In the mayor's chair, Johnson will be a babe in the woods. We should expect trouble. In addition to Adams, both Mary Rose Wilcox and Calvin Goode want the mayor's job. Wilcox even stacked last week's meeting with her followers, hoping that sheer numbers in the hall might by some miracle bring her over the top. On the days when Goode is not campaigning for a pension, he is always willing to proclaim that he is destined for a higher calling. As time goes on, he becomes more and more the pitiable political hack.
We shouldn't expect much from Johnson. Why should we? Until he proves differently, Johnson is a young man in a hurry who realized his skills were so limited that he sought the safety net of a city council seat while still in his twenties.
Bob Barnes, the only Republican candidate without funds, is the hardest- working figure in the gubernatorial campaign. Barnes wasted no time calling a press conference to demand that Sam Goddard resign his job as Democratic state chairman after his son Terry announced.
Barnes is on top of everything in the campaign. He seems to be the only candidate who works on it every day.
No one wants to take Barnes seriously because he's not a member of any political clique. He makes the regular Arizona pols uneasy. "Who is this guy?" they keep asking. "Who gave him a speaking part?" In Chicago they had a philosophy about newcomers on the political scene. "We don't want nobody sent," the followers of Mayor Richard Daley used to say.
Barnes' latest position paper points out the political baggage that each one the campaign.
Evan Mecham, Barnes points out, has already been impeached.
Fred Koory has a conflict of interest in his dealing with the Phoenix Baptist hospital chain. Koory has received more than $150,000 in real estate commissions involving hospital purchases.
J. Fife Symington III was caught laundering $15,000 in campaign money he donated to help defeat a city council candidate who was opposing the construction of Symington's project at the corner of 24th Street and Camelback. Worse still, this was done while Symington was serving as the state Republican finance chairman.
Barnes, who is an Annapolis graduate (1953), was a navy pilot. He holds a master's degree from George Washington University, and his doctorate from the University of Washington includes majors in international business and world politics.
The Republicans will realize they must deal with Barnes before long. He clearly doesn't intend to give up. He will keep rattling cages and knocking on doors.
Sooner or later, the voters will realize that Barnes is serious. The Republicans ignore him at their peril.
As if the Republicans didn't have enough problems, Sam Steiger has returned to the scene.
Clearly, Steiger is also going to enter the race. He is the real dark horse. If anyone can explode on the political scene with limited funds, it's Steiger. He knows where the bodies are buried and is not afraid to talk about them.
Steiger has one more important thing going for him. He actually knows how to run the state.
Goddard looks upon Mofford as an old family servant being put out to pasture since her gall bladder started acting up.
Even Sam Goddard left the hall before his son's self-congratulatory press conference ended.
Once more, a gaggle of political insiders decides who gets the job.
The Republicans ignore Bob Barnes at their peril.
In the mayor's chair, Paul Johnson will be a babe in the woods.
