Sheriff Baboon building national image on hate issue

[SargeUNN]

FLORENCE — Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu has been on the job less than two years, but he's already emerging as a leading border security hawk and a rising star in the Republican Party.

Arizona's controversial crackdown on illegal immigration has created an insatiable appetite for pundits to banter over illegal immigration, and Babeu has helped fill the void. The shiny-headed, 41-year-old sheriff has appeared on cable news shows at least nine times since Gov. Jan Brewer signed the measure April 23.

Babeu's an unlikely authority on illegal immigration — a "border sheriff" whose territory lies dozens of miles from the border; a lawman with a decades-old political career that began as an 18-year-old city councilman in New England.

But he's carved a niche as a prolific critic of the federal government.

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/local/queen_creek/article_fff31868-bebe-11df-867d-001cc4c002e0.html