'Don't boo . . . vote!"

Don't boo . . . vote! — President Barack Obama

Elections count. Every vote counts. And tomorrow voters in the eighth congressional district in Arizona have an opportunity to do themselves and the nation a great favor by voting for Dr. Hiral Tipirneni. Read her website. She's rational, supports common-sense policies that are good for our area, will protect social security and Medicare, is well-spoken and clearly bright.

In other words, she is everything her opponent, Debbie Lesko, is not.

I know Debbie Lesko, and I know her well. She was a parent in a school district I used to work for, and the experience was less than gratifying. During the three finance campaigns I ran while there, Lesko opposed them all. She didn't just offer opposition, she lied about the school district's position, lied about tax rates, lied about where money would be spent and . . . well, she lied. A lot. The best one: the school district planned to replace teachers with computers. No kidding.

Things went from bad to worse when she was elected to the Arizona legislature, where she had a less than starling tenure. In fact, during her term, she didn't introduce a single piece of legislation that was not cooked up by ALEC or the Koch Brothers. Not a single original thought passed through her head. But a lot of dark money did pass through her dirty little fingers.

Meanwhile, she voted to deny services for the poor, sick and elderly. She voted against registering dangerous firearms and against students, teachers and schools. She did, however, vote for school vouchers, and to give Arizona employers the ability to deny birth control coverage to women who work for them.

While her legislative record is a clear disaster, Lesko the person is worse. She will lie, cheat and badger any individual who stands in her way. She is a thin-skinned sycophant who no more belongs in Congress (or any other elected seat) than my cat. When she voted against a bill that would have required a waiting period and registration of firearms in Arizona I took to Twitter. I called her vote a disgrace because it was. She took exception, as she always does to legitimate criticism, and responded to my Tweet with a not-too-subtle —not to mention misspelled — threat (and, not for nothin', but I kill it on Twitter with my witty political commentary. You can find Bad Hombre Jim @Phxflyer). Not getting the response she had hoped for, she emailed me at work, copied my boss, and again threatened me and my school district with payback. This is the behavior of a petulant child, not a congressional representative.

We live in serious times, and we deserve serious people to represent us. We deserve better than a small, petty person like Debbie Lesko. We deserve an adult.