Lute Olson's wife -A GOP committeewoman for a state she doesn't live in? Or is she? Hmmm...

I'm writing today because of something both odd and political that caught my eye in an AP dispatch yesterday about the heretofore unknown reasons for the mysterious leave of absence taken by University of Arizona head basketball coach Lute Olson, now revealed to be a likely
divorce action.

(UA's longtime arch-rival, Arizona State, home of former clutch Dolphin tight end Bruce Hardy, is the law school alma mater of my legal eagle friend, Jamie C. Eisenfeld of Phoenix. Jamie's a proud Penn alum, and is the Secretary of the Penn & Wharton Club of Arizona.
Besides possessing a great sense of humor and wit, and being smarter, cuter and sweeter than about 99.9% of all the women I ever met in D.C. on Capitol Hill and K Street -something I saw
up-close, when we worked together on some crazy projects that tried both our patience and our sense of humor- Jamie's also a bit of a, dare I say it, Renaissance woman.
She's quite knowledgable about many aspects of Africa's myriad longstanding political and economic problems -and possible solutions- having recounted to me many positive and negative first-hand impressions of her trips there, where myth met reality.
Jamie co-wrote an article titled Legal Developments in the United States and Sub-Saharan Africa for The International Lawyer in 2001, and 'walks the walk,' too, being a steadfast
supporter of The International Rescue Committee in the greater Phoenix area.
Former Congressman Ben Gilman's staff made a very big mistake in not hiring her when they had the chance!)

Below, besides the AP story itself, I've listed some other links about this subject which I think are germane to understanding what I noticed in the AP article regarding my political question about Christine Olson, Coach Olson's wife.

On an Arizona PBS station public affairs program in February, the show's host, José Cárdenas refers to her as a former "committee woman for the republican national committee in Pennsylvania and C.E.O. Of a natural gas drilling company."
Now wouldn't José Cárdenas, sitting next to Christine Olson in a TV studio, have a more accurate account of her past than, well, an AP sportswriter?
In any case, wouldn't Mrs. Olson have corrected him if he had, in fact, mis-represented something about her background?

The entry below was accurate as of this afternoon:
http://www.gop.com/States/StateDetails.aspx?state=PA

Ms. Christine Olson

Present
National Committeewoman, Republican State Committee of Pennsylvania, elected August 21, 1997
President, SW Drilling Company
Secretary/Treasurer, Chi Omega Foundation, 1984-
Board Member, S&T Bank, 1985-
Secretary, Indiana Hospital, 1992-
Director, Independent Oil & Gas Association of Pennsylvania and West Virginia, 1993-
Member, Committee of 200
Member, State System of Higher Education, 1995-
Board Member, The Lockhart Company
Member, National Council of Colonial Williamsburg, 1996-
Board Member, The Andy Warhol Museum
Director, Indiana County Chamber of Commerce, 1996-
--------------------------------------------------------
This somewhat ironic post was still on Coach Olson's website as of today, http://www.coachluteolson.com/christine.html , an article titled "Lute Olson's wife can work the boards too" by Rhonda Bodfield Bloom of the Arizona Daily Star.

According to a very reliable Republican friend of mine who used to be on Sen. John Kyl's staff in Washington, there was once educated 'talk' of Christine Olson possibly running for Congress to succeed Republican Jim Kolbe, who for years represented District 8, which covers southern Arizona, including along the Mexican border.
Frankly, whether it was educated or not, my friend really hoped that the 'talk' was true, because it was felt that Christine Olson would not only be a 'natural' candidate, but also a great representative for the area in D.C.
(This same friend told me about Kolbe's supposed "secret" years before I ever saw any word of it in the Washington media. Not that anyone really cared, one way or the other, frankly.)

In any case, from what I'm told, Christine Olson is supposed to be a very smart and dynamic woman who's a real charmer. And, someone with lots of ambition.

