This is why a lot of luminaries with the best interests of the county at heart would like Stauffer to withdraw by September 7, the last possible day his name can be removed from the ballot, according to county elections director Karen Osborne.
Powerhouse attorney Mike Manning recently approached Stauffer directly on behalf of an august group of Arpaio critics, including former U.S. Attorney Paul Charlton, former Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley, ex-Arizona Attorneys General Grant Woods and Terry Goddard, former Phoenix Police Chief Jack Harris, and ex-Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon.
Stephen Lemons
Independent sheriff candidate Mike Stauffer: A vote for him is a vote for Joe Arpaio.
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Manning tried to set up a meeting, and Stauffer asked what it would be about. Manning leveled with him, telling Stauffer his group wanted to convince him that he must step aside.
Basically, Stauffer told Manning to go pound sand.
"He said that under no circumstances would he withdraw and that if he did withdraw, he would not endorse Penzone," Manning told me. "He tried very hard to convince me that he had a very good shot of beating both Penzone and Arpaio."
Manning chatted with him a bit, asking how he would feel if he got to, say, mid-September before realizing that he could not win. The answer from Stauffer was the same.
I asked Manning whether he thought Stauffer actually believed he could prevail in the general election.
"I'm afraid his certainty was sincere," he said. "Doesn't make it non-delusional, but it was sincere."
Thing is, Stauffer would engender a great deal of goodwill if he withdrew. He would be a hero, and he could take that goodwill with him into a future run for political office.
Otherwise, Stauffer is fated to be an also-ran, as quickly forgotten as the Libertarian mentioned above, or the object of ridicule.
"I admire his reasons for running," Saban says. "But if you want to make a difference in Maricopa County, with the public safety issues we're all faced with, then you have to make a choice."
And the choice for Stauffer must be getting out of the race before it's too late — before he becomes known as the stooge who squashed our best chance at ending a tyrant's reign.