Posted on 11/13/2018 8:36:44 AM PST by Kaslin
It’s official. Democrat Kyrsten Sinema has emerged victorious over Republican Martha McSally in Arizona’s Senate race. Sinema will occupy the seat that will be vacated by spineless Republican Sen. Jeff Flake, who would not have won re-election to his seat if he ran for re-election. Flake’s approval ratings are abysmal—and he would have lost handily in a primary challenge.
Congrats to @kyrstensinema. I wish her success. I’m grateful to all those who supported me in this journey. I’m inspired by Arizonans’ spirit and our state’s best days are ahead of us. pic.twitter.com/tw0uKgi3oO— McSally For Senate (@MarthaMcSally) November 13, 2018
For all her left wing antics, including her blasé remarks about Americans joining the Taliban, she still ran a good campaign. Jon Gabriel of Ricochet, an Arizona resident, listed three reasons why Sinema was able to eek out a win:
McSally’s Prevent Defense
McSally is no stranger to razor-thin votes. She lost the 2012 congressional race by less than 2,500 votes and won the 2014 rematch by just 167. A major reason for this is her campaigning style.
The Pima County Republican is very cautious. Very cautious. Instead of barnstorming the map and mixing it up with all comers, she carefully issues press releases and attends controlled events. She wouldn’t even agree to a debate with Sinema for months and then only participated in one.
Her style is reminiscent of the much-derided “prevent defense” in the NFL. A football team wants to protect a lead, so they stop trying to score and merely attempt to prevent the other team from scoring. It backfires so often, it’s often parodied as the “prevent-you-from-winning defense.” It definitely backfired for McSally.
Negative Ad Burnout
Most Arizonans would agree that the 2018 Senate race was the most negative statewide campaign they had ever seen. Traditionally, candidates buy a mix of positive and negative ads, a proven strategy that Sinema held to. But McSally and the outside groups supporting her were nearly all-negative, all-the-time. Focusing on the Republican’s remarkable achievements in the military and also in politics would have gone a long way to define a woman few in the state knew much about. Sure, there were a few ads like that, but not nearly enough to match Sinema’s seeming optimism.
[…]
The McCain/Flake Hangover
Arizona conservatives have been frustrated with their Republican senators for many years. Jeff Flake and John McCain campaigned as rock-ribbed right-wingers every six years only to vote with Democrats in DC on crucial issues.
[…]
The Left Was Motivated — and Organized
The Right in Arizona had been well-organized for the past decade, but the Left finally caught up. What began as a grassroots effort to increase teacher pay in early 2018 was quickly professionalized by the state Democratic party and outside groups. Through social media and text messages, the movement activated hundreds of thousands of Arizonans and resulted in a 20 percent salary increase.
[…]
Sinema Ran a Great Campaign
Whether its genuine or an act, Sinema has focused on cultivating her moderate bona fides for years. In the House and now in the Senate campaign, her mailers and ads are nothing but waving flags and smiling veterans. She barely mentions her party but stresses her “independence” and willingness to work with “literally anyone” on conservative issues.
So, now that’s over. McSally can still serve in the U.S. Senate. Yes, even though she lost, it’s possible that she could represent Arizona in the U.S. Senate. It will take Republican Gov. Doug Ducey, who trounced his Democratic opponent to win another term, to sign off on it, and current Sen. Jon Kyl needs to resign. Kyl was appointed to fill the vacancy left by the late Sen. John McCain. The discussions on this route have already begun, as Kyl has zero interest in returning to public life.
With Sinema winning AZ Senate race, expect immediate chatter about AZ Gov Ducey potentially appointing McSally to Senate once Kyl steps down from seat he was appointed to after McCain died— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) November 13, 2018
Via AZ Central:
While Republican Party leaders try to regain their temporarily (I hope) lost sanity and get over it, consider this:
Republican Martha McSally soon could be called Sen. McSally.
