OPINION:
Sen. Jeff Flake, as everybody with even one eye on the political world knows, is leaving his seat at the end of his term, refusing to run for re-election.
Why? ’Cause he can’t win, that’s why. But Flake’s got a different view of that, a delusional one, no less — a somewhat shocking one, in terms of selling a deception.
And he shared it on “The View” with Joy Behar during an interview in which he pretty much described himself as the George Washington of Capitol Hill politics, the George Washington who could not tell a lie.
Well, first off, note to Flake and Flake fans: If you’re a Republican and invited on “The View,” and moreover, given a real chance to speak during your appearance on “The View,” you’re probably not that much of a Republican. You’re probably a RINO, the type the left just loves to promote and embrace as proof positive of its open-mindedness and tolerance for all political points.
Flake, of course, has come under the media’s fawning eyes just recently because he took to the Senate floor to bash President Donald Trump. How endearing — to the left. “The View” is just the latest to kiss up.
That being said, here’s a rundown of the Flake-Behar discussion, as noted by Mediaite.
So, Behar asked him why he wasn’t running again and Flake’s response, in part, went like this: “I felt that I could not run the kind of race I would need to run to be competitive. I could not speak out as I am now and as I have been over the past several months. There is no way you can be competitive in a Republican primary, particularly in a state like Arizona, if you don’t agree with the president’s position or condone his behavior.”
Behar than asked Flake if he’d run again if he thought he could win. And this interesting back-and-forth transpired.
Flake: “If I could run the kind of race I’m used to running, if I could tell the truth.”
Behar: “So you couldn’t win with that [truth].”
Flake: “No. You can’t. You can’t win a Republican primary right now if you’re willing to stand up and say, ’This is not right. This is not normal.’ “
Seriously, is Flake trying to set himself as some sort of sole voice in the wild, willing to tell the necessary truths about Trump? A sort of martyr to the Republican Party cause?
It ain’t resonating. It comes off as a missing-the-mark moment. It sniffs a bit of holier-than-thou, too.
Trump was elected because of Republican failures.
For years, Republicans have promised certain reforms — have promised, for example, to toss Obamacare to the curb — and voters, time after time, election after election, have watched those promises fall to the wayside. Voters have done their jobs and elected Republican majorities in the House and in the Senate — and now, most recently, in the White House.
But Republicans, even with these majorities, won’t take care of long-time, long-running campaign promises. The elite in the GOP just want to cry about 60-vote majorities and the problems of passing anything by Democrats.
Flake’s delusional “I cannot tell a lie” martyrdom messaging highlights, once again, the absolute and utter inability of the establishment Republican Party members to grasp the anger and outrage that drove Trump to the White House in the first place.
It’s not lies that conservatives want. It’s not delusion, either, like the kind being peddled by Flake. It’s just this, simply put: Don’t promise what you can’t deliver. And if you promised, well then, deliver. In other words, voters want just what Flake says they don’t — truth.
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