Republican Sen. Bob Bennett of Utah, who was recently blocked from seeking a new term by by GOP conservatives, says the GOP needs ideas, not slogans:

Bennett told a Republican group the party could even take back the Senate soon but will lose both houses just as fast if the GOP continues to rely on slogans and not solutions.

“As I look out at the political landscape now, I find plenty of slogans on the Republican side, but not very many ideas,” Bennett told The Ripon Society.

Bennett, whose remarks were caught on video, said there was great momentum for Republicans to take back the House and, with the death of Sen. Robert Byrd, of West Virginia, there’s a chance a Republican could win that seat as well and join a landslide to bring the Senate into GOP control.

But, Bennett added, the Republican Party may find itself in the role played by Robert Redford in the film, “The Candidate,” who after winning office turns to his aides and says,“What do we do now?”

“The concern I have is that ideology and a demand for absolute party purity endangers our ability to govern once we get into office,” Bennett said.

He added that neither Democrats nor Republicans have good ideas and are just out to win elections.

“The fight is over who will win the game,” he said. “It’s like rooting for the 49ers or the Patriots in the Super Bowl but it really means nothing for the future of the country.”

The Salt Lake Tribune reported Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff is working to create a Utah-specific guest-worker pilot program—so they don't have to take the Arizona route and be made fun of on Comedy Central:

“We’re talking about a comprehensive program that would allow highly educated workers from whatever country … people who may have overstayed their visas or however they got here, to find a way to allow them to continue to contribute to our economy,” said chamber spokesman Marty Carpenter.

Rep. John Dougall, R-Highland, said he has talked with Shurtleff twice about working on a different approach to immigration than many of his conservative legislative colleagues have taken that would focus on giving the state more authority over immigration issues.

“I hope to work with him and find what I call a meaningful free market approach to immigration,” Dougall said, one that relies more on state authority than relying on a broken federal system. “More reliance on the federal government is not the answer. We need a state solution and a uniquely Utah approach.”

Shurtleff said Dougall suggested that the state could issue its own visas.

Shurtleff opposes Arizona’s tough immigration law — which requires officers to verify the legal status of anyone stopped, detained or arrested by police — saying it leads to second-guessing of officers or, potentially, profiling of suspects.

“It puts cops in an absolutely untenable position, where they have to decide, ‘Do I ask this person for identification?’ … Even though the law says you can’t consider race, what else are you going to consider?”

Tom McCollum, the director of the Southern Arizona Transportation Museum, talks about the impact of the railroads onTucson and Southern Arizona. McCollum discusses fun, facts and history in this multimedia video and photo slideshow by UA School of Journalism student Takatoshi Kato.

The McCain campaign brings it all together with an ad that hammers J.D. Hayworth on the free-money informercial, man-horse marriage, the birther conspiracy and more. Bonus points for the space aliens and Planet of the Apes shout-out.

Independents are the fastest-growing sector of registered voters in Arizona: 14,716 people registered as something other than Republican, Democrat, Libertarian or Green since April 19—more than half of the 26,890 new voters.

Here's the bulletin from Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett:

The state of Arizona added nearly 27,000 additional registered voters between April 19 and June 1, according to new figures released Tuesday by Secretary of State Ken Bennett.

As of June 1, 2010, the state had 3,093,647 active, registered voters. That’s 26,890 more registered voters than the state had in April with a report issued just prior to the May 18 Special Election.

“I’m pleased to see our registration numbers begin to climb once more,” Secretary Bennett said. “This trend should continue as voter interest builds in anticipation of the upcoming primary and general elections.”

Each of the state’s four recognized political parties — Republican, Democratic, Libertarian and Green — reported a registration gain. The GOP added

Stephen Colbert and the president of United Farmworkers of America are challenging unemployed Americans and anti-immigrant folks to take the jobs often done by undocumented immigrants.

Farmworkers are tired of being blamed by politicians and anti-immigrant activists for taking work that should go to Americans and dragging down the economy, said Arturo Rodriguez, the president of the United Farmworkers of America.

So the group is encouraging the unemployed — and any Washington pundits or anti-immigrant activists who want to join them — to apply for some of thousands of agricultural jobs being posted with state agencies as harvest season begins.

Read the whole story here.

Just in time for the election: The Obama administration wants to tackle immigration reform. HuffPo reports:

President Obama is slated to deliver a major address on immigration reform this week as his Department of Justice puts the final touches on a lawsuit challenging the legality of the immigration legislation passed by the state of Arizona.

The White House announced on Tuesday that the president would head to American University School of International Service on Thursday for "remarks on the need to fix our broken immigration system."

The speech comes as the administration has spent the last several days consulting with key stakeholders in the immigration debate as well as alerting members on the Hill that the DoJ's lawsuit will likely be announced soon.

Ted Downing, the former Democratic lawmaker who is running as a independent against Democratic Sen. Paula Aboud in midtown Tucson's Legislative District 28, has decided to forgo Clean Elections, saying it's stacked against him.

Downing, who lost to Aboud in a Democratic primary for the Senate seat in 2006, avoided the Democratic primary this year by running without party affiliation. He'll face Aboud and fellow independent Dave Ewoldt in November general. Downing says he decided to run as an independent to show his commitment to his new crusade against partisan elections.

Here's Downing's letter to the Clean Elections Commission:

I am running for the State Senate as a nonpartisan candidate, stressing the need for fundamental political reform to end to legislative gridlock, specifically downsizing the state legislature to a 45 member, nonpartisan unicameral.

I wish to point out how the Citizens Clean Election Law and subsequent rules contributes to the furtherance of partisan legislative gridlock by making it very difficult for nonpartisan candidates to participate on a level, financial playing field with partisan opponents.

As background, please recall that in 2000, I was

Lindy’s on Fourth (431 N. Fourth Ave.) is up to something new and unruly every time we stop in.

This time, it is the “Honey Pot,” the eatery’s burger of the month. It’s a burger patty stuffed in a bread bowl and covered with Doritos and cheese. We’re not sure if that makes it a soup, a sandwich or nachos, but the people who visit Lindy’s Facebook page seem downright thrilled about it.

Lindy’s has also added the option of ordering the O.M.F.G. challenge—which was catapulted to fame on Man V. Food—with grilled cheese sandwiches as buns, and onion rings between the patties, calling it “Two Finger Peek-a-Boo” style. It sounds daunting, but a petite woman who goes by the name Cardboard Shell ate the whole thing in less than the 20-minute time limit, according to her blog.

Jeremy Duda of the Arizona Capitol Times brings us Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer's reaction to a briefing from the federal government on border security:

The National Guard deployment was less than Brewer expected after a June 3 meeting at the White House with Obama, when the president told the governor that Arizona would get the majority of a planned 1,200-troop deployment. Brewer said she did not think the 524 troops were enough to secure the border.

“Certainly what we heard wasn’t anything of what we had hoped to hear from them,” Brewer told reporters in the eighth-floor lobby of the executive tower. “No really substantial information was provided that would make us happy or pleased with the discussions.”

Goddard, on the other hand, said the 524 National Guard troops was only a first step meant to provide temporary relief while the federal government formulates a larger border security plan.

“This is not the end of the game. This is just the beginning. This is a number that is meant to provide some stopgap relief. They made it very clear this is not the end of the show,” Goddard said.

Read the whole thing here.