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Sen. Jeff Flake to retire at end of term, not running for re-election

K1052

Elite Member
http://www.azcentral.com/story/news...-reelection-gop-primary-ward-trump/793952001/

Condemning the nastiness of Republican politics in the era of President Trump, Sen. Jeff Flake on Tuesday announced he will serve out the remainder of his term but will not seek re-election in 2018.

The bombshell, which Flake, R-Ariz., intended to detail Tuesday afternoon on the Senate floor, will further roil Republican hopes of keeping the party's 52-seat Senate majority in the midterm elections of Trump's first term, when the president's party historically loses seats in Congress.

It also likely will upend the race for Flake's seat.

Flake, one of the Senate's more prominent critics of President Donald Trump, has been struggling in the polls.

He told The Arizona Republic ahead of his announcement that he has become convinced "there may not be a place for a Republican like me in the current Republican climate or the current Republican Party."

Here's the bottom line

Flake said he has not "soured on the Senate" and loves the institution, but that as a traditional, libertarian-leaning conservative Republican he is out of step with today's Trump-dominated GOP.

Guess the race in AZ will be up to one of several GOP nut jobs and a Dem now. It is unclear if more extreme Trump like Rs will carry elections in more mixed states.
 
Oh yeah Trump gonna go off over this one. My vote. That Flake stumbled a lot in his speaking. I'd put money on it.

How sad that "guess the petty insult subject from the President of the United States" is a thing now.
 
Who's up next? Seems like the only guys growing a spine are those that aren't going to be up for re-election. Anyway, thumbs up to Flake and Corker for calling out the liar, bigot and national disgrace that Trump is.
 
Who's up next? Seems like the only guys growing a spine are those that aren't going to be up for re-election. Anyway, thumbs up to Flake and Corker for calling out the liar, bigot and national disgrace that Trump is.

Hatch is rumored to be considering retirement in the face of poor polling at home and his age. Senators seem not to be in a mood to go quietly these days.

A number of Rs in the House have made more discreet exits or aren't running again in 2018.
 
This irks me--while it seems like they are taking a stand against Trump, they aren't fighting for the soul of their party at the ballot box. It seems like Flake, Corker and host of House reps would rather disappear next year and allow Bannon and Mercer's hand-picked goons to take over. Is that cowardice, or just shrewd political calculus that says they have no shot and shouldn't waste their money? Either way, I guess I understand now why the alt-right calls them "cucks".
 
Pretty scalding, at least he put his money where his mouth was and refused to participate. I don't like the prospect of a one-party nation come 2020/2024 but I really don't see how the Republican party is going to walk out of this one. Shamble maybe, but not walk.
 
Pretty scalding, at least he put his money where his mouth was and refused to participate. I don't like the prospect of a one-party nation come 2020/2024 but I really don't see how the Republican party is going to walk out of this one. Shamble maybe, but not walk.
I'm inclined to disagree. Putting his money where his mouth was would be sticking it out. Winning reelection on a contrary position and demonstrating he was right.

At least that's my thought on it.
 
I'm inclined to disagree. Putting his money where his mouth was would be sticking it out. Winning reelection on a contrary position and demonstrating he was right.

At least that's my thought on it.
Makes sense, but doesn't 'silent participation' condone Trump's actions, even if the intent exists to usurp later? Isn't a few vocal rejections better for bringing greater attention to this? I'm working under the pretense that he was trying to announce his dissatisfaction with the current course, and stating that he won't have any part of it.

I can see the argument for either side, problem is I don't know which of the republicans disagree with him but are sticking it out. I now know at least one that disagrees with him publicly.
 
Makes sense, but doesn't 'silent participation' condone Trump's actions, even if the intent exists to usurp later? Isn't a few vocal rejections better for bringing greater attention to this? I'm working under the pretense that he was trying to announce his dissatisfaction with the current course, and stating that he won't have any part of it.

I can see the argument for either side, problem is I don't know which of the republicans disagree with him but are sticking it out. I now know at least one that disagrees with him publicly.
The way I see it is Trump, and by extension all his little fan bois, will trumpet this as victory. That he was too afraid to stand up against him. That he knew he couldn't win. This will empower them however right or wrong that is.
 
The way I see it is Trump, and by extension all his little fan bois, will trumpet this as victory. That he was too afraid to stand up against him. That he knew he couldn't win. This will empower them however right or wrong that is.
Probably true, with any luck this sort of thing will continue until that group is so small and isolated they can't do much damage.
 
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