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God Bless America. Jeff Flake is In!

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  February 14th, 2011 at 09:11 AM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

Jeff Flake is running for the Senate.

He’ll be my first campaign contribution for the 2012 season.

I know some of you are not fans of Flake’s because he sided with McCain on immigration. But I have to tell you, that he is so uncontrollable and, other than that issue, so much one of us, I’ll forgive him that.

His score card for the Club for Growth has been 100% consistently for several years. He is now on the Appropriations Committee and, as Politico recently noted, “[I]n a striking display of defiance, Flake exercised his right to file alternative views in the committee report — something rarely done in Appropriations by a member of the majority party.”

He is one of us. I will gladly support him in this endeavor.

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COMMENTS

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  • http://redmeatconservative.blogspot.com/ dhorowitz3

    I must say, as someone who has worked in immigration policy, this is a tough one to concede. But, I agree that we will not find anyone else who is willing to go the distance on all of the fiscal issues. Now, lets just hope that the Dems won’t trot out Giffords to run and play the sympathy card.

  • annas

    I would have a hard time supporting anyone who is for illegal immigration.

  • http://ruminationsaspirations.blogspot.com jonbingham

    Hopefully Flake has taken a right turn on illegal immigration like McCain did in his re-election campaign.
    If so, I will actually trust his shift on the issue (as opposed to believing McCain’s).

  • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908
  • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908
  • conservativemusician

    And I hope that Flake has gotten the word from us loud and clear that his past support of illegal immigration has not gone unnoticed and that we will be watching his future votes on this issue.

  • http://theminorityreportblog.com Repair_Man_Jack

    you need Jeff Flake on that wall.

  • red_oakster

    Bad on immigration, bad on Cuba. He has gone along, but never taken the lead on foreign policy. While one can’t predict anything with certainty, he seems more likely in the crunch to vote for a bad START treaty. His libertarian focus makes him suspect on social issues. He voted in the House for DADT repeal.

    The whole package is OK, but not great. Shadegg is out, so that leaves Franks. If mbecker is right, Franks’ low visibility outside his district will deter him from running for the Senate. However, Franks has been a very impressive legislator on a variety of issues, especailly in the national security area. If Franks gets in, he’s the better choice.

  • earlgrey

    so much of America needs to be educated on what our government is doing to us.

  • youngmonte

    It’s not just that Flake is a supporter of illegal immigrant amnesty, he also supports normalizing relations with Cuba and authored something called a “payroll tax/carbon tax swap” to regulate carbon emissions (though he claims he’s a global warming skeptic). Not only that, but I’ve known Flake for years and he has never been one to lift a finger to help a fellow Republican, even conservtives, come election time. I’m no fan of Shadegg, but he’d be light years ahead of Flake. Flake is more John McCain than Jon Kyl.

    Besides, now that Flake is on the Appropriations Committee, which is the only place he can ever be of any use to conservatives, why would anyone want to see him go to the Senate where his chances of affecting spending (he’ll be in the minority, remember) would be much reduced? Conservatives for years have been pushing Flake to get on Approps and now that he’s finally reached it you all want to yank him off and send him to the bone yard? I don’t get that.

  • aesthete

    Very good on Cuba. Every American should be allowed to see the horrors of communism, and opening up borders is a proven communist state buster: China, Vietnam, and several of the truly atrocious states in the region would not have moderated without the incentives that trade provided. He is ironclad on life issues, and I believe that he voted for DOMA. We have more than enough leadership on foreign policy in Congress as is, and really, foreign policy originates at the White House anyways. Flake is an excellent choice, even if he is imperfect.

  • zroxx

    I don’t think anyone is pushing him out of his current position and into the Senate. It’s his decision. Maybe he’s betting that (R)’s will take a senate majority during his term (should he win).

  • ltnowis

    that Republicans will be in the minority in the Senate in the next Congress.

  • Change Jar Conservative

    Is Shaddeg that guy?

  • Change Jar Conservative

    Is Shaddeg that guy?

  • aesthete

    However, I don’t believe he’s interested in running at present. If that changes, he’d be a good choice.

  • http://moelane.com/ Moe Lane

    …and just note that getting one of those that can also get 50%+1 of the vote isn’t exactly easy. Or even feasible, sometimes.

