http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/knau/local-knau-932714.mp3
Phoenix, AZ – Incumbent Jan Brewer has repeatedly blamed much of the state's
fiscal woes on her predecessor. She said Democrat Janet
Napolitano continued to increase spending even when the economy
began to turn south in 2007. Now Brewer, who is likely to win a
term of her own, will have her own mandate. And she will have an
even bigger margin in the Legislature. But Pullen said that
doesn't mean the economy is going to be picking up.
(Well, I think it's going to change when we start having some
sense in Washington, D.C. 'cause that drives so much of it. We
have major employers, banks that are holding onto money. They're
afraid to invest because they don't know where the economy's
going nationally. Until we get that taken care of, it makes it
very difficult on Arizona or any other state for that matter to
do anything.)
What that suggests is Pullen's belief that if unemployment stays
high, its President Obama's fault. If it drops, then Brewer gets
the credit.
(Well, isn't that the way it always works?)
In downtown Phoenix, for Arizona Public Radio this is Howard
Fischer.