Raúl Grijalva, Man of Grace

Today's AZ Daily Star has an interview with Raúl Grijalva, who discussed why he thinks he didn't get the Secretary of the Interior appointment under President-elect Barack Obama.

How disappointed are you?
"The disappointment is that we thought we were equal to the task, and we still think it, but we didn't get it. We came extremely close. Now you move on. I have a good job. I have a good committee."
What's next?
"The problem is going to be that the (Interior) agency is so messed up in a variety of ways; Bush left a really horrible legacy in there. We will continue to press the fact that there has to be some structural, ethical reforms and work with the secretary to get that done. We will push where we need to. We are not going to leave it behind."
Where did your bid go wrong?
"It was a Catch-22 for the transition team. They had to get someone from the West, preferably a Latino with environmental creds, you know, with some record on these issues. I thought up to that point, we had really good support nationwide from Indian country. We were always there in the hunt. When I look back, I'm going to figure out what the deficits were that kept me from getting picked. We are a little more assertive about some of the issues than others. That possibly played a role."

Mr. Grijalva, your assertiveness may have blocked you from playing a different part in this moderate administration, but we NEED you and all of your assertiveness on your committee to keep advocating for wild places. You have spoken more clearly and consistently on conservation issues than other other politician, and you exemplify the change we had hoped to see in Mr. Obama's administration.

We hope you feel better soon.