Posted on 07/16/2012 10:22:14 AM PDT by SharpRightTurn
Sen. John McCain has informed Rep. David Schweikert that he will endorse Rep. Ben Quayle in their Member-versus-Member Republican primary in Arizona, according to a Schweikert source.
Schweikert did not seek McCain’s endorsement. Those in the Schweikert camp are under the impression that Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl (R) helped facilitate the endorsement. The Hotline first reported the news.
“He had the screws put to him hard by Kyl to do it,” the source said.
Rumblings about a McCain endorsement have been making the rounds in Arizona Republican circles for the past month or so.
Quayle already has Kyl’s endorsement and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice endorsed him earlier this week.
A Quayle spokeswoman declined to comment.
The primary is on August 28. Roll Call rates the 6th district race as Safe Republican.
Consider the endorsements: McCain for Quayle, Club for Growth for Schweikert. Red State's Erick Erickson in a posting on July 10th stated:
"Yesterday I asked if not now, when do we get to hold Republicans accountable. It is mind numbingly infuriating to get some of the bellyaching from people that, in effect, we never can. I disagree. I know most of you do too. Right now, here are six congress critters we can annihilate in Republican primaries. The alternative candidates to them are far more conservative.
"If you really do care about taking the country back and improving the GOP, you have no excuse. You must oppose these incumbents currently fighting it out in Republican Primaries.
. . . .
"Congressman Ben Quayle. His opponent is Congressman Dave Schweikert. http://www.davidschweikert.com/ They are pitted together due to redistricting."
A May 16th posting on parcbench.com had this analysis:
"The fiscal watchdog organization Club for Growth is calling the Congressional primary race in Arizona’s newly redistricted CD6 the most watched Republican congressional primary race in the country. Due to Arizonagaining a new House seat and redistricting, incumbent House Republicans David Schweikert and Ben Quayle saw their districts overlap. The redistricting committee, which is controlled by the left, did this to Republicans purposely. Quayle’s house ended up barely inside ofArizona’s new CD9. Since the new CD9 containsTempe, which is not as conservative as CD6 in theNortheastValley, Quayle announced shortly after the redistricting that he would be running in CD6, not CD9 where he lives. He is not required to move into CD6 in order to run there.
"Both Quayle and Schweikert entered office in 2011. They have taken very different paths since then. Quayle has gone along with leadership to become the establishment favorite, avoiding controversial votes rather than crossing Speaker Boehner. Quayle missed 65 votes last year. By missing votes, Quayle is able to claim he has one of the best conservative records in Congress. To avoid the perception that he votes as he is told, Quayle voted against approving the notes from the House Journal, a benign and meaningless vote that was exposed as a parliamentary procedural trick.
"In contrast, Schweikert, a Tea Party favorite, has stood up to House leadership on major legislation, only missing around five votes last year. He voted against CISPA, the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act. CISPA grossly infringes upon privacy rights, permitting internet companies like Facebook and Google to turn over emails from their users to law enforcement without obtaining probable cause or a search warrant first. Most Republican members of Congress voted for it, since they receive large contributions from those companies for their campaigns. Schweikert also voted against SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act, which would transfer vast amounts of power to the Department of Justice to shut down websites over vague intellectual property accusations. Schweikert voluntarily stepped down from his position as Deputy Whip last year on principle, unwilling to lobby other members to vote for bills he did not agree with."
Any Arizonans have any insight into how this race is shaping up?
I’m an Arizonan.
John MccAmNasty is making the Az primaries very easy for conservatives !
Since he endorsed Jeff Flake, I’m supporting Wil Cardon.
Since he endorsed Ben Quayle, I’m supporting David Schweikert.
“John MccAmNasty is making the Az primaries very easy for conservatives! Since he endorsed Jeff Flake, I’m supporting Wil Cardon. Since he endorsed Ben Quayle, I’m supporting David Schweikert.”
That is sort of my take, also. If McCain is supporting them, it raises real questions about where they stand.
I have been impressed with Schweikert’s willingness to vote against Boehner’s/Cantor’s/McCarthy’s establishment leadership positions.
If McCain is endorsing someone in a primary, I’ll support the other candidate for that reason alone. McCain poisons everyone he come in contact with.
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