Barry Goldwater’s state is now represented by two Democratic Senators, and cast its electoral college votes (legitimately) for Joe Biden. The Republican party is run by Kelli Ward, someone who Lin Wood looks at and says, “Whoa, slow down there.” And as though eager to take its place alongside Colorado and Virginia in the “formerly red but now pretty deep blue” category, the state GOP is seeking to censure Republicans in the state who haven’t lost their minds.
The Arizona Republican Party will vote next week on a measure that would censure GOP Gov. Doug Ducey, former Sen. Jeff Flake and Cindy McCain, the wife of the late Sen. John McCain, the latest sign of infighting in the state party.
The resolutions, which if passed would express disapproval but have no formal consequences, come as the state GOP is distancing itself from many of the Republican Party’s longtime establishment figures. The three censure resolutions easily passed the party’s resolution committee and will be brought before the entire state committee on Jan. 23.
The proposed censures for each person refer to what some party members say is executive overreach by Mr. Ducey in his response to the pandemic, Mrs. McCain’s support for same-sex marriage, and Mrs. McCain’s and Mr. Flake’s endorsements of President-elect Joe Biden in the 2020 election, among other things.
I have no particular love for Jeff Flake – who, I would suggest, helped fuel the incidences of last week by his own kowtowing in the face of the anti-Kavanaugh mob. I have no opinion of Cindy McCain, but Governor Ducey is one of the best governors in the country, and is one of the good guys trying to steer a middle course during the COVID pandemic by taking the threat seriously but also not shutting down his state’s economy.
If a censure is needed it is for Ward and whoever runs the state’s Twitter account (probably Ward) for such gems as asking people if they are willing to sacrifice their lives to #StoptheSteal. Ward and her minions have run the party into the ground, and yet they have the temerity to consider censuring an elected statewide official who is actually competent and popular (or at least was popular).
The GOP could do less with the likes of Jeff Flake, but banishing the likes of Ward from its midst will be essential for its survival. For now, it looks like we can start safely putting Arizona in the blue column, and all because the state GOP couldn’t maintain a semblance of sanity.
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