Razing Arizona

 

Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock . . .

As we continue to wait on tenterhooks, with bated breath and dwindling confidence, for the ballots to be counted in the election for governor of Arizona, nearly a week later, we can’t help but wonder . . .  What in the blue blazes is going on in this state (and I do mean “blue”)?  How can this be happening again?

But we also wonder about the midterms overall.  What went wrong?  What happened to the red wave?  Why did it dissolve into a red trickle, or maybe even a red mirage?  I mean, weren’t the conditions in the country, which were directly caused by Biden and his lunatic party, bad enough to have caused more citizens to question their leadership and policies such that they would give the other party a chance?  You know, like almost every other midterm election in American history?  (The 2002 midterm was a notable exception having to do with 9/11.)  Apparently not so much, as it turned out, and assuming the tallies were honest, which may be a foolish assumption to make, at least across the board.  (Again, what the heck is going on in Arizona?)

A lot of theories have been bandied about — voter concern over abortion rights; unexpected turnout of brainwashed Gen Z voters; unmarried women who have become more dependent than ever on government — and I have no others to add.  But I will say that a couple of concepts seemed to have been verified as a result of the midterms (again, assuming the vote count was honest and accurate):

1.)  The blue states are gone, lost, unrecoverable, irremediably broken, and given over to Democrat depravity.  No amount of mismanagement or destruction can persuade a majority of blue-state citizens to consider a different path.  They are apparently satisfied and content with moral rot, rampant crime, open borders, out-of-control inflation, the sexualization and transgendering of children, and just a general downward spiral.  So they reelected governors like Gavin Newsom, Kathy Hochul, and Gretchen Whitmer, for instance.  These three are all depraved COVID tyrants, crime enablers, rainbow warriors, abortion lovers, and civilization destroyers, but the majority of voters in their states enthusiastically said, “Four more years!” Apparently, until the day comes when those voters are literally rummaging through garbage looking for food amongst the smoldering ruins of their cities, it’s all good.  They love abortion and Republicans are racist, so they’ll just keep pulling the lever for “D.”

2.)  Red states, by contrast, are savable, as evidenced by Florida, but that comes with a gigantic caveat.  They can be saved if, and only if, they receive the strongest, bravest, and wisest leadership that is humanly possible and which, therefore, is also vanishingly rare.  But nothing less than that has any chance of stopping the onslaught of leftist depravity that has engulfed much, if not most, of the country.

But wait a minute, you might be thinking.  Aren’t all red states effective havens from the ravages of leftist depravity?  Not on your life!  Other than Florida, no red states are deeply red in the same way that blue states are deeply blue.  Most red states are afflicted with and accepting of various degrees of leftism: COVID tyranny, the rainbow agenda, belief in apocalyptic climate change, belief in systemic racism, de-incarceration of criminals, etc.  All of these things occur routinely in red states because so many of their leaders accept so many of the premises of leftism and then govern accordingly.  In this day and time, when the spirit of the age is so destructive and pervasive, nothing less than a righteously defiant DeSantis-type can withstand the onslaught.

By the way, I wonder how many people understand how close the state of Florida came to disaster when DeSantis was elected by a pretty thin margin in 2018.  Here’s a fun fact: Florida almost elected to the governorship Andrew Gillum, a guy who, a couple of years later, was found puking and incoherent in a hotel room with an overdosing gay escort and bags of crystal meth laying around.  The former mayor of Tallahassee, Gillum would have been Florida’s first black governor (!), but alas, no such precedent was to be set.  Which was to the remarkable and great fortune of the state of Florida.  It really is startling how close Florida came to electing this reprobate who would have done untold damage, but instead it elected someone who has become the best governor in the country by leaps and bounds.  Florida went from purple to deep red, all because of the leadership of DeSantis and he was richly rewarded with a landslide reelection victory.

The best hope for America going forward is more red states electing fearless leaders like DeSantis.  That’s the only way decent, rational, God-fearing people are going to be able to live in some semblance of a free America that once was.  And forget about the blue states.  They can’t be fixed, so just kiss ’em goodbye.

Meanwhile, back in Arizona, as of this writing its fate is still being tabulated nearly a week after the election.  Well, stuff happens, right?  Malfunctioning tabulating machines, faulty printers, and so on.  Guess nobody had a chance to check them before the election, the date for which has been known since . . . well, since Arizona became a state in 1912, cuz, see, they occur every two years on the first Tuesday of November, so it’s pretty foreseeable.  But nothing funny’s going on, right?  Just some technical snafus.