  • citizenjerry

    Is J.D. Hayworth even in the mix? It was sad to see him victimized by one of the nastiest campaigns in Arizona history. McCain even used some of his leftover presidential campaign money to smear J.D. just a viciously as Big Jim Taylor smeared Jefferson Smith in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

  • red_oakster

    The Castro regime has survived on subsidies and trade with state-controlled Cuban entitties only would perpetuate Castroism. The leaders of the Cuban human rights movement like Armando Valladares have pressed hard for maintaining the embargo.

    Trade as a communist regime-busting tool is nonsense. The communist regimes which have failed, namely the Soviet bloc, Romania, Yugoslavia and Albania collapsed for reasons that had nothing to do with trade liberalization. Trade liberalization with China and Vietnam make sense because the US capacity to change either regime is negligible and in the long run it might-might-have some positive political effects. But the jury is still out and may not be back for a long time.

    Flake is very good on the economic side and less than ideal in a bunch of other places. He won’t be as conservative as Kyl and I hope we can do a lot better.

  • Darin_H

    why would anyone want to see him go to the Senate where his chances of affecting spending (he?ll be in the minority, remember) would be much reduced?

    You don’t think we’re taking the Senate in 2012?

  • gawken

    Erick…I’ll accept your assessment that Flake is a good guy, and he’s doing ALL the right things on the appropriations committee. But given his wrong position on immigration, it’s up to Flake to win us over, to convince us. Ad it’s a bis isue. Given that, why not wait and see who else enters the race, before throwing your wallet into the ring?

  • caboose

    is enough. McCain ran against JD and claimed he had seen the light. Once he was elected for the big 6, he reverted backed to his old ways. Reference the McCain Obama Meeting and McCain’s praise of BO. Mccain even called Gates. a great secretary of defense, despite Gates recent action of destroying the military by allowing homosexuals to serve openly. Flake over any Democrat,but we need conservatives there that won’t pollute this country with amnesty for illegal aliens

  • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

    JD couldn’t win a primary in Arizona if his life depended on it. He is a raving loon and Arizona voters have absolutely no use for him.

    As far as the campaign was concerned, it wasn’t all that nasty and JD, as usual, impaled himself. He didn’t need any help.

  • aesthete

    and what do we have to show for it? A country that is not a bit more free than it was during the Cuban Missile Crisis. There’s a lot to be said for the power of trade liberalization, as it provides positive incentives for evil totalitarian regimes to do the right thing, that is to say, it makes it so that liberalizing business restrictions makes sense from a purely pragmatic point of view (which also necessitates liberalizing some other aspects). It doesn’t have a 100% chance of working, nor does it necessarily lead to perfectly free states, but it has worked in countries like Vietnam, Laos, China, and our unfree but allied countries. At any rate, 40+ years of absolutely no positive movement (and no prospects of change) tells me that the best course of action is to try something new: that “something new” just might be a policy that doesn’t prevent Americans from seeing the problems with Communism for themselves, which allows Cubans the chance to interact with Americans, and which provides incentives for despots to do things that are both pragmatic and good for human rights.

  • throwback59

    Assuming she make close to a full recovery by next year and if Obama’s re-election hopes are in danger, do not be surprised if he dumps Biden taps her for VP. You would have both the sympathy and history making votes in one candidate.
    As Rush would say, “Do not doubt me on this.”

  • acat

    Far more of our “allies” followed our lead in blocking trade in Asia and the ME than did to Cuba. There are “american made” (i.e. made in Canada) school busses in Cuba, for crying out loud.

    Even Canada trades with Cuba. Americans wishing to travel to Cuba do so via Toronto and Montreal, eh? (my bro-in-law stops for cuban cigars whenever he’s at the Toronto duty-free)

    I agree with you that opening more trade would probably help .. but as embargos go, part of the reason this one hasn’t worked is because it’s not taken seriously enough by enough of the rest of the world.

    Mew

  • emmi

    I agree Eric,Jeff is one of us and a good guy ,,,too bad some need to lump him in with McCain cause they are so far apart! God bless the USA!!

  • emmi

    I agree Eric,Jeff is one of us and a good guy ,,,too bad some need to lump him in with McCain cause they are so far apart! God bless the USA!!

  • aesthete

    We never really had a concerted embargo effort in the Far East, and those embargoes that we did have have been swept away since then.

    At any rate, we have to operate in the world that we’ve been handed, not pretend that we’re living in a different one: in this world, the embargo wasn’t taken seriously by most of the rest of the world, and we’re the only ones maintaining it. It hasn’t done a thing to change the communist dictatorship, and there’s proof out there that shows that trade has some moderating effects on dictatorship.

