Pearce Responds to Worsley's Harsh Attack

By Russell Pearce, Mesa Candidate for Arizona LegislatureOn Tuesday, Bob Worsley's campaign attacked me and like-minded Arizonans for our efforts to draw attention to--and business away from--the Phoenix New Times and its corporate owner, The Village Voice.  While hypocritically attacking me for some imagined ³divisive rhetoric,² Worsley's campaign offered a strangely disconnected defense of the Phoenix New Times while asking voters to draw a connection between Congressman Raul Grijalva and me.Worsley's rhetoric was obviously meant to be divisive, but he could not pick a more ill fitting pair than Grijalva and me."What do Russell Pearce and Raul Grijalva have in common?" asked his press release.  The answer is nothing.  I'm a proven conservative, Raul is a committed liberal.  I have a 100% pro-life, pro-family, pro-Second Amendment voting record; Raul's is the opposite.  I helped to write and pass Arizona's Jobs Bill and led the passage of the first truly balanced state budget in years, while Grijalva passed ObamaCare and voted for trillion dollar budget deficits.  My actions led to job creation and economic growth, while Grijalva's led to recession and depression.  I wrote and passed SB1070 to enforce our nation¹s immigration laws, while Grijalva opposed our efforts and wrote that the bill was bad for Arizona.Come to think of it, so did Bob Worsley.  You wouldn't know that he wrote about it because he deleted part of his writings just after he announced for office, but the same Bob Worsley who wants to attack me for non-existent commonalities with Raul Grijalva wants voters to ignore (or better still never find out) that he shares his illegal immigration ideology with Raul.In his desperate attempt to try to connect me to Grijalva, Worsley jumped the shark and decided that attempts to change the business practices associated with the New Times and its owner were morally equivalent to Raul Grijalva calling for a boycott of the entire State of Arizona because he disagreed with SB1070 and enforcing the law.It is worth revisiting the Phoenix New Times and The Village Voice to learn more about the people that Bob Worsley is defending.According to media reports, The Village Voice and its family of newspapers account for 70% of all prostitution advertising in the United States.  48 State Attorney Generals and 19 U.S. Senators--Republicans and Democrats alike--have called on them to stop running sex ads which have been tied to child sex trafficking, and which collectively finance a national operation of hate campaigns against conservative individuals and organizations, elected officials and public servants, law enforcement and others.Investigations into these crimes have led to more than 50 arrests in 22 states.  Millions of tainted dollars flow into the coffers of thesepublications and those paying the price are too often themselves victims of the most horrible crimes imaginable.  Human trafficking and child and adult prostitution are horrific, and it is right and justifiable that decent people here in Arizona and across the country draw attention to these crimes and act to hold businesses that profit from them responsible.While our effort to let advertisers know the truth about these publications is brand new, we have already been rewarded because the great people at Harkins Theaters and Buddy Stubbs Harley Davidson have pulled their advertising.  Bob Worsley accused me of threatening Harkins Theaters, but his accusations were wildly off the mark.  The good folks at Harkins run a decent, family-oriented business, and they are much better off today knowing the truth about where their advertising dollars were going.  And the people of Arizona will reward Harkins with even more business for being a responsible and family-friendly corporate citizen.SB1070 was about enforcing laws to keep people safe.  Liberals like Raul Grijalva and Bob Worsley opposed SB1070 and Grijalva went so far as to call for a boycott of his own state because he was mad that it was going to enforce the law.Exposing the New Times and its corporate model is about exposing human exploitation, indecency, and alleged illegality.  Bob Worsley, Sean Noble, and the rest of his political team oppose our efforts because they are desperate to attack me with a ludicrous comparison to Raul Grijalva.  In so doing they take the side of an entity that profits off of some of the worst crimes imaginable.I am disappointed in Bob and his campaign, both for the position they are taking, the negativity with which they are beginning this campaign, and the very same divisive rhetoric they would accuse me of.I hope that Bob will change his mind and join those of us who are working to expose these practices.  Decent Arizonans from all over this great state are rallying to the effort and we certainly have room for Bob, Sean and the rest of his team.  We can and ought to be able to agree on the need to end the exploitation of children, and I hope that political ambition does not prevent Team Worsley from getting on the right side of this very important issue.The citizens of our district deserve an honest and decent debate on the issues facing our state.  I hope Mr. Worsley will drop his attacks and join me in that effort.