Over the course of this semester and my previous two stints with this newspaper as an opinion columnist, you have grown used to my columns on political topics from the conservative point of view. These columns have either made me the scorn of the overwhelming leftist majority on this campus or they have endeared me to the truly silent minority of conservative Sun Devils.
Wherever you fall on this plane, you've been able to come here and get excited about the process that makes America great and, judging by the e-mails I get, a number of you do get excited (good and bad).
With that, I think it's time to put those divisions among us aside for just a moment and concentrate on one where we should be in agreement and that is using the tool that our republic has given us — voting.
In the last presidential election year of 2004, Arizona was a beacon of voter participation, as voter turnout was 77.1 percent, according to Arizona Secretary of State Jan Brewer.
The type of election we have in front of us this November is one that this country hasn't seen in decades, as the presidency is truly open.
For years, it has been said that our generation doesn't matter because it doesn't vote. It's time to change that — we can be the age group that pushes Arizona's percentage of voter turnout to 80 percent or above.
Having said that, a number of you have asked me to give you my take on some of the other races that are taking place on a more local level seeing as though I've spent most of my time commenting on the comedy of errors known as the Democratic Party nominating process.
Here at ASU, we are in the 5th Congressional District. Democratic Congressman Harry Mitchell overcame a huge Republican registration advantage against former Congressman J.D. Hayworth to win our district's seat in 2006. There are a handful of Republicans running for the right to run against Mitchell in November, and while most are relatively well-qualified, only one stands above the rest — former state Rep. Laura Knaperek.
She will win the areas that Hayworth won in Scottsdale, Fountain Hills and Ahwatukee, but she will also be somewhat competitive in Mitchell's home of Tempe, as well.
In our 17th Legislative District, former state Rep. Mark Thompson has announced his candidacy for State House. You may remember Mark as a moderate Republican who was able to build bridges between both sides of the aisle in his time in the House, as opposed to the extreme leftist ideology of our current representatives, Ed Ableser and David Schapira.
Mark's leadership is the type of leadership we need from this district in the State House. Republican candidate for State Senate Jesse Hernandez will join him, should he beat another Tempe leftist, Meg Burton-Cahill.
Lastly, I want to say this before I leave this paper (and I know this puts me at odds with most of the people here), but I will be proudly supporting Sheriff Joe Arpaio this November. His crime-suppression operations have been successful thus far, and he will be moving them into Mesa in the near future.
His story of being the son of LEGAL Italian immigrant parents and being elected Sheriff of America's fourth most populous county is what the "American dream" is all about.
There it is — my last column with The State Press. I want to thank all of you who read and respond to my columns — your comments are what make this job enjoyable.
T.J. Shope is a graduating political science senior who has turned his attention from the Phoenix Suns to the Chicago Cubs. Reach T.J. at thomas.shope@asu.edu.