As it happens, that Congressional district flipped in 2006, and is now represented by Democrat Gabrielle Giffords, http://giffords.house.gov/ who just got married to a NASA astronaut last month. http://www.willcoxrangenews.com/articles/2007/11/14/news/features/feature3.txt
Hmmm... if Olson were to run, that would set up a very high-profile campaign next year, oui?

The Olsons were the cover subjects here: Lute and Christine Olson, Leadership On The Court Sets A Philanthropic Example www.philanthropymagazine.com/.../11-2-lute.htm

Not that I'm any kind of relationship genius or anything, but it might very well be that those attractive qualities of Christine's, which initially attracted him to her at one point in time, and which might help attract voters to her now or in the future, might very well be threatening to Lute Olson now in his current circumstances, if she were to run for office, since she would not be able to play the typical coach's wife's role, i.e. supportive and omnipresent.

(In case you don't get the reference to Chicago in the AP story, it's relevant in that the Wildcats had a nationally televised basketball game there earlier this afternoon at The United Center, an exciting come-from-behind overtime victory over Illinois, which'll help Arizona come seeding-time for the NCAA tourney in a few months.
The tourney committee will be hard-pressed to forget that victory!)

Personally, I don't really care about why they're getting divorced, unless it turns out to have something to do with her possibly running for office, and his not wanting to be part of that campaign effort, due to his high-profile position within whatever constitutes the Arizona establishment, where almost nobody is held in higher personal and professional regard.
It's sort of like the way everyone felt towards the late 49ers head coach Bill Walsh.

Judging by the way the national media has always treated him, Olson already seemed like he was part of the sports world's Mount Rushmore.
For Lute Olson, having gotten used to rareified air, it might seem hard to step off the mountaintop just to ask for a vote for his wife.
If I'm right about this story, it'll have legs that won't quit, and Lute Olson will come off quite badly. And old-fashioned.
And not in the way that we like, either.

This topic of someone representing a state that they don't live in got me to wondering.
If anyone who comes across this post is personally aware of anyone currently living elsewhere who represents Florida as a DNC or RNC Committeeperson, or someone living in Florida representing another state, could you please let me know?

Finally, in case you missed it when I first wrote it, if you get a chance before Sunday night's Univision TV GOP debate at the U-M, take a look at what I wrote about one of the "experts" who'll probably write about it, The Miami Herald's Pablo Bachelet, who doesn't seem very
familiar with either the U.S. Constitution or the wonders of Google:
http://southbeachhoosier.blogspot.com/2007/09/us-constitution-still-apllies-in-south.html
____________________________________
http://www.azpbs.org/horizon/transcript06.asp?ID=484http://www.azpbs.org/horizon/transcript06.asp?ID=484

Arizona basketball coach Olson on leave, files for divorce
By ARTHUR H. ROTSTEIN, Associated Press WriterDecember 7, 2007

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) -- Arizona basketball coach Lute Olson has filed for divorce although his wife says she remains committed to the marriage.
The 73-year-old Hall of Fame coach filed a divorce petition in Pima County Superior Court on Thursday, the same day he announced he would extend his leave from the team through the end of the season.
"The marriage has been irretrievably broken with no reasonable prospect of reconciliation," Lute Olson's lawyer, Leonard Karp, said Friday.
Christine Olson, 50, is the coach's second wife.
Lute Olson and his first wife, Bobbi, were married for 47 years before her 2001 death from ovarian cancer. The couple had five children.

