Arizona gets 2nd chance to knock off a RINO

Voters in Arizona are suffering buyer's remorse over their decision to re-elect Sen. John McCain over his challenger, Dr. Kelli Ward. Indeed, every conservative voter in the nation has had their "what if" moment when they pause to consider McCain's last re-election victory.

What if Kelli Ward had knocked off Arizona's senior senator in 2016? For those who pay attention, it is well-known that McCain is no conservative and often speaks out of both sides of his mouth when it comes to important issues like balancing the budget, cutting out waste, defending the border and even protecting the military from political correctness.

Nevertheless, McCain, a media darling (as long as he is knocking fellow Republicans), has fashioned his political career around supporting Democrats on critical issues and then suffering a conservative conversion before he's up for re-election – just in time to fool the voters, again.

McCain has secured his seat for another five-plus years, barring his health issues, but voters in Arizona have another chance to send Ward to the United States Senate. They appear ready to do just that.

This time around, Ward is challenging Sen. Jeff Flake, another conservative faker, and this election should provide some important lessons for voters throughout the country.

Lesson 1: Never, ever, give money to the Senate Leadership Fund, the National Republican Senatorial Committee or any other political action committee linked to a member of the Senate leadership (ditto for PACs that are devoted to re-electing Republicans to the House of Representatives). These PACs are dedicated to electing anyone who holds office with an "R" by his or her name. They would support Hitler himself if he were alive and a Republican incumbent.

Furthermore, these PACs help current leaders keep their death grip around the throats of a lot of good people who become pawns of those who control this money once they get to Washington. It is best to give money directly to the candidates themselves or to PACs you can trust to support your candidates.

Lesson 2: Never trust an attack ad run by one of these groups against a primary opponent of an incumbent. They lie.

The Senate primary in Arizona is more than a year away, and the Senate Leadership Fund, a PAC linked to Senate Majority Leader (I use the term because that is his title, not because he has any leadership ability) Mitch McConnell, is already running ads against Ward. These ads are similar to the ones that ran against her when she campaigned against McCain. It portrays her as a conspiracy theorist, calling her "Chemtrail Kelli," saying that she is "dangerous" and "not conservative – just crazy ideas."

The ad says that as a state senator, she wasted taxpayer money by holding a town hall to discuss this conspiracy theory and that she would do it again. Furthermore, by cleverly editing her remarks, it makes it appear as though she is open to sponsoring legislation to study it. Politifact debunked the ad and labeled it "mostly false."

The reason it was rated as "mostly" false and not completely false is that the ad also references the fact that she called for McCain to step down after he was diagnosed with cancer, which is true. Some consider this poor taste in view of McCain's current condition. However, taste is subjective, out-right lies are not.

There is a rumor that former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio might jump into the race. That would give Flake a lifeline in that it might divide the conservative vote. It should be noted that Ward came closer to defeating McCain than anyone has in the past. She served two terms in the state Senate. She is young, articulate, bright, politically savvy and already has opened up more than a 25-point lead in the polls.

Arizona is not the first state to suffer voter's remorse. Kentucky voters recently elected Mitch McConnell's last primary opponent, Matt Bevin – who had been savagely attacked by the Republican establishment – as their governor. Bevin is now governing his state like a true conservative. What if Bevin had knocked off McConnell? Staggers the imagination!

Fortunately, Flake is not the only Republican senator facing a serious primary challenge: Danny Tarkanian is running against Nevada Sen. Dean Heller, and in a special election in Alabama, Judge Roy Moore is in a primary runoff against Sen. Luther Strange.

Lesson 3: You don't have to wait until one of your senators receives a primary challenge. Support one of these worthy challengers and send an important message to Washington. "Get moving or get out!"

Media wishing to interview Jane Chastain, please contact [email protected].