If Kari Lake wins the governorship in Arizona, there is the potential for that purple state to be saved and become like the free state of Florida.  That’s because Lake is fearless, extremely articulate, even-tempered, imbued with common sense, and eager to call out the Pravda-like Democrat media at every turn.  If it goes the other way, though, that could put it on an irreversible course to becoming another . . . Pennsylvania, for instance, where the people chose for senator an incoherent stroke victim who looks like a character from the Addams Family over a Republican who’s hardly more conservative than Mitt Romney and would have amounted to little more than a speed bump on that state’s desired road to perdition.

Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock . . .

Still waiting for the results, but the more time that elapses, the harder it becomes to believe that Arizona will escape a blue fate.

Published in General
This post was promoted to the Main Feed by a Ricochet Editor at the recommendation of Ricochet members. Like this post? Want to comment? Join Ricochet’s community of conservatives and be part of the conversation. Join Ricochet for Free.

There are 38 comments.

Become a member to join the conversation. Or sign in if you're already a member.
  1. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    db25db (View Comment):

    Al French (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Bryan G. Stephens (View Comment):

    Here in GA the Libertarians cost us the outright win.

    Losertatians is a beeptter name.

    That might be what happened with the governor’s race in Oregon too. The “Independent” candidate took more than 2x the number of votes the Republican would have needed to win decisively. But, would all of those votes have gone to the Republican? Who knows?

    In Oregon the independent is a moderate Democrat. If she hadn’t run the Dems would have won easily.

    As a person who lived 29 years in oregon, I maintain the problem with oregon is it has entirely too many democrats. Republicans routinely blame 3 counties, but 60% of the state lives in them, and as must be reminded, people vote, not land. the problem is only growing. George Bush lost the state in 2000 by 7k votes. Donald Teump lost it by 400k (16%). Chris Dudley came within a couple points of the governorship in 2010. but Rs are routinely in the 42-45% range in statewide elections. there just aren’t enough of us. I don’t know if you’ve ever spent much time in the northwest, but it differs from many other parts of the country in that you never see big swings here. The left is very left and the right is very right, and there just aren’t a lot of persuadable people. I spent years trying. maybe I’m just bad at it

    Well I left Oregon 30 years ago, when Republicans Hatfield and Packwood were still the senators.

    • #31
  2. Quickz Member
    Quickz
    @Quickz

    DaveSchmidt (View Comment):

    Quickz (View Comment):

    Seems like the Red Wave was avoided with the New Rules being played by only one side…

    We had a historic red wave in our county. For the first time ever the County Council has a GOP majority. Not a squish among them. For the first time several county-wide offices will be held by Republicans.

    How did this happen? A number of factors played a roll. Let me highlight one in particular: old-fashioned door to door outreach. We out worked and out hustled the Democrats. Many candidates had hit 30% of their targets by the end of August.

    Woot! My state counties did really well too – in a lot of the local City councils and School boards as well. My state doesn’t allow many of the New Rules, in fact they rolled back much of what was foisted upon us in 2020 “for Covid” – I was curious, does your state allow for any of those New Rules? If it does, maybe the New Rules only affect State-wide offices?

    • #32
  3. Dr. Bastiat Member
    Dr. Bastiat
    @drbastiat

    db25db (View Comment):

    Dr. Bastiat (View Comment):

    Chris Williamson (View Comment):

    What happened to the red wave?

    Bad polling and MAGA candidates. Here in Georgia we’re probably going to have Raphael Warnock for a six-year term.

    I’m not at all sure that better polling and non-MAGA candidates would have made any difference.

    Maybe. I hope so. That’s a happy thought.

    you genuinely don’t believe a better candidate than walker could have cruised like Kemp to victory? perhaps said candidate doesn’t exist. walker is so clearly flawed. you see a similar situation in New Hampshire as well.

    Yes, Hershel Walker is a flawed candidate.  But not as flawed as Warnock, who is about to win.   Similar to Oz & Fetterman.  Oz would not have been my first choice.  But considering his opposition, it’s a miracle that Fetterman won over 10% of the vote, let alone winning the election. 

    Joe Biden won the presidential election. 

    It’s not about the candidates. 

    • #33
  4. Al French Moderator
    Al French
    @AlFrench

    db25db (View Comment):

    Al French (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Bryan G. Stephens (View Comment):

    Here in GA the Libertarians cost us the outright win.

    Losertatians is a beeptter name.

    That might be what happened with the governor’s race in Oregon too. The “Independent” candidate took more than 2x the number of votes the Republican would have needed to win decisively. But, would all of those votes have gone to the Republican? Who knows?

    In Oregon the independent is a moderate Democrat. If she hadn’t run the Dems would have won easily.

