“Arizona” on The Daily Caller

On Wednesday night, a newly remodeled Republican field faces off in the first debate in almost a month. Rick Santorum, now the front-runner, will have to make the case for his electability; Mitt Romney, lagging somewhat in momentum, will try to use the opportunity to regain his footing. (more)

PHOENIX (AP) — A teacher’s role may be to expand a student’s vocabulary, but one Arizona lawmaker wants to make sure that doesn’t include four-letter words. (more)

Ron Barber, a former top aide to former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, announced Thursday that he will run in the special election to finish out her term. (more)

It was just last February that the nation was fixated on Madison, Wisconsin. Governor Scott Walker’s budget and public employee union reforms made the Midwestern city ground zero for progressive and union activists. At the height of the demonstrations, there were approximately 100,000 protesters gathered in Madison. The massive protests were followed by recalls, faulty constitutional lawsuits and expensive judicial elections. Wisconsin was and continues to be a political zoo of epic proportions. (more)

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer’s tarmac confrontation with President Barack Obama has made her November 2011 book the second-fastest rising title on Amazon’s best-seller list. The book is also now the top seller in Amazon’s “public policy” category. (more)

A day after he called for an end to perpetual political confrontation, President Barack Obama and his deputies publicly snubbed Arizona’s Republican governor when she welcomed him at the Phoenix airport. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The applause rolled through the big chamber, growing ever louder as hundreds of Republicans and Democrats suddenly realized Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was back in the House. But this time she had come to say goodbye. (more)

Sheriff Paul Babeu of Pinal County, Ariz., said that Attorney General Eric Holder’s recent attacks on his colleague, Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Ariz., were an attempt to take public attention off of Operation Fast and Furious. (more)

Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain told The Daily Caller that troops on the U.S.-Mexico border are “still needed” to deal with the “very serious problems” of “drug smuggling” and people “dying in the desert.” (more)

The Supreme Court of the United States announced that it will hear arguments on the controversial anti-illegal immigration law in Arizona known as S.B. 1070. President Obama’s most recent SCOTUS appointee, Justice Elena Kagan, has announced that she will recuse herself from the case. (more)

Confirming the weekend’s reporting, on Tuesday “America’s Toughest Sheriff,” Joe Arpaio, endorsed Texas Gov. Rick Perry for president at a diner in Amherst, New Hampshire. (more)

An Arizona burglary suspect was caught flat-footed after she threatened a gas station attendant with a concealed bomb that turned out to be a toy penguin, cops said. (more)

Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the sheriff of Maricopa County, Ariz., who calls himself “America’s Toughest Sheriff,” will endorse Texas Gov. Rick Perry next week, a source with knowledge of the endorsement told ABC News. (more)

Former Arizona U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke, who resigned in August, admitted late Tuesday that he leaked a document aimed at smearing Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent John Dodson, an Operation Fast and Furious whistle-blower. (more)

1.) You got to know when to Holder, know when to fold ‘er — If Eric Holder thought he could stonewall his way through the Fast and Furious debacle, things just got tougher. TheDC’s Matthew Boyle reports: “Attorney General Eric Holder’s tenure in the Obama administration may be coming to an end. At least eight members of Congress have now called on Holder to resign over the growing Operation Fast and Furious scandal. Republican Reps. Vicky Hartzler of Missouri, John Mica of Florida, Quico Canseco of Texas and Gus Bilirakis of Florida each told The Daily Caller on Thursday that they believe Holder should step down now. The number of members of Congress calling for Holder to end his career in government because of Fast and Furious is now eight, a number which has doubled in one day. Previously, Republican Reps. Joe Walsh of Illinois, Raul Labrador of Idaho, Blake Farenthold of Texas and Paul Gosar of Arizona called on Holder to resign… Holder avoided talking openly about Operation Fast and Furious for months until Gosar told The Daily Caller that administration officials responsible for the program could be considered ‘accessories to murder.’ The attorney general finally opened up, citing Gosar’s comments to TheDC as the reason for his first-ever unsolicited disclosure about the controversial program.” You’re welcome, America. In other Fast and Furious news, the White House has been claiming that National Security Staffer Kevin O’Reilly is “on assignment for the State Department in Iraq and unavailable” to answer questions about what he knew and when he knew it. But as PJ Media just discovered, O’Reilly is reachable after all. Or at least he was until he disconnected his phone number. Paging Darrell Issa… (more)

Pinal County, Ariz., Sheriff Paul Babeu thinks “it may be time for a new sheriff in Washington,” and that he could be the guy for the job. (more)

PHOENIX (AP) — A deportation officer with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement led Arizona state police and federal agents on a high-speed desert chase in his government vehicle, throwing bundles of marijuana out of the window as he fled, the Department of Public Safety said Wednesday. (more)

Anthony Prowell, a special-ed teacher for the past 22 years, sparked outrage when he floated the idea of challenging Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in the 2012 Democratic primary. (more)

PHOENIX (AP) — A federal appeals court ruled Friday that the suspect in the Tucson shooting rampage can be returned to a Missouri prison facility where he will undergo more treatment to try to make him mentally fit to stand trial. (more)

LONDON (AP) — Buckingham Palace said Friday that Prince Harry has arrived in the United States for a two-month military helicopter training course. (more)