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AZ 2012 Open Senate Seat: The Ron Johnson Model

From the diaries by Erick

Well, I awoke this morning, hustled the kids off to school, and then heard the good news: Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl would be announcing today that he would not, after all, seek a third term. I wonder why?

Well, it might have something to do with the fact that political landscape is changing here in Arizona from “the bottom up,” so to speak. (I think if of it from “the top down,” because the people are sovereign, and all elected officials, including the President, rank below citizen. You know, “We the People” and all that.)

Back when Sen. Jon Kyl ran for re-election in 2006, his campaign mailers said he was a conservative and a Republican, naturally. Our Party Platform says, “We reject amnesty” for illegal aliens. I sent Sen. Kyl a campaign contribution. He got elected. He then supported amnesty for illegals. I wrote and called him and asked him for my money back. On grounds of false advertising. He sent me a check. I told others to do what I did. They did. And they got their money back, too.

Then I became a precinct committeeman. And started recruiting conservative Republicans in earnest. We increased our ranks from about 32 per cent of the slots being filled to about 45 per cent by this past election cycle. And all those new conservative precinct committeemen have changed the political landscape here in Arizona. Because precinct committeemen elect the leadership of the Party and are in the best position to get out the vote for the best conservative candidates in the all-important, traditionally-very-low-turnout primary elections. Jon Kyl’s preferred candidate for Maricopa County chairman lost to the incumbent conservative by 69 per cent to 31 per cent. Jon Kyl’s preferred and endorsed candidate for Arizona state chairman lost to a grass roots, “tea party” write-in candidate. A write-in candidate.

I can’t prove it, but I believe what happened in those leadership elections may have caused Sen. Kyl to think that maybe, just maybe, what happened to RINO Utah (now former) Sen. Bob Bennett might happen to him here in Arizona in 2012.

Along the way, Jon Kyl did not acquit himself well in the “l’affaire Oval Office one-on-one meeting with President Opuppet about holding border security hostage for political purposes.” Rather than having told the American people about this stunning revelation, and calling out President Opuppet on it, Jon Kyl preferred to stay mum, but trumpeted his bravery to a sparsely attended tea party meeting in North Phoenix. Where his remarks were captured on one of those new-fangled digitial camera thingys. That was on a Friday afternoon. The video got posted on YouTube Saturday afternoon. With the help of some great Redstaters, the video went “viral.” I awoke on Monday morning to see Meghan Kelly on Fox News talking about this “stunning revelation” by Sen. Jon Kyl that had been made public via a YouTube video. Then, all of a sudden, Sen. Kyl had to talk about it with reporters — which he should have initiated to begin with, as he had exited the White House right after Opuppet told him he would not secure the border so as to gain political leverage against “you guys” — the Republicans — to achieve the passage of legislation granting amnesty to illegal aliens. This revelation took the White House off-message for a couple of days and culminated with an official, in person, denial by deputy White House press secretary Bill Burton to the White House Press Corps (pronounced by President Opuppet as “corpse”).

So, here in Arizona, the talk radio political programs are all talking about which Republicans will run in the primary for Sen. Kyl’s seat. I know the kind of candidate I want. I want a candidate of the Founders’ and Framers’ variety — someone of the “Ron Johnson Model” — an independently wealthy man or woman who has succeeded in the real world of commerce. Who understands business. And the fact that government does not create jobs. Who is beholden to no special interest and will have no interest in such things as earmarks in return for campaign contributions. Who will fight tooth and toenail for the individual American’s liberties. Who will take his oath of office seriously and strive to abide by the Constitution’s limited, enumerated powers, not strive to “get around” them.

Conservative Republicans like this exist in Arizona. Alas, so do many “professional politicians” of the compromising, “get around the limited, enumerated powers” type (for some, people like retired Rep. John Shadegg and current Rep. Jeff Flake come to mind).

I will look for and help Arizona’s version of now-Sen. Ron Johnson (R, WI) seek the nomination. And I think all of the new conservative Republican precinct committeemen, and those whom we will recruit between now and the 2012 primary, will too. We may be able to deliver the votes for such a candidate in the primary election. Because we are in the best position to do so.

Because we are precinct committeemen.

Thank you.

For Liberty,

ColdWarrior
_____________________

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COMMENTS

  • Kyle-MI

    Don’t ignore the other data points of McMahon, Fiorina, and Raese. The business person with no political experience Senate candidate model did not have a very good track record even in this past election.

    The model works better for House seats, not as good for state wide federal elections.

    • victrola

      I’m very suspicious of people that want to jump to the front of the line without having earned it. For every Scott Johnson that’s run there’s 10 Christine O’Donnell’s that have lost. Running for Senate is “prime time”, that means you better have more on your resume than “conservative activist.”

