Arizona Sen. Flake's vulnerability feeds GOP Senate concerns

[corbe]

Arizona Sen. Flake's vulnerability feeds GOP Senate concerns
 
Erica Werner and Bob Christie, Associated Press
 
Updated 12:48 pm, Saturday, October 7, 2017
 
 PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona Republican Sen. Jeff Flake's re-election race is becoming a case study in the GOP's convulsions among the establishment, a furious base and angry donors.

After bucking Donald Trump in a state the president won, Flake is bottoming out in polls. Yet Republicans look like they may be stuck with a hard-core conservative challenger who some fear could win the primary but lose in the general election.

A White House search for a candidate to replace former state Sen. Kelli Ward in the primary appears to have hit a wall. And now conservatives want to turn Arizona into the latest example of a Trump Train outsider taking down a member of the GOP establishment.

"People are fooling themselves if they think Jeff Flake is anything but a walking dead member of the United State Senate," said Andy Surabian, whose Great America Alliance is backing Ward.

"I don't see how he survives a primary. I don't see how he survives a general. The numbers just don't add up," added Surabian, who worked at the White House as an adviser to Steve Bannon, then the president's top strategist.

<..snip..>

http://www.chron.com/news/politics/article/Arizona-Sen-Flake-s-vulnerability-feeds-GOP-12260208.php

[bilo]

My attitude is why should I care if thev Pubs hold a seat. They had both the House, Senate and Presidency and couldn't fulfill their campaign promises.

I know the argument is "the Rats will be so much worse" and there is truth to it, but why should I care. I bought the argument about incrementalism for 40 years and what conservative gains have I seen? Abortion is as bad as ever. Now we have homosexual marriage and gender confused children in schools. The govt has taken over individual healthcare markets and will soon implement "medicare for all". Economically the budget is a disaster. Our debt is beyond comprehension. Where exactly has incrementalism gotten us?

[Applewood]

All Republicans should be concerned because they lied to the voters and have no intention of fulfilling the promises they made.  If they actually think voters will vote for them anyway because they have no other choice, they are wrong. 

[Free Vulcan]

Flake deserves to be vulnerable and primaried. Too bad there aren't more squishy Reps to primary, but there are a lot of vulnerable Dems where a good conservative candidate could win.

It's a great opportunity to capitalize on, but will the conservative wing of the GOP do it.

[truth_seeker]

All Republicans should be concerned because they lied to the voters and have no intention of fulfilling the promises they made.  If they actually think voters will vote for them anyway because they have no other choice, they are wrong.

But in actuality there are only about 6 Senators or so, that have not proceeded on Obamacare repeal/replace.

So let me be the non-conformist, and give a big congrats to most of the GOP that ARE trying to keep their promises.

[roamer_1]

But in actuality there are only about 6 Senators or so, that have not proceeded on Obamacare repeal/replace.

So let me be the non-conformist, and give a big congrats to most of the GOP that ARE trying to keep their promises.

Repeal/replace was not the promise.

The promise was repeal, root and branch.
and nothing else will do.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

Repeal/replace was not the promise.

The promise was repeal, root and branch.
and nothing else will do.

Perhaps it was at one time, but unfortunately, it was that in 2016.  Please read the 2016 Republican Party platform. https://prod-cdn-static.gop.com/media/documents/DRAFT_12_FINAL[1]-ben_1468872234.pdf

Restoring Patient Control and
Preserving Quality in Healthcare
Any honest agenda for improving healthcare
must start with repeal of the dishonestly named
Affordable Care Act of 2010: Obamacare. It weighs
like the dead hand of the past upon American
medicine. It imposed a Euro-style bureaucracy to
manage its unworkable, budget-busting, conflicting
provisions. It has driven up prices for all consumers.
Their insurance premiums have dramatically
increased while their deductibles have risen about
eight times faster than wages in the last ten years.
It drove up drug prices by levying a $27 billion
tax on manufacturers and importers and, through
mandated price cuts for drugs under Medicare and
Medicaid, forced pharmaceutical companies to
raise prices for everyone else. Its “silver plans,” the
most common option on the government insurance
exchanges, limit people’s access to their own doctor
through narrow networks and restrict drug coverage,
forcing many patients to pay for extremely costly
medicines for their chronic diseases.
We agree with the four dissenting judges of the
Supreme Court: “In our view, the entire Act before
us is invalid in its entirety.” It must be removed
and replaced with an approach based on genuine
competition, patient choice, excellent care, wellness,
and timely access to treatment.

[Bigun]

Perhaps it was at one time, but unfortunately, it was that in 2016.  Please read the 2016 Republican Party platform. https://prod-cdn-static.gop.com/media/documents/DRAFT_12_FINAL[1]-ben_1468872234.pdf

That is pretty darned clear to me.  And no less than the senate majority leader himself used exactly the language @roamer_1 said several times that I personally heard and recall.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

That is pretty darned clear to me.  And no less than the senate majority leader himself used exactly the language @roamer_1 said several times that I personally heard and recall.

I think the repeal and replace in the platform is a far cry to what we all have seen take place in the current legislation.  We thought it was root it out and do something completely different instead of the patchwork shit we have witnessed.

[Cyber Liberty]

That is pretty darned clear to me.  And no less than the senate majority leader himself used exactly the language @roamer_1 said several times that I personally heard and recall.

I heard him say that many times too, but I must have a Babel Fish stuck in my ear (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy reference), because every time I heard his face say that, my brain heard "He's lying."  I call it my "Joe Isuzu filter."

Added:  I hear that exact same thing whenever any word issues forth from Jeff Flake's mouth, along with a reminder:  "This Senator pulled strings with a County Prosecutor to get his kid off 23 charges of animal cruelty for letting the dogs in his kennel die in the Arizona heat."

[Fishrrman]

Vulcan wrote:
"Flake deserves to be vulnerable and primaried..."

I wouldn't be surprised if he decides to "retire" early next year -- IF the primary contenders seem to be making good headway.