by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
Democrats in the Scorpion State of Arizona once appeared to be an endangered species, but now, thanks in large part to the unrelenting efforts of Donald John Trump, the party of FDR and Barack Obama seems to be making a comeback - especially with regard to representation in the United States Senate. Both of Arizona's U.S. Senate seats had been held by Republicans for over twenty years when Donald Trump stumbled into the White House in January of 2017. It was a situation that seemed unlikely to change any time soon - that is until Trump inserted his strong personality into Arizona Republican Party politics.
Trump became emotionally unmoored just prior to the election when Arizona's junior senator, Jeff Flake, made comments regarding his dislike of Trump's "tone." Then, after the election but before the inauguration, Flake again spoke up regarding Trump's attacks on the media. Donald Trump, never one to suffer criticism well, put Flake in his gun sights and proceeded to trash the senator whenever he could. Eventually, sensing that he would be unable to win without Trump's support, Flake chose not to seek re-election to the Senate.
In 2018 Kyrsten Sinema, a youthful and energetic Democrat, was elected to take Flake's place in Washington, DC. Thank you Donald John Trump!
Trump also earned some ill will in the state with his pardon of Maricopa County's racist former sheriff, Joe Arpaio. While Arpaio had, at one time anyway, been a formidable political presence in Maricopa County (Phoenix) and the surrounding Valley of Hell, he was not a statewide politician and not as enthusiastically loved as some outside the state might imagine. Some would argue (this former Arizonan included) that Trump's pardon of Arpaio did not represent a net political gain for Republicans in Arizona.
And then there was the problem with the state's senior U.S. senator, John McCain. McCain who earned his political stripes through years and years of service to the public, did not bow down before Trump, and, in fact, dared to challenge him on certain issues. Trump credits McCain for single-handedly killing his efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, a political slight that Trump was never able to forgive.
McCain died of brain cancer last August, but that has not stopped the petty Trump from sporadically thrusting the dead senator back into the national spotlight and giving his memory a few more good kicks. That of course has been happening over the past couple of weeks, and when Trump gets going on something he is like a dog with a bone (or a pig with a corpse) - and there is no stopping him until exhaustion sets in.
John McCain was respected and loved in Arizona, and staging a running attack on his memory is a fool's errand. Martha McSally, a former congresswoman who lost to Kyrsten Sinema in the race to replace Jeff Flake in the Senate, has been appointed to fill McCain's senate seat, but she will have to stand for election to that seat in a special election in 2020 - and it is an election that she could lose, especially if Donald Trump is still waging his personal vendetta against the deceased John McCain.
At this point there will be no winners in the Trump-McCain feud, but Martha McSally could definitely come out of the fray as a loser.
And for that she would have Donald John Trump to thank.
And so would Blue Arizona.
Citizen Journalist
Democrats in the Scorpion State of Arizona once appeared to be an endangered species, but now, thanks in large part to the unrelenting efforts of Donald John Trump, the party of FDR and Barack Obama seems to be making a comeback - especially with regard to representation in the United States Senate. Both of Arizona's U.S. Senate seats had been held by Republicans for over twenty years when Donald Trump stumbled into the White House in January of 2017. It was a situation that seemed unlikely to change any time soon - that is until Trump inserted his strong personality into Arizona Republican Party politics.
Trump became emotionally unmoored just prior to the election when Arizona's junior senator, Jeff Flake, made comments regarding his dislike of Trump's "tone." Then, after the election but before the inauguration, Flake again spoke up regarding Trump's attacks on the media. Donald Trump, never one to suffer criticism well, put Flake in his gun sights and proceeded to trash the senator whenever he could. Eventually, sensing that he would be unable to win without Trump's support, Flake chose not to seek re-election to the Senate.
In 2018 Kyrsten Sinema, a youthful and energetic Democrat, was elected to take Flake's place in Washington, DC. Thank you Donald John Trump!
Trump also earned some ill will in the state with his pardon of Maricopa County's racist former sheriff, Joe Arpaio. While Arpaio had, at one time anyway, been a formidable political presence in Maricopa County (Phoenix) and the surrounding Valley of Hell, he was not a statewide politician and not as enthusiastically loved as some outside the state might imagine. Some would argue (this former Arizonan included) that Trump's pardon of Arpaio did not represent a net political gain for Republicans in Arizona.
And then there was the problem with the state's senior U.S. senator, John McCain. McCain who earned his political stripes through years and years of service to the public, did not bow down before Trump, and, in fact, dared to challenge him on certain issues. Trump credits McCain for single-handedly killing his efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, a political slight that Trump was never able to forgive.
McCain died of brain cancer last August, but that has not stopped the petty Trump from sporadically thrusting the dead senator back into the national spotlight and giving his memory a few more good kicks. That of course has been happening over the past couple of weeks, and when Trump gets going on something he is like a dog with a bone (or a pig with a corpse) - and there is no stopping him until exhaustion sets in.
John McCain was respected and loved in Arizona, and staging a running attack on his memory is a fool's errand. Martha McSally, a former congresswoman who lost to Kyrsten Sinema in the race to replace Jeff Flake in the Senate, has been appointed to fill McCain's senate seat, but she will have to stand for election to that seat in a special election in 2020 - and it is an election that she could lose, especially if Donald Trump is still waging his personal vendetta against the deceased John McCain.
At this point there will be no winners in the Trump-McCain feud, but Martha McSally could definitely come out of the fray as a loser.
And for that she would have Donald John Trump to thank.
And so would Blue Arizona.
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