"Speaker Boehner is hopeful we can make progress" on immigration, Obama said Monday in San Francisco. "I believe the speaker is sincere, I believe he genuinely wants to get it done."

The diverging messages reflect Obama's dual desire to win a legislative victory even as he performs his duties as leader of the Democratic Party.

"I'm not a particularly ideological person," he said, adding he still is passionate about giving people a fair shake. "But I'm pretty pragmatic about how we get there."

Raising money in Washington and California, states he won handily in his two elections, Obama faced protests and hecklers from his liberal flank. During his immigration remarks in San Francisco, he was interrupted by a protester standing immediately behind him. The young man condemned the Obama administration's record number of deportation of immigrants who are in the country illegally.

"Stop deportation, stop deportation!" the young man yelled. Obama turned and listened then said that he was required to follow the law.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

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Try not to ask hopeful about female Dem 'rising stars'

(PNI) Get out that binder full of women …If a woman hasn't decided to run against Mario Diaz next year, she should grab the brass ring the community-college district board candidate tossed out this month.

Diaz, a Democrat and a candidate for a seat on the Maricopa County Community College District governing board, was part of recent panel discussion. Asked to name "rising stars" in the Democratic Party, he rattled off men's names, but came up blank on the women.

That is, until Senate Minority Leader Katie Hobbs, D-Phoenix and state Senate star, mentioned the slight on her Facebook page. The reaction was fast and furious. Comments ranged from "unbelievable" to "what an idiot" to a dissection of his campaign supporters -- of which women accounted for only 21percent, according to one post. Oh, and he has GOP supporters, too. So much for bipartisanship.

Diaz called Hobbs to apologize and then posted his apology, saying he "froze" when asked the question.

"My comment was to say that our community needed more women in political power, not that there are not women who serve in such posts," he wrote. "I have no excuses, I apologize."

What's wrong with this math? … Thirty-eight Republican members of the Legislature voted against Medicaid expansion. But 36 signed on to the lawsuit challenging that decision.

The missing plaintiffs were Sens. Don Shooter, R-Yuma, and Michele Reagan, R-Scottsdale. Shooter has said he doesn't like to sue his friends. Reagan voted for Medicaid expansion before she voted against it.

Missing from the vote and the lawsuit is Sen. Rick Murphy, R-Peoria. Murphy said he feared he wouldn't have standing to sue, since he was on vacation when the vote was taken.

Standing -- or having a legal reason to sue -- may not matter, at least as far as Gov. Jan Brewer's legal team sees it. None of the lawmakers has a right to sue, the lawyers argue, since they're not paying the "provider tax" at the heart of the plaintiff's lawsuit.

We'll see what the courts have to say about that matter; the case is before a Maricopa County Superior Court judge.

An unusual raffle … As part of the Christmas raffle this year, the Republicans in Legislative District 26, which covers parts of Tempe and Mesa, gave away an AR-15 rifle.

They said the point was to raise awareness about gun rights.

LD 26 Democrats issued a news release decrying a gun raffle held within days of the anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre.

Committee Chairman Randy Keating, in a news release, called it "irresponsible" and "grossly insensitive."

"Arizona deserves much better from the LD 26 Republican leadership, and that is why we have decided to help collect donations for one of Arizona's leading gun-safety groups, Arizonans for Gun Safety," Keating said.

Pick your evil: insensitive timing or using the deaths of 20 children to make a political point.

A call to arms … Gov. Jan Brewer last week posted an "I Stand With Jan to Defend Christmas" postcard on her Facebook page. Within 24hours, it had garnered nearly 75,000 likes.

But based on the comments, both supporters and dissenters seemed to have missed the spirit of the season -- whatever season they choose to celebrate this time of year -- entirely.

Here's a little sample:

"Merry Christmas. I'm Hispanic and I'm tired of how all of these corrupt racist liberals like (President Barack) Obama and his supporters are trying to turn this great country into a 3rd world one."

"What exactly is Christmas being attacked by? This is idiotic. I can't believe you're in charge of an entire state."

"From what, pray tell?! What scaremongering phonies you are!"