  • acat

    And by “wisely implemented”, I mean pushing for as many capitalist concessions as possible, and working as directly with the people as possible.

    Some of the faux-free-trade deals in Asia, where the a large multinationals end up playing by rules designed to enrich the apparachiks just to get a toehold doesn’t sit well with me. If we’re going to use trade as a weapon – then let’s take the whole lesson from Asimov and *really* use it as a weapon.

    Mew

  • victrola

    Amnesty and border issues are a big deal to me, and I really feel they go hand in hand with being a fiscal conservative considering the billions illegal immigrants costs the state of AZ alone, much less the entire US.

    Flake’s crusade against pork-barrel spending is admirable, but I would much rather have a Republican that loves earmarks than one that loves amnesty.

    Also, his flirtations with a carbon-tax also makes me queasy. He just seems to have a lot of the same tastes as McCain.

    If it’s Flake versus a bunch of O’Donnell-type activists with no resume and only bumper-sticker slogans, than I’m going with Flake, warts and all. If someone like Trent Franks jumps in though, I’ll back Franks (who has an even more conservative voting record than Flake and is solid on the border)

  • liandro

    as others have mentioned is losing him from appropriations after he finally got his spot. Bittersweet, but I’ll be sending him some cash anyway!

  • liandro

    McCain was a big fat target, and anyone running against him automatically had tons of free media exposure. Didn’t help J.D. in the slightest.

  • http://www.theprecinctproject.wordpress.com ColdWarrior

    Enjoy!

    http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/144043–popular-arizona-sheriff-considering-a-us-senate-run

    Popular Arizona sheriff considering a U.S. Senate run
    By Daniel Strauss – 02/14/11 07:50 PM ET

    Maricopa Sheriff Joe Arpaio said Monday he is open to the possibility of running for the seat of retiring Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) in 2012.

    Arpaio, the conservative sheriff famous for his hard-line anti-immigration stances, made the remarks in light of a poll released today by Summit Consulting Group Inc., which is fundraising for Arpaio’s reelection campaign for sheriff. The company’s Chad Willems is Arpaio’s campaign manager.

    Arpaio said the deciding factor is neither the money, which he said he could raise, nor his ability to do the job. Rather, he said, it’s whether he would be willing to leave his job as sheriff.

    Arpaio has served as sheriff for five terms and is currently running for a sixth. But, he said, that doesn’t mean he won’t run for the Senate.

    “The issue is whether I want to leave this office and go to Washington and try to make a difference there, which I would do if I run and win,” Arpaio said.

    Arpaio said it was a little early to make a final decision.

    I envision Sheriff Joe supporters waving in the air at campaign rallies his signature pink jail inmate underwear.

    And getting creative regarding his “tent city” jails.

    And getting creative regarding all of the rest of Sheriff Joe’s creative ways to be the nation’s “toughest sheriff.”

    Sheriff Joe and Jeff Flake are diametrically opposed on whether there ought to be “amnesty for illegals.”

    I think I know which of these two candidates the grass roots conservative precinct committeemen in Arizona will back in the primary election if Sheriff Joe decides to run.

    You know: that all-important, traditionally-very-low-turnout primary election.

    Thank you.

    For Liberty,

    ColdWarrior

  • JadedByPolitics

    to be the Senator from Arizona. That he as a Senator would be in the same Presidents face and the Dept of Justices face that are involved in a witch hunt against him right now, would indeed be JUSTICE!

  • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

    Arpaio is 78.

    Joe won’t get 20 votes outside of Maricopa County and a run for Senator isn’t a run for Sheriff.

    Arpaio and JD are the AZ equivalent of Angle and O’Donnell except they may be worse. Either of these tools could well give us a Democratic Senator.

  • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

    These kinds of polls this far out are generally meaningless. Let’s remember that a similar poll in November of 2009 showed JD within two of McCain. It was, as I noted at the time, his high water mark.

    Both JD and Arpaio have nowhere to go but down and neither of them can help making complete fools of themselves given a media opportunity.

  • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

    Arpaio has cost Maricopa County nearly $500MM in settlement costs of lawsuits brought by individuals, not the Justice Department. He has no business being a Senator and will get buried in a primary, and rightfully so.

    He’s a master at throwing red meat. Beyond that, he’s a doddering old fool.

  • earlgrey

    Delaware (I am not familiar enough with NV — although I liked Tarkanian). I would hope R’s would have a good candidate emergre from the primary.

    I just wish that it had been McCain to retire and not Kyll.

  • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

    It will not be JD or Arpaio.