If there’s one thing we’ve learned in the past year or so, it’s that politicians — regardless of what party they are in — who oppose Donald Trump or do anything to earn his ire don’t fare so well come election day. It’s a lesson that incumbent Arizona Senator Jeff Flake (R) is learning the hard way.
With right at a year to go before the 2018 midterm election, Sen. Flake is down big against his primary opponent Dr. Kelli Ward (R). In fact, the latest polls show that Sen. Flake is down a staggering 25 points to Ward. For an incumbent senator to be this much underwater this far out from the elections is almost unprecedented.
Of course, a Republican senator aggressively attacking a GOP president isn’t exactly a conventional choice either, yet Flake has left no doubt on where he stands on President Trump. He was a prominent “Never-Trump” Republican throughout the primaries, was featured in one of Hillary Clinton’s ads during the general election, and has continued to attack and belittle Trump and those who support him even after Donald Trump took office.
Meanwhile, Trump has fired back at Sen. Flake, saying, “Great to see that Dr. Kelli Ward is running against Flake Jeff Flake, who is WEAK on borders, crime and a non-factor in Senate. He’s toxic!”
In another Tweet following a rally that the President held in Phoenix, Trump said, “Phoenix crowd last night was amazing – a packed house. I love the Great State of Arizona. Not a fan of Jeff Flake, weak on crime & border!”
According to the latest polls, it appears that Trump’s endorsement of Dr. Ward and his dislike of Sen. Flake is working. 56% of Arizonians polled said that they would be more likely to support a candidate that Donald Trump endorsed. 60% said that Trump’s criticisms of Sen. Flake have made them less likely to vote for him.
Speaking about her opponent, Dr. Ward said, “His popularity wasn’t even very high before he started on this anti-Trump tirade that he has been on.”
Dr. Ward also cited a recent incident that certainly earned Sen. Flake no conservative friends where he published a “manifesto” describing how misguided conservatives and Trump supporters are.
Speaking on this, Dr. Ward said the following:
“He came out with his book, his ‘manifesto’ to conservatives, basically putting us down and belittling us because we just don’t know what is happening in Washington, D.C., and in the world, and he needs to tell us and he needs to pat us on the head and tell us what conservatism is all about, forgetting that the election of 2016 was a mandate here in our country for people who want what Donald Trump told us he was going to give us: the secure border, stop illegal immigration, repeal Obamacare, fix the tax code, grow the economy, make sure the military is the strongest military in the world. Those are the things that people want, and those are the things that Jeff Flake as well as other people that dwell in the swamp are standing in the way of.”
Indeed, it would seem that Sen. Flake is blind to the changing political winds — a change that commenced last year when the silent majority put Donald Trump into power. The nation is tired of do-nothing Republicans who are almost indistinguishable from their colleagues on the other side of the aisle when it comes to issues that conservatives hold dear. They’re also tired of Republicans who are unwilling to work with the president that they put in office, putting their own opinions about Trump ahead of the opinions of their constituents and the needs of the nation.
Actions such as this, however, will not go unpunished by the American voters. Before he was ever elected, Trump promised that he was going to Drain the swamp. If Sen. Flake’s latest polling results are any indication, it looks like the Arizona incumbent will be the next politician to drop down into that drain.
~ Conservative Zone
