Bob Worsley vs. The Arizona Conservative: A Debate

The Arizona Conservative has, since 2012, warned voters about the liberalism and the veracity of now State Senator Bob Worsley. Unfortunately, unprincipled Republicans voted him in anyway. We have constructed a debate between what Sen. Worsley's campaign materials (website and ads) have claimed about his beliefs and his record, and our advocacy of conservative principles. The results of this cyber debate speak for themselves. Read with interest below:

BOB WORSLEY: For all the talk about limited government, our legislature passed 500 bills last session alone. That's big government, not small government.

THE ARIZONA CONSERVATIVE: Americans for Prosperity Arizona Chapter rated you a "Friend of Big Government." You are also using your government position to push your wife's music program.

BOB WORSLEY: A vote for Bob Worsley is a vote for commonsense conservative leadership.

THE ARIZONA CONSERVATIVE: Pure unsubstantiated rhetoric. Your campaign website lists seven issues of importance to you. Not one of them has anything to do with conservatism, and you didn't even mention a single social issue. It is typical of Democrat candidates not to list social issues as important to their campaigns. In a cowardly way, you voted for the religious freedom bill, SB1062, and then when homosexual pressure groups protested against it, you retracted your support of the bill and ran for the tall grass, where you found two fellow RINOs hiding there with you. Have you ever attended a pro-life rally in your life? Are you viewed as a Reagan Republican? No and no. When you were on the board of directors of United Families International, headquartered in your home town of Mesa, you questioned its championship of conservative values. We know conservatives and we know conservative leaders. We have associated with them for years. And you're not one of them.

BOB WORSLEY: It was time to use conservative principles as solutions, not purity tests.

THE ARIZONA CONSERVATIVE: So, by including conservative principles and purity tests in the same breath, you admit you are not a pure conservative then. Like you, Mitt Romney is not a conservative, but he tried to claim you are conservative when he endorsed you. Republicans In Name Only (RINOs) oppose conservative principles and just demand we all get along. Politically, you are just another liberal "Republican," or RINO.

BOB WORSLEY: Free markets, limited government, liberty; these are timeless principles that elevate and unite.

THE ARIZONA CONSERVATIVE: This statement is correct. It's just that your walk doesn't match your talk. You actually helped erode liberty by caving in to the demand that Governor Brewer veto the religious freedom bill. You eroded liberty by supporting an Obamacare exchange. And by legislating for big government, you remove freedom from your neighbors and your employees, not to mention every other citizen in Arizona. Big Government statist lawmakers hurt Arizona, hurt its culture, and hurt children, working people, families, and senior citizens.

BOB WORSLEY: There's no reason partisan bickering should get in the way of serving our citizens' best interests. ... "Elevate Arizona" is a philosophy. A way of thinking. An attitude. It permeates everything I do. Its closest synonym would be "uplift." It was born out of the troubled times of 2010 and 2011, when civility and decorum among our representation seemed dormant. We needed to repair our image and heal the scars of divisive politics.

THE ARIZONA CONSERVATIVE: You're pretty good at bickering with those you oppose, and you are no authority on civility and decorum. You sound like someone else we all know who called for people to use reasoned words in political debate. But you, like President Barack Obama, do not put your money where your mouth is. You called conservatives "extremists." You called Arizona a "police state." That kind of description fits North Korea -- not Arizona. You called conservatives "haters." You judge self-righteously. For an alleged "conservative," you sure are good are demonizing conservatives with poisonous, hateful rhetoric. That's rank hypocrisy. You need to repair your image and heal the scars of the division you have created.

The Arizona Conservative will continue to comment on Sen. Worsley's Big Government statism in the future. In the meantime, share this cyber debate with friends who may have supported Worsley, to educate them.