More than one million Arizona voters wanted to see the former fighter-pilot-turned-southern-Arizona congresswoman in the Senate.
Gov. Doug Ducey could grant them their wish.
Ducey could appoint McSally to the late Sen. John McCain’s Senate seat, the one that placeholder Jon Kyl is expected to leave by year’s end.
By the weekend, it was becoming clear that McSally’s bid for the Senate was not going to be successful, but this avenue could be an option for her to continue serving the people of Arizona… if she wants it. It’s also unknown if Kyl or Ducey will sign off on this, but the option remains.
Ducey should go with Andy Biggs or David Schweikert - both just won re-election to the House with relative ease and should be easy to replace in special elections.
Ward didn’t win the primary and she would have been defeated even more soundly. Arizona is not a conservative state.
Are there any better conservatives in Arizona besides McSally? She could not even beat a code pinko in a conservative state. How about a conservative that can win and keep winning?
McSally basically ran on a four-line resume, and might have been the weakest GOP candidate (even compared to Flake) in Arizona in the past thirty years. It might be true of the two in the running...McSally was marginally better but this was a one-star election with two one-star candidates.
We never wanted her. We just wanted her over the out and open communist.
You know who I think would be excellent? Sal DiCiccio, Phoenix City Councilman. Great conservative and always looking out for the people.
After she leaves the stage, maybe she can just relax and watch a heartwarming movie from Dinesh D'Souza called "Obama's America" at one of those nice luxurious "sinemas". Maybe she'll learn she was part of the problem, not the solution.
Very hard to believe she was a Fighter-pilot. She has none of the characteristics I would associate with one. She has no will to win for one. Extremely, overly cautious. No will to fight or “killer” instinct or I’m the best attitude success pilots have, fearless. I would not be happy with her on my wing.
I would expect the classic turn back from a combat mission claiming the engine didn’t sound right and return to base attitude from her.
Or Matt Salmon?
The takers apparently now outnumber the producers. No where to go but down hill once that happens. Takers don’t respect the sacrifices of those that serve in the armed forces and make sacrifices for our country, and they don’t respect the hard working producers who create the wealth this country has historically generated. There is a Galt moment in the future on this trajectory.
I’m talking about Ward taking over Flakey Mc Flake’s senate seat.
Cindy McCain’s name is already in the hat.
Maybe she had the same ineffective personna that McCain had as a pilot and he was a washout crashing several times and putting others in danger for his stupid antics... I’m talking about his flying as well.
I’ve never met an A-10 pilot who liked or respected her. Most of the ones I’ve talked to turned red in the face at the mention of her name.
I thought Ducey promised to NOT do this, as to help his re-election?
Should appoint Kelly.
Should have appointed Kelly in the beginning.
When will the RINOs make peace?
Trump has gone a long way towards uniting the Party, but some RINOs just RESIST.
Not to take away from her courage as a pilot, but McSally was the RINO candidate from Day One. She didn’t fight enough, particularly after the election as the corrupt Dems “found” ballots. Where was HER lawsuit? Where was HER challenge about illegals voting, stuffed ballot boxes, counting provisional ballots that should NOT have been counted?
No, she’s counting on getting McCain’s old seat in some kind of deal. I’m not in AZ, but I don’t like it one bit. She’s already too much a member of “the Club” (and we mere citizens can’t join), and I hope that Arizonans make a better choice next time. WTF happened to the state that elected Goldwater so many times?
Don’t know if this is statistically valid, but have a feeling that Arizona, like my home state of Florida has a high percentage of “ moved there” population who came from lib leaning former states and slowly but surely bring their new “ homeland” into the abyss they left....
This^^
We already have a surplus of Republicans who don't want to upset the status quo or fight. Yeah, yeah, she's a female fighter pilot. Great, contact the sisterhood for further affirmation.
well yea she’s a million times better than the loon but now that she lose let a real conservative run or get appointed in the other seat.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.