To be sure, it is a bit like playing with fire. In every mid-term election, the Democrats want to run against the most extreme, Trump-loving of the MAGAs out there, and – so far, it’s worked out well in Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. When it was Arizona’s turn, they came through just as one would expect from a state with a Republican party that is offering up an election denier as vote-counting secretary of state. The only problem is if those extremists start winning. But we’ll get to that below.
Back to looking at the bright side of the road. Young and extreme (really extreme) Blake Masters won the primary for the United States Senate from Arizona. Once again, Mitch McConnell is counting the number of U.S. Senate seats Trump has cost him in the past and could cost him this next election. Blake Masters would win in Idaho. But Arizona voted for Joe Biden and Mark Kelly in 2020. So, in 2022, Blake Masters must go up against that same Mark Kelly. Wonderfully, the GOP Republicans picked the fire-breathing guy who scares women, and they picked “that guy” to go against the world’s best husband, legendary astronaut, and all-around good guy, Mark Kelly.
If that was not bad enough, Masters has to beat Mark Kelly in the same year in which the voters of Kansas (Kansas!) just screamed their displeasure with the extremists’ resulting work with respect to women and abortion.
This is just one example of the plethora of gifts that Arizonan GOP primary voters gave the Democrats, according to the highly respected strategist John Heilemann on Morning Joe:
“You said it was a good night for Donald Trump in Arizona, also a good night for Arizona Democrats in Arizona.
“You know, as we know, when we think about the electoral map, the two most important new swing states are Georgia and Arizona, states that are changing dramatically in terms of demographic composition, in terms of ethics and composition, but suburban places why Joe Biden was able to win those states.”
“What we’ve seen is the Arizona Republican Party has been taken over by the nutjobs. That is great for Donald Trump but it’s not great for Republicans, who are going to have to compete statewide, particularly in a state like Arizona, which is a purple-trending blue state, not a red state. So I would say, look, we can’t predict the future, but are Democrats in Arizona that like the outcomes? Some of those hope for the outcomes in a lot of cases because these are easier to beat.
Mainstream Republicans, do not despair. Donald Trump will take a victory lap in a lot of the races. Then, if we’re right about the way this could very well play out, this could turn out to be a pyrrhic victory for Donald Trump because a lot of these candidates are weak candidates and Democrats have a strong hand to play in the fall.”
A strong hand? It takes a strong and steady hand to re-enter the atmosphere from orbit and a strong, steady hand to rehabilitate a wife, Rep. Gabbie Giffords, who was shot in the head. But it is Mark Kelly’s equally steady mind that is likely most happy with the Master’s win. Arizona’s purple voters may hold the key to the majority of the 2022 Senate. NASA handed Mark Kelly the keys to the space shuttle. Many suburban, educated women wouldn’t hand Masters the key to their van.
Of course, the key to all of this is beating those extremists, or this becomes a Democratic nightmare. But if Georgia 2020 and Kansas 2022 are any indications, the Democrats are setting up far better than they might’ve hoped a year ago. Meanwhile, someone might send a blood pressure cuff over to McConnell’s office right about now.
@JasonMiciak believes a day without learning is a day not lived. He is a political writer, features writer, author, and attorney. He is a Canadian-born dual citizen who spent his teen and college years in the Pacific Northwest and has since lived in seven states. He now enjoys life as a single dad of a young girl, writing from the beaches of the Gulf Coast. He loves crafting his flower pots, cooking, and currently studies philosophy of science, religion, and non-math principles behind quantum mechanics and cosmology. Please feel free to contact for speaking engagements or any concerns.