      If you want to get into politics, you need to start at the bottom (like being a PC) and work your way up the food chain. Running a statewide campaign for a high office like Senator is not for rookies, you need seasoned veterans that won’t blow it and hand a seat to the Democrats.

      (BTW, I actually think Kyl was a solid and intelligent conservative, and would be ecstatic if every Republican in the Senate were a carbon copy of Kyl. My only issue with him is he flirted with some guest-worker type programs, but seemed to get the message real quick from his base.)

      • JadedByPolitics

        and OF the people NOT from the backbenching Congress who can be painted with a brush to broad to clean up. I cannot believe that because a person runs for the Senate (a businessman/woman) before Congress that makes them any less serious. The problem this Country has had would be those who believe that the next open seat belongs to them because they have put in their “time” Those politico’s whose working lives are as elected officials is why our Country is dying. Citizen legislators who know that 2 times in the Senate and 6 times in the Congress is ENOUGH! I want fresh blood, don’t you?

        • cordpt

          I take someone who has a proven (voting) record of supporting conservative principles and actions – even if that comes with a couple of missteps and a few heterodoxies attached – over the fresh blood who talks a big talk and just sounds as a perfect conservative every day and twice on Sunday.

          • victrola

            You can find solid conservatives that have experience in front of voters, the problem is when the base gets hung up on “purity.” That’s how you get train wrecks like Maes in Colorado and O’Donnell in Delaware, and the consequences down the ticket are ENORMOUS. Every elected official is going to have a few missteps, even unquestionably solid conservatives like Coburn and DeMint. When someone has NO record, and tells you they’re the perfect conservative, how can you even trust them?

            Also, if someone is a devoted conservative, why have they just now decided to get involved in politics? Why didn’t they run for state rep or city council? Were those positions beneath them? It’s like a kid right out of college applying for the CEO position at a multi-billion dollar company. I find it very oft-putting, and it’s just not worth potentially handing a seat to a liberal Democrat.

            The perfect is often time the enemy of the good.

          • YnotNOW

            It is easy to sound conservative and principled when talking to the faithful and making sound bites. Much harder to stand amid the ebb and flow of legislative battles and calls for compromise. I am much more willing to accept a tactical error and proof of solid principles, rather than trust a candidate’s speeches.

    • pilgrim

      Instead of talking about candidates with no elected record from states of CT, CA, and WV look at Utah for a comparison. In Utah the grassroots got engaged in the process to defeat Bennett. The engagement of the grassroots in AZ that CW writes about in this diary is more similar to Utah than those other states. When they get as organized in CT, CA, and WV as they have gotten in AZ, then we will not have an apples to oranges comparison like exists now.

    • Dan McLaughlin

      Whereas Jeff Flake, who is likely running, is great.

      That said, if border security is your main issue, you and I are not gonna see eye to eye about whether Kyl has been a good conservative.

      • red_oakster

        Flake is good on budget cutting, but less than stellar on foreign policy. He has wanted to open up relations with Castro for a long time and is likely to be closer to a Rand Paul view of foreign policy. For those who care about immigration, I suspect you may find that Flake is less conservative than Kyl.

        For the next Republican president, I would recommend Kyl for any of the Big 4 (State, Treasury, Defense, or A-G). He would be a great senior member of Cabinet.

  • JadedByPolitics

    NEVER let the elites in the Party make you think that getting on your local Committee doesn’t change the players.!

  • cordpt

    Do you have any reason to believe that business men with no previous political experience are more willing to defend the conservative agenda and more apt to resist special interests once they become politicians?

    Personally, I’ll be happy if, 6 years from now, I can have about Sen, Johnson the same opinion I currently hold about former Rep.Shadegg, Rep. Flake and even Sen. Kyl.

  • e_rowe

    ’nuff said.

    • constitutionalconservative

      Flake is a leader and an innovative thinker– both of those qualities are in too short supply in our leadership. My only big concern is his immigration record, which is pretty mediocre (though it probably makes him more electable in AZ). I hope grassroots conservatives hold his feet to the fire and get some reasonably conservative promises from him on immigration.

      Ultimately, much as I do care about the immigration issue, I can’t let his mediocrity in this one area derail what I think would otherwise be an absolutely outstanding choice for Arizona and the country.

      • e_rowe

        I have points of disagreement with Flake. His support for the Iraq War, the Patriot Act, and all the “free trade” agreements are things I’m not keen on.

        But when I look at the big picture, and when I consider the kind of compromises I have to make for any candidate I support, especially at the level of the Senate, it’s clear to me that it would be very hard to do better than Flake.

