Discussion: Report: Dems Land Top Recruit For Arizona Senate Race

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I don’t know what to think about this. She is my Congresswoman and, if she runs against Flake, I would definitely vote for her. However, she would not be my ideal candidate. I was hoping for a more liberal candidate.

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Practically speaking and not being from AZ, would a “more liberal” candidate have a chance in a state which has two R senators and a R governor and a fairly red populace? Sinema will probably have to say some things that won’t appeal to liberals in order to win. That’s the hard truth of politics.

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It sounds to me as if she may be in the process of a pivot to the center for the opportunity to run in (and win!) a statewide race. And who cares if she isn’t a Warren type? I’d much rather have someone like Manchin, who sometimes talks contrarian but still votes with the Dems 80 or 90 percent of the time and can contribute to a Dem majority in congress, than a Republican like Flake who sometimes talks tough but votes with McConnell 99 percent of the time.

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I was just about to ask: can Sinema win statewide? Clearly, she has experience running a campaign and can win a particular area of AZ. But how does how does she translate to a broader swath of AZ? I’ve heard from some that AZ might be turning purple.

PS I have no doubt that Deedra Abboud is a respected liberal but I doubt she can get elected statewide.

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I understand why she has moved to the center and that it is a pragmatic thing to do to win a state-wide office in Arizona and she will still be a vast improvement over Flake, but I don’t have to like it.

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There was a Democratic win in Iowa the other day in a congressional district that went for trumpp by 22 points. Phil Miller who’s a veterinarian (my kind of people) won and it’s deemed to be a good sign for what’s coming in 2018.

@varroh Holding one’s nose while voting is sometimes a requirement.

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I agree, it’s a very good sign that Dems can make inroads in some places on a local level. We’re working on it.

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She may not be running against Flake, though. He’s already spoken out against Trump while voting for him, and now he’s taken McConnell’s side in the spat with PotUS. The GOP primary is going to be ugly - doubly so because he’s running against that wacko bird Kelli Ward.

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Yeah, I heard that Kelli Ward is running against Flake with the full backing of the Mercers. Both parties are bat sh*t crazy.

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A lot of the map’s primed to be risky for us this cycle… if she can flip AZ, I am definitely not going to complain.

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It’s Arizona

Can we quit with the purity parade? My favorite Democratic candidate is the one that wins office.

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If I could, I would “like” this more than once…

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Each congressman has got two ends,
A sitting and a thinking end.

And since his whole success depend upon on his seat—
Why bother, friend?

E Y Harburg

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“Flake, one of the two incumbent Republicans that Democrats think they can beat this election cycle besides Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV).”

Dems think they can beat two GOP Senators in 2018 “besides” Heller? Who’s the third one?

I think Cameron meant, “Flake, one of the two incumbent Republicans that Democrats think they can beat this election cycle, the other one being Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV).”

Please, if Hillary Clinton couldn’t beat Trump in a state that her husband barely loss to a sitting President and won in 1996, then this Congresswoman has a little to no chance against Sen. Flake or any other Republican running.

Poor Justine!

That bit of word salad could do with some dressing, if you want it to be even vaguely palatable.

As it is, it’s utter nonsense with no basis in reality.

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As a former Arizonan married to a native Arizonan- yeah. I can’t think of too many “liberal” candidates who have won statewide office there.

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Arizona once had a Democratic governor, Janet Napolitano, and when she left for HHS they got Brewer. It’s not outside the realm of possibility that a Democrat could win a seat in Congress even though the memory of Bill’s loss haunts them to this day and guides their every move.

@buckyor I mentioned Napolitano and how is her win in 2003 as governor explained?

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I don’t know that Napolitano is considered that liberal. I always considered her center-left.

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