Tag: AZ-Sen

You’d think that two cycles of bad defeats would have Republican insiders thinking about how they might start heading toward relevance by trying to scramble back toward the political center they’ve written off (shown here, in the House context, in amazing visual fashion by Nate Silver). Instead, the maniacal orgy of own-eating continues.

Hot on the heels of news of a potential primary challenge to Georgia Senator Johnny Isakson by Rep. Paul Broun (for the crime of voting for the progressive agenda 4% of the time) comes news of behind-the-scene efforts to take out John McCain in 2010. National Review reports that some Arizona insiders, who’ve never tolerated McCain’s occasional mavericky play-acting, see an opening in the wake of McCain’s lackluster presidential run.

But now that he has lost the presidency, there are some Republicans in Arizona who would like to see him lose his Senate office, too. “I’ll do anything I can to support his Republican opponent, whoever that might be,” Rob Haney – who until last week was chairman of the Republican party in Arizona’s District 11 – told me recently. Haney has been a loud and vocal critic of McCain for years, arguing that McCain is “not a conservative in any way, shape, or form.”

Now, there are several caveats. Haney’s preferred candidate is loudmouthed ex-Rep. J.D. Hayworth, bounced out of office in 2006 and currently working as a talk radio host. Hayworth claims to be “flattered,” but in his quotes in the article seems to be offering many excuses for why he might not run. Moreover, it’s not clear how much pull Haney has; he just lost his GOP chairmanship to a more moderate candidate. Nevertheless, it’s one more example of the GOP going back to what it does best: when finding yourself at the bottom of a deep hole, keep digging.

CNN is reporting the following:

Barack Obama’s top choice for secretary of homeland security is Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, multiple sources say

If Napolitano does indeed accept this job, that both removes her from contention for a 2010 Senate race, and also would move up Republican Jan Brewer, Arizona’s Secretary of State, into the Governor’s mansion. Brewer is already mentioned as a likely candidate for Governor in 2010, so this would obviously give her a big leg up for the entire field.

(Hat-tip: sulthernao)

UPDATE (David): Politico is saying it’s a done deal. This is lame.

In the diaries, Tyler Oakley brought the word that John McCain was restarting his leadership PAC, apparently a sign that he’ll run for another term in 2010. According to Roll Call, McCain is telling his allies that he will indeed run again:

After much speculation that his failed presidential bid would be his last campaign, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has decided to run for re-election to his Senate seat in 2010.

McCain, 72, announced the decision during a meeting Tuesday evening with top ally Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), advisers Rick Davis, Charlie Black, Carla Eudy and other aides. The meeting, according to a knowledgeable source, took place off the Hill in a private office. […]

Though not at Tuesday’s meeting, one source close to McCain said that running for re-election “is his intention.”

“He’s ready to get back,” this source said. “He likes the game. He likes the deals.”

He still has time to change his mind, of course.

AP confirms McCain is starting up his PAC again in hopes of winning another term.

WASHINGTON – Sen. John McCain, whose presidential bid was snuffed out two weeks ago by President-elect Barack Obama, is setting up a political action committee as a first step in running for a fifth term in the Senate.

A McCain spokesperson says the 72-year-old senator decided with his senior advisers Tuesday night to set up the fundraising PAC. The spokesperson spoke anonymously because the decision had not yet been made public.

http://apnews.myway.com/articl…

I was among the minority who didn’t believe he would retire in 2010. McCain is not going to go out with his debacle of a Presidential campaign as being the first thing in people’s minds when they think of him. He cares too much about his faux “maverick” repuatation and needs to rebuild that (as well as his repuation among the press) before he sails off into the sunset.  

First Read has the unconfirmed news that Barack Obama has selected Eric Holder, the former deputy Attorney General under Janet Reno, to take the big job:

President-elect Obama has offered Eric Holder the position of attorney general, and Holder has accepted it, according to sources involved in the process. The formal announcement has been held up while Obama transition team members ran the idea past key senators. And Obama wanted to announce members of his financial team first — Treasury Secretary and so on.

Holder is a former superior court judge and U.S. attorney in Washington and a former prosecutor in the Public Integrity section of the Justice Department. He was Deputy Attorney General under Janet Reno, during which he was well regarded. At one point, he strongly considered running for mayor of Washington, D.C., but decided being the No. 2 official at Justice was too good to pass up.

An oft-mentioned possibility for AG up until now was Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, whom many Dems consider a dream candidate to run for John McCain’s (possibly open) Senate seat in 2010. It’s still possible that she could be placed elsewhere in Obama’s cabinet, but for now, she still appears to be available.

Continuing our totally excellent series of threads on recruitment possibilities for senatorial and gubernatorial contests in 2010, we now turn our attention to Arizona, where things could get very interesting.

Popular incumbent Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano is term-limited, and she seems to be everyone’s first choice to run for the Senate seat of John McCain, which will also be up in 2010. It remains to be seen whether McCain will run for another term (I bet not, but you never know), but Napolitano’s name has already been floated as a potential Attorney General pick in the Obama Administration, which would take the most obvious choice off the table.

Supposing that Napolitano can’t or won’t make a Senate run in 2010, who might the Democrats run in her place? Who would step up for the Republicans if McCain calls it quits? And, for that matter, who should run for the Governor’s office in the Copper State?

Just how far has John McCain’s stock fallen? According to a recent Rocky Mountain poll, he could face double digit defeat… in 2010. Yeah, even in Arizona, his home state, his popularity is less than 50%. The Rocky Mountain poll has popular Governor Janet Napolitano beating him 47% to 36% head-to-head. Napolitano is popular (59%), and could help downticket Democrats with a strong showing. McCain, on the other hand, is tied to an unpopular war, an unpopular immigration bill, and a really lousy attendance record.

Is it any wonder that McCain only leads by 9% in his home state’s GOP presidential primary? I’m glad he’s still in the race, because every dollar he spends is GOP donor money gone splendidly to waste.

(h/t Pollster.com – about 6 days old but I was on vacation and no one else diaried about it)

UPDATE: I guess that’s why McCain’s considering applying for public financing. The 100 million dollars he had planned to raise didn’t come through, so now he’ll probably take 6 million in federal funds just so he retire his debt. Anyone else think he’ll save some of the money he raises from here on out to protect his Senate seat in 2010?

[Napolitano] was ranked as doing an excellent or good job by 59 percent of those asked, and only nine percent gave her a poor or very poor rating.

The poll found that 76 percent of Democrats think she’s doing an excellent or good job, while 51 percent of independents and 41 percent of Republicans give her that ranking.

In a hypothetical head-to-head race for McCain’s Senate seat, 47 percent of those polled would vote for Napolitano, 36 percent for the sitting Republican senator, and 17 percent were undecided.

The poll, conducted by the Behavior Research Center of Arizona, was conducted between July 27 and Aug. 4 and has a margin of error of 3.9 percent.

Credit: AP, Aug. 21, 2007