        IIRC Flake voted against No Child Left Behind, against Medicare Part D, and against TARP. Very few Republicans can say that. Flake is also part of a very short list of congressman (and zero senators) who voted against all of the Bush/Obama bailouts and stimulus bills.

        A good rating system I like to look at is the Conservative Index or Freedom Index of the John Birch Society. I think it covers a good enough number of votes to focus on ones that are important, while still having enough to give a broad sampling for each rep. Flake doesn’t get perfect scores, but he’s consistently one of the top 3-4 members of Congress in their ratings. And no senator compares to him in consistent uncompromising small government conservatism (prior to Rand Paul and Mike Lee who may hopefully represent a new breed there).

  • redneck_hippie

    Thanks for re-linking to the case against Kyle and the video.

  • powertothepeople

    I have the info for anyone in SC wanting to get involved. You do not have a lot of time to consider your involvement as state law requires the meeting to occur in the state by March 11th I believe. Your have to be elected to your county precinct to be eligible to be elected to your state level and must be at state level to be eligible to be elected to the national level so you have to start at your local level, get known, in order to move up.

    If you want to move to be elected for your local precinct and do not know the time and place of the meeting, contact Lindsey at

    (803) 988-8440

    Tell her what county you are in and that you want to attend the meeting for your county to elect precinct delegates. If your county has not yet submitted that info, she will give you the person and their number who is the chair in your area. My county chair has not yet submitted, so if you live in Laurens County or the counties around us (we are combining this year due to low turnouts), post on this message and I will give you the time and place for our elections. We will also be having a fine dinner after the meeting for the low price of 10 bucks plus a year membership of 25 bucks.

    Not too late for all the SC folks to get involved in being a part of the process. But it is getting close for the 2011 year and those of us elected will be the ones in Tampa this year for primary season. Hopefully I will see some of you there!

  • powertothepeople

    forgot to add Lindsey works for the state GOP and is quite pleasant about helping a person get the info they need.

    • powertothepeople
  • http://www.800cart.com Ron Robinson

    As you and I have learned, many of the commenters and folks over in the right columns at RS are precinct committeemen already, but we need more of you to step up in your state.

    Our efforts are having an effects as seen in the actions of major political figures.

    They are getting the message and they are proving that they are not up to the fight. If they won’t take on a battle like this for this own seats, how hard to you expect them to fight for us in their respective floors?

    If we keep this up, we will put our country back on course.

  • Adjoran

    One is that he’ll be 70 in 2012 and would be 76 at the end of another term – not every Senator wishes to die in office, some really would like to enjoy a retirement.

    Second, GOP Senate rules mean he will be out of the leadership in the next Congress, so his power and influence will be diminished.

    As a side point on all the vitriol against Kyl, I must note that the guy’s LIFETIME rating from ACU is 96.75. Who requires more lock-step conformity than that? Stalin? The mullahs?

    • Aaron Gardner
    • red_oakster

      He is perhaps the most Reaganite Senator in the Senate. That’s why I’d love to see him at one of the Big 4 Cabinet jobs come next January.

    • e_rowe

      Often the votes it uses in its ratings and the position it takes on those votes reflect more of an establishment Republican record than an anti-establishment conservative one.

      This was made clear to me here in Indiana this past year when Dan Coats’ high ACU scores from his previous tenure in the Senate were used to boost his conservative bona fides, and when a careful scrutiny of his record showed that that reputation was undeserved.

  • Change Jar Conservative

    I agree with posters above that Ron Johnson is the exception.

    Part of the problem we saw with the Tea Party is that the pubic is fine with newbies going to the “people’s house” but is far less accepting of that notion for the Senate.

    Simply put, they want to see some sort of track record they can relate to.

    That’s why I think that 2014 will truly be the year of the tea party in the Senate because by then the 2010 congress-critters will have 4 years under their belt and we can finally get a “tea party” like Senate meme going.

  • pilgrim
  • takemccain2

    vote for the person he doesn’t endorse. There are many taxing, irksome problems with the GOP and adding another McCainite to the mix is the LAST THING the GOP needs.

    Less McCains, not more.

    Stay vigilant, AZ!

  • bobbymike

    deterrent mission and for triad modernization when most other politicians were asking for money for bike paths. He never forgot that the defense of this nation is the most important function of government.

    I personally like Kyl and think he is an honorable gentleman who should be thanked for his service.

    Secretary of Defense Kyl has a nice ring to it.

  • missyjanie

    Well written recap of our senator.
    I nominate John Kavanaugh for the position. He may need more monetary help than a rich business guy, but he is strong in his conservative convictions and has experience in AZ politics. He would not be co-opted by the RINO McCain.
    BTW Morrissey, the state republican chair was not only a write in, he was drafted 72 hours before the vote. We The People are no longer asleep!
    I too became a PC this year.