"Merry Christmas Jan. Believe me I say it to everyone whether they like it or not."

Tweet of the week

"Just landed in Chicago. Saying it's cold would be like saying CPS (Child Protective Services) has 'a few issues.'"

--House Minority Leader Chad Campbell, D-Phoenix.

Compiled by Republic reporters Mary Jo Pitzl, Alia Beard Rau, Yvonne Wingett Sanchez, Michelle Ye Hee Lee and Rebekah L. Sanders. Get the latest at politics.azcentral.com.

Copyright 2013 The Arizona Republic|azcentral.com. All rights reserved.For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

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'Montgomery slate' rumor far-fetched

(PNI) From the political notebook:

Politics are full of wild rumors and conspiracy theories. Some even turn out to be true.

One running rampant through Arizona political circles is that there is a dark-money slate of candidates in Republican primaries for statewide office. The slate supposedly consists of Doug Ducey for governor, Justin Pierce for secretary of state, Mark Brnovich for attorney general and Hugh Hallman for treasurer.

"Dark money" is an epithet for campaign speech whose source of funding is obscure or undisclosed.

Supposedly huge sums of money from the vast right-wing conspiracy throughout the country will flow into Arizona to ensure the election of this dark-money slate.

The supposed mastermind and maestro of this attempt to hijack the Republican primary is none other than Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery. Some are calling it the Montgomery slate.

Now, Montgomery is a politician of some promise and has done a good job of calming the infighting in county government. I don't know whether this is a good or a bad thing to say about him. But, in terms of this conspiracy, Montgomery just ain't that important or influential.

Montgomery has some standing in county politics. He's a minor figure in state politics, with considerable upside potential. But right now, at the state level, he hardly makes anyone shake in their boots. On the national level, he's a cipher.

The notion that Montgomery can summon big bucks from around the country for statewide candidates in Arizona is implausible, to put it mildly.

I don't doubt independent expenditure campaigns will play in the Republican primary, and some of them will have obscure financing. But the notion that some large, national effort will focus on down-ballot state offices in Arizona strikes me as implausible. The vast right-wing conspiracy has considerably bigger fish to fry in the 2014 election than who is Arizona's state treasurer.

Opponents of HB 2305, the multifaceted election law bill, apparently have succeeded in getting sufficient signatures to refer it to the 2014 ballot, keeping it from going into effect. Supporters of the law will flyspeck signatures for a potential challenge, but this appears to have been a remarkably well-run signature-gathering campaign.

If it indeed is on the ballot, the prospects of the opponents prevailing are strong. I say that as someone who generally supports the law.

There are a lot of parts to HB 2305, ranging from removing those who don't use them from early ballot lists to changing the standard for legal compliance with statutory requirements for initiatives.

If there is an election, it is unlikely voters will focus in any detail on the specific provisions of HB 2305, adding up whether the good outweighs the bad. Instead, it will be an overall framing battle.

Supporters of the law will frame it as protecting the integrity of elections and providing for their smoother administration. Opponents will frame the measure as voter suppression and dirty dealing by the Legislature.

Opponents are likely to win this framing battle for two reasons: First, they are more committed and are likely to have greater resources. Second, supporters will have the burden of the "yes" vote. In referendums, a "yes" vote is to uphold the law. In contested ballot measure campaigns, the" no" side wins most of the time.

Most of HB 2305's election law changes would be nice but they aren't vital, with one exception. The bill would have stopped the practice of political activists collecting early ballots in bulk and delivering them to the polls.

Democratic Party and Latino political activists defend the practice as increasing voter participation. But it smacks of ward-heeling and is ripe for fraud. In the last election, the Maricopa County Recorder's Office reported two incidents of people going door-to-door collecting early ballots and falsely claiming to be election officials.

The Legislature should repeal HB 2305 and re-enact the prohibition on collecting early ballots in bulk as a stand-alone measure. If there is to be a ballot fight, it should be over something worth fighting about.

Reach Robb at robert.robb@arizonarepublic.com.

Copyright 2013 The Arizona Republic|azcentral.com. All rights reserved.For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

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