Rep. Jeff Flake Announces Senate Bid In Arizona | Swampland

Five-term congressman from Arizona’s 6th district Jeff Flake has announced his bid for the Senate seat that will be vacated by retiring fellow Republican Jon Kyl next year. As the former head of the Goldwater Institute, Flake has iron-clad fiscal conservative credentials and is already being cheered on by the Club For Growth. But his libertarian streak poses a problem for some social conservatives. Via Matt Lewis, here’s Concerned Women For America PAC’s Mike Mears:

So what’s my problem with Flake?

1. He’s bad on Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.
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2. The so called Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). Flake voted in favor of telling businesses who they could and couldn’t hire. How is that conservative? Now the interesting thing here is that Nancy Pelosi and her friends really wanted to add sexual expression and identity(men wearing dresses to work) to the list as well, but settled for this as a first step.

3. Pledge Protection Act. Flake voted against protecting the United States flag from desecration. Before those of you who only get out of your mom’s basement to either vote for Ron Paul or attend C-PAC, jump all over me about this, the only reason I bring this up is that it passed, and even RON PAUL voted to protect the flag.

4. Internet Gambling. Flake is on the opposite side of social conservatives and major league baseball, football, basketball, etc…

This being Arizona, Flake’s biggest problem will more likely be immigration. He teamed up with John McCain on the issue during the Bush years, and continues to support “comprehensive” reform, which typically means combining increased border security with a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, or what reform opponents call “amnesty.” It’s not quiet support either; just last month Flake was calling out his party for what he sees as their shortcomings in the debate:

[Flake] says that while we need to enhance border security, that’s not enough. “You have to have a viable mechanism to deal with the people who are here. My party hasn’t come to grips with that.” He explains that his own state of Arizona passed a controversial law (now the subject of a federal court challenge) that allows for us to “more easily round people up. But that’s not the problem. The problem is what to do about them after we get them.” On a political level, he says the “tone and tenor of the debate” needs to improve on the Republican side.

Immigration has the potential to be a flashpoint in Arizona politics. Governor Jan Brewer was bogged down in budget battles, facing friendly fire over a sales tax hike and suffering from a weak approval rating before championing SB 1070, Arizona’s controversial immigration enforcement legislation. Just six months after signing it into law, Brewer was reelected in a landslide. Flake is nonetheless a pretty good recruit. The Democrats don’t appear to have a blockbuster contender lined up, and one potentially strong Republican competitor, former Rep. John Shadegg, has already passed on a bid.

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allthingsinaname

His name doesn’t help
http://morrisdev.wordpress.com Morris Development

gonna get ugly between the social conservatives and the libertarian right. The old Reagan Republicans, who lived on a credit card and gave amnesty to illegals are now few and far between.

I really think Flake is going to have to change many of his positions if he is going to get a Senate seat. McCain sure did.

My guess is that hell start preaching to the choir about immigration as often as possible. That way, the only people that will hate him will be liberals, who won’t vote for him anyway, and illegals who can’t vote at all.

kind of a win-win for the guy
hernandezusa

He just another “RINO” is Conservative clothing.

Amnesty is NOT the answer.

National Employment Verification is the Answer.

National Work site enforcement is the answer.

Fixing the 14th Amendment is the answer.
nflfoghorn

You have all the answers, don’t you Hernandez?
afguy

A “Flake” running for Congress in Arizona.
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Yeah, totally unuseable in a political ad by an opponent.
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And, given some of their present representation, definitely redundant.
troubador222

Unfortunately for Republicans, RINO is fast being perceived as meaning the non racist, reactionary Republicans.
jsfox

By your definition Ronald Reagan would be a RINO.
http://svivar9087.newsvine.com/ svivar9087

Interesting to see in which direction Arizona moves.
Will it shed it evil ways and enter the 21st century or continue to regress to the days of the old west.
rdw56

Not at all but Reagan is at the heart of the current problem. Reagan made the deal to legalize those currently here while Congress promised to secure the borders to stop the flow of illegals. They did nothing. McCain lost any shot he had at the Presidency for that vote and now gets GOP sentiment. We don’t trust you. We’ll talk amnesty AFTER the borders are secured.
apr2563

Well, they are all packing heat down there. It is time for Wyatt Earp to return. He didn’t allow guns into Tombstone.
sasquatch08

Why not start by upping the number of work visas we hand out? I mean, we need something like 5 times the number of immigrant workers per year that we allow now.
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Just seems reasonable to me that if we need immigrants to come and work in the country, we should hand out work visas until we’ve met the number we need to fill positions before we worry about what to do with the rest.
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The Republican notion of “sealing the border” is at best misguided, Mexico isn’t in a mason jar and you can’t just screw on an airtight cap.
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We might be able to most of the illegals out, but you’ll never keep the drugs out. There’s simply too much demand for them in this country and too much money to be made in supplying them. Putting a serious dent in how many drugs are imported would only create more problems. People are already willing to kill each other over the money that can be made now, addressing only the supply side of this equation will invariably raise the price of drugs and increase the violence associated with this underground market.
sasquatch08

What does gun control have to do with immigration, legal or illegal?
apr2563

sasquatcho8: It’s a “joke” in response to the old west.