Walters gets the Republic treatment

Vice Mayor Claudia Walters was the third and final mayoral candidate to get the puff piece treatment with the article that ran on her in the Arizona Republic today. I have to say that the headline is a little deceiving. I guess in the absolute literal sense, yes, she is a change over the last few mayors and the other candidates because she is not a businessman. But that doesn't really mean she is an agent of change. That would be like saying we should vote for her because she is a woman and the last few mayors were men, or we should vote for her because she has reddish hair and the last few mayors had different colors.

You have to give her credit - after 8 years on the council, she really knows her stuff. She does come off as a policy wonk and no one can really match her breadth and depth of understanding. It almost sounds like she would be better off as a city manager or a high ranking staff member instead of a city leader. I guess this comes off as a blessing and a burden. Many of the commenters question her ability to change after 8 years on the council. It sounds like she gets that a lot because most of her article has her coming off sounding defensive. Same goes for the Tribune article.

It seems like everytime someone brings up an issue, its Walters who has to disagree and come to someone's defense. It seems like Griswold lets her take the heat, while trying to play the inside/outside card to its fullest.

Overall, we haven't learned much from these three articles other than, as I mentioned before, all three candidates are trying to cling to the mantle of change. Each of them is now trying to make their pitch on why they would be the best to bring about change.