What's in store for 2013

(PNI) A new year stretches before us, a blank canvas for hopes and dreams. The Arizona Republic's opinions staff takes brush (or keyboard) in hand to paint a vision of what's to come.

Doug MacEachern

editorial writer

Anyone expecting an up-and-running medical-marijuana dispensary in Arizona in 2013 is going to be sorely disappointed. Store away those Twinkies and Two Hippies burritos you've been stocking up.

US Airways and American Airlines finally do a merger deal. Alas, the transfer of well-paid US Airways administration personnel turns out to be a bigger economic loss for the Valley, and Tempe especially, than people had realized.

Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Alex Smith is under center for the Arizona Cardinals next fall.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano leaves federal employ and settles in her home state of New Mexico, where she begins setting up the mechanism for a run for high office.

Linda Valdez

editorial writer

John McCain will decide on a legacy. Either he will be remembered as the man who unleashed Sarah Palin on the nation and furthered the GOP's roadblock approach to problems, or he will become an eloquent spokesman for comprehensive immigration reform, gun control and campaign-finance reform.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio will decide he does not want to be remembered as the boogey man among the growing constituency of Latino voters. The great showman will come up with a flamboyant way to change his act and become a moderate voice for comprehensive immigration reform -- maybe even amnesty.

Arizona's Republican Party will remain clueless to the state's yearning for moderation as legislative leadership continues trying to defy "Obamacare," put guns in schools, block women's access to reproductive-health care, further eviscerate unions, ignore school-funding needs and generally embarrass the state. They will not, however, cross the business community with more immigration legislation.

Arizonans from both parties will scramble to show they are made of gubernatorial timber, but most will wind up looking like goobers, instead. Richard Carmona will get lots of flowers and boxes of chocolate from Democrats, including some with presidential seals. Republicans will pray Tom Horne finds something else to do, while Jan Brewer tortures us with threats to run again.

Most predictions will prove wrong.

Robert Robb

columnist

Legislative Democrats believe this is the year when they will finally get to sit at the table with at least semi-equality when the big issues, such as the state budget, get decided. My prediction is that sometime in March they start grousing about being left out again.

Despite the smaller Republican numbers, the political impulse to work things out within the family when the governorship and both legislative chambers are held by the same party is virtually insuperable. And so far, Democrats haven't shown a willingness to trade some votes for marginal improvements, from their standpoint, in a largely Republican product.

Phil Boas

editorial director

Arizona will begin to understand that Senate Bill 1070 was an aberration, a one-time primal scream brought on by generational recession, horrific violence in Mexico, drophouses in Phoenix and a rancher shot dead on the border. Eventually, it will no more define this state than the more draconian Proposition 187 defined California. We will not experience immigration convulsions like that again in our lifetime.

Meghan McCain will say something incredibly daft that will make national news. OK, that's not a prediction -- that's a certainty.

Here's a prediction. She will also figure out it's time to grow up and stop playing the bubbleheaded daughter of an august senior statesman.

I detect some smarts there. She has the McCain instinct for luring media and leading it around by the nose. When playing the vapid party girl wears thin, and it's getting tediously close, McCain will remake herself into someone who actually thinks before she tweets and works in a serious way to drag the Republican Party into this century.

Last year was dismal for pro sports in metro Phoenix. All our teams stunk. But the odds favor at least one breaking out in 2013. It won't be the Suns or the Cardinals or Coyotes. But think Diamondbacks. It's a baseball maxim that "young pitchers will break your heart." Not this year. Not in Phoenix. Young pitchers will carry the D-Backs to big success in 2013.

Robert Leger

opinions editor

Gov. Jan Brewer, after months of teasing Arizona with the ridiculous theory that the state Constitution doesn't really prevent her name from heading the GOP ticket in 2014, will announce she is not running for re-election after all. This announcement will come after the Legislature adjourns.

Five minutes after Brewer's announcement, the first negative ad of next year's gubernatorial campaign will air. Start your pool now for whether it comes from Republicans Doug Ducey, Ken Bennett and Scott Smith or Democrats Richard Carmona, Greg Stanton and Fred DuVal. Extra points if you take Andy Thomas or Tom Horne without snickering.

The Legislature will continue to provide material for Jon Stewart, Steve Colbert and the late-night talk hosts. It is inevitable when voters re-elect the likes of birth-certificate conspiracist Carl Seel, short-border-fence builder Steve Smith and stop-the-U.N. Judy Burgess. Despite them, serious senators and representatives will manage to properly fund Child Protective Services and make a start on fixing state education funding.

That guy who paints himself orange for Phoenix Suns games will start wearing a paper bag over his head.

Joanna Allhands

digital opinions editor

Talk about gun control and arming teachers dominates the legislative session. Competing bills to stiffen and loosen gun laws are floated, and there is much arguing. But, ultimately, nothing of major consequence is passed, and the debate continues next year.

Lawmakers distracted by all the gun talk will punt on education-funding reform, prompting a citizen-led group to send another education sales tax to voters. Few state leaders support the measure, saying funding authority should rest with them. With fewer local school-funding measures on the ballot, the tax narrowly passes. But the inequities and quirks of our funding system remain, and schools continue to make budget cuts.

Social media gain an even larger foothold in politics. The gubernatorial race shapes up via Twitter, with at least one candidate announcing his intentions in 140 characters or less. Instead of crafting policy in the dark recesses of the Capitol, legislative leaders expose the sausage-making in protracted tweet-offs with snarky hashtags. Expect #fedssuck and #nobamacare to go viral in GOP circles.

Jennifer Dokes

Viewpoints editor

A larger, more dynamic Arizona congressional delegation will embrace third-way approaches to resolving critical state and regional issues. Among some members, we might even see traits of great Arizona legislators of the past.

The Phoenix Mercury average game attendance will shoot past 10,000 with the Brittney Griner factor. Could it hit 12,000 if she dunks regularly?

Stephanie Russo

West Valley

opinions editor

Glendale signed the lease agreement for Jobing.com Arena in 2012. Although potential Phoenix Coyotes buyer Greg Jamison has yet to purchase the team, he seems set to do so in 2013. Whether the hockey team actually gets to play this season is up to the National Hockey League.

The West Valley's expansion and opportunities in higher education won't stop with the Peoria campus for Trine University. The city is already in talks with two others for a possible higher-education hub, and one of those universities already has an existing consortium with Trine. Peoria's success could inspire its neighboring cities to seal deals with other universities.

Michael Tulumello

Southeast Valley

opinions editor

Mesa Mayor Scott Smith will announce a run for governor late in the year, setting off a scramble among Mesa pols to try to succeed him. The posturing among City Council members already has started.

Plans will be announced for a new Sun Devil Stadium, though there will be heated debate on whether to keep the "Sun Devil" or raise money with an entirely corporate name. The stadium plans will call for rebuilding the stadium, though without an expensive roof, an amenity that would only encourage the scheduling of unpopular day games. ASU would play off-campus one year, probably at Chase Field in downtown Phoenix, with the rebuilt stadium opening in 2017 or '18.

Grant Martin

Scottsdale/Phoenix

opinions editor

Construction of the Mercedes-Benz dealership in downtown Scottsdale will continue without incident. By the time it opens in 2014, few will recall the controversy that surrounded it in the fall of 2012 -- like most uproars in Scottsdale.

Scottsdale will purchase more land for the McDowell Sonoran Preserve. The number of annual visitors to the preserve, bolstered by newly opened trailheads, will soar to an all-time high.

Tiger Woods will compete in his first Waste Management Phoenix Open since 2001. Photos of him carousing at a Scottsdale nightclub will surface on sports blogs four months later.

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