    As a person who lived 29 years in oregon, I maintain the problem with oregon is it has entirely too many democrats. Republicans routinely blame 3 counties, but 60% of the state lives in them, and as must be reminded, people vote, not land. the problem is only growing. George Bush lost the state in 2000 by 7k votes. Donald Teump lost it by 400k (16%). Chris Dudley came within a couple points of the governorship in 2010. but Rs are routinely in the 42-45% range in statewide elections. there just aren’t enough of us. I don’t know if you’ve ever spent much time in the northwest, but it differs from many other parts of the country in that you never see big swings here. The left is very left and the right is very right, and there just aren’t a lot of persuadable people. I spent years trying. maybe I’m just bad at it

    As a person who has lived in Oregon for all my 77 years, I agree. Now, a lot of those Dems came here from California, but that doesn’t change the analysis. My only possible quibble is “the right is very right.” If you’re saying that the Rs will mostly vote R, I agree. But a significant portion or Rs are moderate, and many more are realists and will vote for a moderate, because it is unrealistic to expect election of a MAGA R here.

    An interesting twist here. Oregon is extreme pro choice and current law allows unrestricted abortion. The R candidate is pro life. I suspect that point created the margin of victory.

    • #34
  5. The Cynthonian Inactive
    The Cynthonian
    @TheCynthonian

    Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patrio… (View Comment):

    Columbo (View Comment):

    DrewInWisconsin, Oik (View Comment):

    Greg Strange: How can this be happening again?

    Guess who the Secretary of State in Arizona is? (That is, the person who runs their elections?)

     

    It wouldn’t be Katie Hobbs would it?! That would be unethical and a major conflict of interest, hmmm? I wonder if any Arizona lawyers might analyze this conflict further?

    No, Katie Hobbs doesn’t run our elections. This is the job of county officials.

    As Secretary of State, Hobbs is responsible for adding up the total number of votes reported by the counties. She is not in charge of the actual counting.

    I’ve said this before, and y’all persist in failing to understand how things work in Arizona. It is getting a bit annoying.

    I see it on the left and right. People are ignorant of details, don’t know what’s going on, but nevertheless have very strong opinions based on misunderstandings.

    Are you telling me we as taxpayers are paying for a full-time SOS, plus staff, who have nothing to do between elections?   If that’s true, abolish the office and put it under the AG.  

    • #35
  6. DrewInWisconsin, Oik Member
    DrewInWisconsin, Oik
    @DrewInWisconsin

    The Cynthonian (View Comment):

    Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patrio… (View Comment):

    Columbo (View Comment):

    DrewInWisconsin, Oik (View Comment):

    Greg Strange: How can this be happening again?

    Guess who the Secretary of State in Arizona is? (That is, the person who runs their elections?)

     

    It wouldn’t be Katie Hobbs would it?! That would be unethical and a major conflict of interest, hmmm? I wonder if any Arizona lawyers might analyze this conflict further?

    No, Katie Hobbs doesn’t run our elections. This is the job of county officials.

    As Secretary of State, Hobbs is responsible for adding up the total number of votes reported by the counties. She is not in charge of the actual counting.

    I’ve said this before, and y’all persist in failing to understand how things work in Arizona. It is getting a bit annoying.

    I see it on the left and right. People are ignorant of details, don’t know what’s going on, but nevertheless have very strong opinions based on misunderstandings.

    Are you telling me we as taxpayers are paying for a full-time SOS, plus staff, who have nothing to do between elections? If that’s true, abolish the office and put it under the AG.

    Or abolish Arizona, since they refuse to hold fair and secure elections there. Return them to territory status and reduce their representation in Congress.

    Or give them to Mexico. Who cares?

    • #36
  7. Gary Robbins Member
    Gary Robbins
    @GaryRobbins

    Regular Republicans like our Candidate for State Treasurer and the Corporation Commission did well.  It was the “Biden Election Denier” Republicans who lost at the top of the ticket, for Senate, Governor, Secretary of State and Attorney General.  

    In fact, the vote margin for Republican Kimberly Yee for State Treasurer was greater than the combined vote margin of the Democrats who won the races for Senate, Governor, Secretary of State, and Attorney General.

    • #37
  8. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):

    Regular Republicans like our Candidate for State Treasurer and the Corporation Commission did well. It was the “Biden Election Denier” Republicans who lost at the top of the ticket, for Senate, Governor, Secretary of State and Attorney General.

    In fact, the vote margin for Republican Kimberly Yee for State Treasurer was greater than the combined vote margin of the Democrats who won the races for Senate, Governor, Secretary of State, and Attorney General.

    Which might just show that Treasurer and Corporation Commission aren’t important enough to cheat for.

    • #38
Become a member to join the conversation. Or sign in if you're already a member.