Gordon James, a Phoenix-based spokesman for Christine Olson, issued a statement on her behalf saying she received notice of the divorce filing Thursday night.
Christine Olson was in New York this week for meetings connected to her position as a Republican national committeewoman from Pennsylvania.
The Olsons were to have met in Chicago on Friday night, where the 22nd-ranked Wildcats arrived in advance of Saturday's game against Illinois.
"Our family has been struggling through a difficult and private matter for some months now," Christine Olson's statement said. "It was our hope that during my husband's temporary leave of absence, we would be able to focus on our family and successfully address this matter.
"Unfortunately, it seems that my husband has reached a decision that he is unable to continue our relationship together during this difficult time. While I am personally devastated, I remain committed to my marriage and will continue to support my husband through this difficult time in his life. I have nothing but love and respect for him."
Christine Olson is still living in Tucson and will be remaining in the family home while Lute Olson apparently has moved out, according to James.
He said Christine Olson will be fighting for her marriage and trying to avoid a divorce.
Karp said he didn't know if Lute Olson was in Tucson on Friday.
"His request basically was that people honor his privacy," said Karp, who is authorized to speak on the coach's behalf. "He's taken a lot of time to make this decision. I think he needs the time to resolve these matters. Our hope is that once Christine retains her attorney that we can sit down and amicably resolve things."
___________________
AP - Dec 7, 4:45 pm EST

Olson announced his leave Nov. 4, saying the reasons were personal and not health related. In a statement released by the university Thursday night announcing the leave extension, Olson said he plans to coach the Wildcats for the 2008-09 season.
"There are personal issues within my family that need to be addressed and I must devote my full energy to that," Olson said.
Karp said he didn't believe Olson would rescind his leave in light of the divorce filing.
"I think his statement is his true feelings, that he will be back next year but that he needs this time during this season to resolve his personal problem," Karp said.
Legal records supervisor Ray Rivas in the Superior Court clerk's office said court rules bar public scrutiny of divorce petitions until the filer's spouse has been served or 45 days have passed.
Olson has coached Arizona for 24 seasons and posted a 589-187 record with 23 consecutive NCAA tournament appearances. His Wildcats have won 11 Pac-10 championships, reached the Final Four four times and won the 1997 NCAA title.
Assistant Kevin O'Neill, the interim coach while Olson is gone, said Friday he's doing the best he can to fill in.
"I have great respect and admiration for what our players have done to this point in terms of focusing on basketball only in a very difficult situation -- a situation that, really, there's no blueprint for," O'Neill said.
Senior guard Jawann McClellan said the players want Olson back "100 percent."
"We wanted Coach Olson back more than anything, but first of all, we want him to do well and take care of Coach Olson," McClellan said. "A lot of people don't realize that he's still human."
Bobbi Olson played an active role in her husband's basketball program, joining him on recruiting trips and even cooking pancakes for prospective players when they visited Tucson. Former players revered her for being instrumental in creating a family atmosphere. The university renamed the basketball floor the Lute & Bobbi Olson Court after her death.

In 2003, Lute Olson married Christine Jack Toretti, a prominent, politically active Pennsylvania businesswoman. Toretti, who took Olson's last name after their wedding, remains chief executive of an oil and gas drilling company and sits on several corporate boards. She has three sons from her first marriage.

AP Sports Writer Andrew Seligman in Chicago contributed to this report.
_______________________
Her organization sounds like a pretty good one, esp. for a state that, like FL, has so many
transplants from other places, at least some of whom have that public policy gene. It'd be a good idea down here, too, for both parties.
Anything to get some new blood (and ideas) circulating!

http://www.azpbs.org/horizon/transcript06.asp?ID=484
transcript excerpt from PBS program, Horizon

(Host) José Cárdenas: Tomorrow we continue to celebrate black history month with a profile of another African-American woman who was significant in Arizona’s history. The Dodie London excellence in public service series recently got underway, the program named after the only female past chairman of the Arizona Republican Party recruits women who are interested in participating in public service in some capacity. Its founder Christine Olson is a former committee woman for the republican national committee in Pennsylvania and C.E.O. Of a natural gas drilling company. She joins us now to talk about the program. Ms. Olson welcome to horizon.

Christine Olson: Thank you, Jose.

Jose Cardenas: Now The current status of this program, what is it?

