GOV. JANET NAPOLITANO ANSWERS MEDIA QUESTIONS MONDAY IN PHOENIX ABOUT HER PENDING NOMINATION TO BE SECRETARY OF U.S. HOMELAND SECURITY (Photo by Capitol Media Services)

The Tribune Editorial Board spent a long time today discussing the implications of today’s formal announcement that Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano will be nominated to lead the U.S. Department of Homeland Security after President-elect Barack Obama takes office Jan. 20. I learned from those chats that I’m holding on to an antiquated idea: that elected officials make a contract with the voters when they run for office to serve a specific period of time for a specific purpose. Apparently, it has become a given among many people that smart, ambitious politicians will, and should, jump into higher office when the opportunity arises.

But I heard from one friend today who said she definitely would have voted differently in 2006 for secretary of state, or at least considered the candidates more closely, if she had known that Napolitano would leave in the middle of her second term and voluntarily turn the governor’s office over to Jan Brewer. I’m not one of the people who subscribe to the notion of Arizona is somehow doomed with Brewer as governor. When it comes to the state budget crisis, this change might be exactly what Arizona needs right now.

But I understand the widespread angst among Democrats and even independents that the governor’s office likely will see a sharp change in focus and philosophy with Brewer in charge. Many voters elected Brewer solely on her qualifications to manage the state’s elections and to administer business filings, and not as a potential chief of state.

I’m not comfortable with the notion of the governor’s office as a political stepping stone. The job’s just too important, and too difficult to perform if the office-holder isn’t committed heart and soul. I don’t know anyone who thinks this year was among Napolitano’s best as she devoted a significant portion of her time and attention to help Obama win. At the very least, I think the failure of the initiatives on a transportation sales tax and state trust lands to even qualify for the election ballot can be attributed to Napolitano’s focus on other issues.

By the way, I’ve been fairly consistent on this point of view. In 1998, I was working for the daily newspaper in Wichita Falls, Texas, when then-Texas Gov. George Bush was running for re-election. He already was positioning himself to run for president but wasn’t saying so publicly. On at least two occasions, I directly asked Bush to explain if he would run for president or not, so Texas voters had that information when they voted for governor. Bush blew off the question, as I’m sure he did for other reporters, and the only people who seemed to care assumed he would be campaigning for president in 2000.

But my concerns might have more resonance here than in Texas, where the governor and lieutenant governor run for office as a team. My guess is proposals to create a similar system in Arizona will get more serious attention here in the next couple of years.