Martha McSally ran for Congress multiple times in 2012, both in a special election that year and in the regular election. She lost both races. She tried a third time in the wave election year of 2014 and won by the skin of her teeth—under 200 votes. She then ran for Senate in 2018 on a platform of no Sharia law (?) and anti-immigrant fervor. She lost. This should have meant the end, but in a smack to the face of AZ voters, the GOP governor gave her John McCain’s seat when he passed away.
Cowards.
The McCain family despises her. On the very same day, Trump said he was glad John McCain was “gone” and implied that he was burning in hell, Trump endorsed McSally via tweet. McSally, like a coward, said nothing to defend the man who supported her while he was alive. McSally wouldn’t even utter his name when touting the military spending bill because Trump was present—even though the bill was named after him.
Despite being a coward, McSally is also pretty much the stereotype of an entitled politician. She doesn’t believe in town halls or going directly to voters. I can’t blame her—they don’t like her. She doesn’t serve their interests—only Trump’s. She votes with Trump 97% of the time. She is bought and paid for by the NRA. She opposes abortion in all circumstances. She wants to take away Arizonans healthcare. She’s showed nothing to indicate that she cares for the people she is supposed to be representing. It’s a two-way street. Arizona hates her right back.
Her campaign is in complete disarray, and her fundraising has been abysmal. A sitting senator backed by the GOP apparatus in a right-leaning state should be a slam-dunk, but McSally has made it a horse race. Even Trump-loving conservatives have grown irritated with her lazy performance.
RedState:
Her opponent is Gabby Giffords’s husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly. Where McSally seems to think that interacting with voters will give her cooties, Kelly is a dynamic campaigner. Where McSally seems to think she’s owed something, Kelly is willing to work his progressive, gun-grabbing ass off to get it.
Astronaut and Senate candidate Mark Kelly with his twin brother
Mark Kelly is a former space shuttle commander who teamed up with his wife to fight for sane gun laws. His wife was shot by a paranoid schizophrenic prone to violent outbursts that nonetheless was able to get a semi-automatic due to Arizona’s loose gun laws. This husband and wife team have helped turn the tide against the domestic terror group known as the NRA.
Right now, Mark Kelly is the only declared Democratic candidate, and what a candidate he is. Here is his announcement video:
Mark Kelly doesn’t talk about Sharia law or other nonsensical threats like McSally, but does speak passionately about health care access, which has become THE top issue in Arizona.
He also, unlike his opponent, has talked unashamedly about climate change, which is particularly important to Arizona citizens. Two-thirds of Arizona’s population believes it is a serious issue, regardless of party, since they have suffered through a 20-year drought that is now affecting their water supply. Not to mention the fact that it's hard to deny global warming when you can’t go outside due to unbearable heat waves.
The Arizona GOP not only ignored these issues but has actively made them worse. They worked to cut off federal funding after Medicaid was expanded, and killed every bill that would cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Arizona was supposed to be a lost cause for Democrats, but it has undergone a major political realignment thanks to both demographics and the horrible mismanagement of governmental resources by the state GOP. Furthermore, while Arizona has gotten browner, the state Republicans have drifted far to become indistinguishable from the white nationalist fringe. This allowed Senator Kyrsten Sinema to beat Martha McSally to become the first Democratic senator since 1988. Better yet, the presidential election polls show Arizona now trending blue.
We stand a very good chance to win Arizona’s 11 electoral votes and break the stranglehold of GOP domination. Better yet, remember the awful Sheriff Joe from Maricopa County? To give you an idea of how much things have changed, Democratic Senator Sinema won 118 precincts in 2018 that voted for Trump in 2016—88 of those were from Maricopa County.
Tide=turning.
2020 is on track to have record turnout, especially from the growing Latinx community that this GOP has done everything possible to marginalize.
Despite McSally’s struggles and Kelly’s awesomeness, it’s not going to be a cakewalk. Polls show them tied within the margin of error, and Mark Kelly is refusing all corporate PAC money. Nonetheless, there are a lot of red flags that put the smart money on McSally going down.
We can help. Martha McSally is struggling, so let’s throw her an anvil.
markkelly.com