Christine Olson: Well we actually just announced it two weeks ago. And we are now gathering our applicant pool. We’re looking for women all over the state of Arizona, republican women who want to increase their level of activity in public service.

Jose Cardenas: And the principal purpose of the program is increasing activity but in what way? How do you do that?

Christine Olson: Well if you want to run for public office, if you want to position yourself for a board or commission, or you just want to be a great party worker. All we’re asking is that- you know we'll invest in you for a year and we want you to make a commitment to invest in your in your community for the rest of your life at some level.

Jose Cardenas: Who would make the best candidates for this kind of program?

Christine Olson: Oh Jose, it goes from stay-at-home moms to corporate C.E.O’s. What I found in Pennsylvania where I started the program five years ago was that women are -- we're wired a little differently. And I was trying to recruit women to run for political office. They said, oh, well, I don't have a Ph.D. in political science. And you go to a man, if he voted once he feels like he's qualified to run for president. And it’s not a knock on gender, it’s just the reality.

Jose Cardenas: If he thinks if he has an opinion then he wants to share it.

Christine Olson: You’ve got it. So we want to do, is we want to create- give women the tools that they need to feel comfortable in participating in the process. So what we created was a curriculum that goes soup to nuts, everything that you ever wanted to know about being involved in public service, and we do that over a nine month period. The first class will start in October and it will finish in early June. And when we finish the class in early June we want women to feel that they've got every tool that they need to participate in the process, whatever that part of the process is.

Jose Cardenas: And When you're trying to encourage women to get involved, what do you tell them as to why it's important that more women to be involved in politics?

Christine Olson: Well, you know, politics affect every aspect of our life. And I was recruited originally then Governor Ridge to serve on the national committee and I told him I didn't have time. I was a corporate C.E.O. And I had made my second acquisition. I had three kids, 8, 6 and 3, and I was recently divorced. And I said, "I don't have time." and he said, "Christine, I see what you're doing." I had created a retreat for female C.E.O.s from all over the world. He said, "I see what you're doing to support and advance women. If you believe that women should have a voice in the political process and in policy in our country, you can't say no. You have to be involved in this." and he was right. If we want to be represented and the laws that are enacted affect all of us, and we need to have a voice in that, and that's why women need to be a part of the process.

Jose Cardenas: And how do they become a part of your process, the program that you run?

Christine Olson: Well we have a website which is azgopforwomen.org. They can go to that website and download the application, fill out the application and get it into us. And just even go to the website to see whether or not it's something they're interested in. But I'm anxious to find women from all over Arizona who want to take an interest in the political process. It's very important.

Jose Cardenas: And what happens after they've gone through the course and then they decide to run for office?

Christine Olson: Well, we'll support them. Our network will help them move forward. We do not -- we do not go against endorsed candidates. We do not go against incumbents. But once they're through that part of the process, that network comes to them and supports them in every way. I have this straight story of a woman who wanted to run for city council in a town in Pennsylvania. And the good old boys decided, well, we don't want a woman. So when they sent out their mailer they had two republicans and one democrat. This is the county Republican party. And there were three guys. Our network of alums found out about it. 40 of our alums went in and door knocked for this woman for four days before the election. We raised an additional $20,000 for cable media buy. This young lady was the highest vote getter, even higher than the mayor who is very popular. And she is now positioning herself to run for the state house. And it was all because of this network of women who have come together to understand that we need to support each other.

Jose Cardenas: Christine Olson, we've got a little less than a minute left. Your final thoughts on the program and the kind of people who should be involved and why.

Christine Olson: We need people from every walk of life. And the program, it's about training women. But it's about engaging men and women in the process. We need -- we need mentors. We need role models, whether they're female or male. And so anyone that really wants to get involved and help advance women within the republican party, please go to our website and see what it's all about, because it's very important.

Jose Cardenas: Christine Olson, thank you for joining us on Horizon to talk about this important program.

Christine Olson: Thank you, Jose.