Arizona Senate President Tim BeeArizona Democrats are so eager to protect their congressional gains from 2006 that they are lashing out at Republicans before they become candidates.The Arizona Daily Star in Tucson and the Arizona Capitol Times both reported last week that state Senate President Tim Bee, R-Tucson, is about to create an exploratory committee so he can start raising money to challenge Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Tucson, next year. Bee has been careful to not say he actually will enter the race, because that would trigger Arizona’s "resign-to-run" law and force Bee to give up his state legislative seat. But it’s become clear in recent weeks that Bee is the presumptive Republican candidate, as GOP insiders in Congressional District 8 want to avoid another splintered primary campaign that they believed contributed to Giffords’ 2006 victory.On Monday, Don Bivens, the new chairman of the Arizona Democratic Party, sent out a news release saying the party is "investigating" whether Bee already has violated the law by not resigning. Based on what evidence, you ask? Bivens cites comments in the Daily Star story that Bee has to start raising money now if he ever hopes to match the $1 million that Giffords already has in the bank. Oh, and the fact that Bee reluctantly answered a reporter’s question about the situation in Iraq."Tim Bee is trying to have it both ways," Bivens said. "When Rep. Giffords ran for Congress, she did the right thing and resigned her seat in the Arizona Legislature. Now, I’m not sure if Tim Bee just doesn’t have substantive opinions or if he’s trying to skirt the law. Either way, he should at least have the gumption to reveal his true intentions."I know a lot of Arizonans cherish the tradition of resign-to-run and they get frustrated when some politicians clearly are using loopholes to avoid the law’s requirements. But the Democrats are being silly about this on a couple of levels.First, by Bivens’ standard, Gov. Janet Napolitano should have resigned as governor a long time ago. It’s well known that Napolitano would like to run for the U.S. Senate - John McCain’s seat in 2010 appears to be her target at this point - and she’s answered lots of questions since 2003 about Iraq. She could form an exploratory committee at any time, but doesn’t need to because, well, she’s the governor. Napolitano has just as much right to be coy about her plans as Bee does, as long as neither one enters a true campaign mode.Furthermore, why do Democrats want Bee out of the Senate at this point? That would only give him more time to focus on defeating Giffords without the distraction of running the Senate, which really has become a full-time, year-round job. I don’t know why Bee hasn’t resigned already if he really is committed to a congressional bid instead of still weighing options. Others have speculated holding the Senate post will give Bee a higher media profile, especially during the 2008 legislative session. But his recent predecessors discovered it’s nearly impossible to be Senate president and run for another elected office at the same time. I can’t imagine what skills or tricks Bee might possess that Ken Bennett and Randall Gnant lacked.But the Democrats aren’t the only ones playing odd games early in the 2008 campaign for Congress. Every time that state Republican Party chairman Randy Pullen wants to criticize what Democrats in Washington are doing, he specifically names Giffords and Rep. Harry Mitchell, a Tempe Democrat, as co-conspirators or enablers. He never mentions Rep. Ed Pastor of Phoenix or Raul Grijalva of Tucson, experienced Democrat lawmakers who actually have far more influence at this point. Of course, Pastor and Grajalva are considered "safe" incumbents while Giffords and Mitchell are "vulnerable" because they are in their first terms.

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