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.
Hayworth lost his House seat 12 years ago and failed to unseat McQueeg in the 2010 primary. He’s dropped off the radar screen politically. We need younger, newer blood.
“If she is really a NeverTrumper she surely hid that.”
...“I don’t plan on endorsing anybody and I haven’t in the past,” McSally told the Arizona Republic in October. McSally is a first-term representative from Arizona’s purple second district, which she won by a mere 167 votes in 2014. “Who we vote for is our own private decision. It’s not my focus or my responsibility … I think the voters are smart enough to figure out who they want to vote for for the president.”
“On Friday night, McSally also distanced herself from Trump in a tweet.
“Trump’s comments are disgusting. Joking about sexual assault is unacceptable. I’m appalled,” she wrote.
McSally’s comment came hours after a meeting at The Arizona Republic in which she refused to say whether she recommended voters in her southern district support the Republican nominee.”
Not exactly Never Trump, but hardly a Trump supporter.
Why the heck should we appoint a person to the seat who couldn’t even beat a leftist crazy person?
OK, she was an A10 close air support pilot.
How “good” a pilot was she? Heck, McCain was an ace! He got shot down in, crashed, burned up, ejected from, or destroyed FIVE enemy (er, USN) planes.
Why the heck should we appoint a person to the seat who couldn’t even beat a leftist crazy person?
McSally did NOT run a very good campaign. The fake news media definitely covered for Skank Sinema, but Martha didn’t campaign well and strongly until the the last 30 days—which is a problem, since 75% of the votes in AZ are early vote ballots.
In the one debate with Skank Sinema, Martha came off as overly-excitable, angry, and nervous. Sinema came off as calm and reasonable in comparison. It made me sick to watch this, but it’s true.
He might disagree with you on that.
no way do I think it’s good to have McSally in there. Kyl accepted the 2 yr situation in taking McCain’s place he should finish it.
McSally will lose on reelection. she is a loser. At least if Kyl finishes the term it can be a fresh face running not loser McSally.
Looks so bad for her to be handed a seat when she already lost her shot and all she had to do was run a good campaign but she couldn’t do that.
Hope they don’t screw things up for that seat by sticking McSally in it. We need AZ to keep some Republican seats not keep doing things to look stupid and lose them.
[Something really stinks in Arizona between the Governor race numbers and Senate race numbers.]
It may go to show what a bad candidate she was. And that’s saying something.
It may go to show what a bad candidate she was. And that’s saying something.
So apparently McSally has lost. Was she even a married wkman? I was told that she was sexually ambiguous at best...aka lesbian. And Sinema definitely a known bisexual.
It’s hard to get excited about an election where both of the candidates are single and male deficient female deviants.
It was probably already in the works. She seemed more then happy to accept defeat. Thanks Joe.
he got reelected last week. Things changed.
Sounds like a very good political move.
No thanks.
Been there; done that.
Endured the type; HATED it.
Look at her lackadaisical campaign style for goodness sakes! She’s not a fighter; she’s got no fire in the belly to take it to the eGOP, much less the Dems. She’s a bone-stock, live and let die, go along to get along, glad-handing across the aisle, establishment template, country club Republican. There’s ZILCH she offers that this country needs more of in the Senate.
Sorry.
Her kind’s been THROUGH here, and we’re the worse off for it.
McSally was married for 2 years. It was annulled. Arizona allows annulments for only a few reasons, such as mental incompetence or no sexual relations after the marriage.
https://www.divorcenet.com/resources/annulment/annulment-basics/arizona
So she knew she didn’t have to win to become Senator. No wonder the Trump-hating bitch nailed it in. Worst candidate ever.
Will they ever figure out all the fraudulent votes from illegals.
I doubt it.
BTTT.
BTTT.
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