It gets worse. Earlier this month, Maricopa County paid a $1 million settlement to the family of a man who died in Arpaio's custody. Predictably, Sheriff Joe downplayed the death and blamed someone else for the deal. "It was settled due to the nature of doing business," Arpaio told The Arizona Republic. "That (settlement) wasn't up to us, that was the county that decided to settle it. We have nothing to do with this..." Is Rick Perry the sort of stand-up guy that Arpaio is? Does he approve of the tactic? The endorsement makes me wonder.

Joe Arpaio is a divisive figure, with a litany and legacy of fiscal misfeasance, whose constituents have long been protesting in the streets. Surely Rick Perry doesn't want to emulate Arpaio's style or substance. And yet there the candidate will be this week, next to Sheriff Joe, both of them railing against the tyranny of the federal government and the ACLU. If you can measure a man by his friends, what does the union of these two political figures say about Perry? Surely more than we already know about Arpaio.

If the past few local elections in Arizona are any indication, Arpaio is in for a tough reelection battle next fall. That explains why he wants the popular governor in his corner, no matter what happens to Perry between now and then. And Perry wants Arpaio because Sheriff Joe (more so even than Arizona Governor Jan Brewer) has become the embodiment of Arizona's fierce (and pending) immigration battle with the Justice Department. That it's an obvious marriage of political convenience makes it no less of a marriage.

So the man who has fouled his own nest, and brought both expense and infamy to his county and his constituents, believes that Perry ought to be the next president? If that's not the kiss of death for the campaign, I don't know what is. I don't see how the Texas governor can preach fiscal responsibility on the one hand and shake Arpaio's hand with the other. And I don't see how Perry can argue to the nation that he's a competent public servant while he's soaking up praise from a man whose managerial incompetence has for so long been so plain to see.

Image credit: REUTERS/Rick Scuter



