Commentary

As an Arizona voter, I have been following the Republican Blake Masters’ challenge of Senate incumbent Mark Kelly.

Following their debate last Thursday, two internet headlines provided some hope:

“Blake Masters Decimates Mark Kelly at Debate” – Red State

“GOP’s Blake Masters Smokes Democrat Mark Kelly” – Breitbart

It was a bit disheartening, however, when Fox interviewed a woman who says she plans to vote Democrat.  She didn’t even watch the debate.  One wonders of the value of debates.

Polls, too, for that matter.  Rasmussen Reports that Republicans have a four-point lead on the generic ballot, but Kelly continues to lead by 4-6 points.  Follow the money.  It is believed that many of those polled either refuse to say who they plan on voting for or mislead the pollster.

I’d like to believe that only 29 percent of voters do actually believe the country is heading in the right direction according to Rasmussen.

On a number of issues, Masters reminded voters how Kelly backed Biden “every time without thinking twice, without thinking of Arizona.”

Kelly claims, “I told him he was wrong (with this border policy).  I pushed back on this administration multiple times.”  Simply not true.

Kelly harkened back to the bipartisanship of the late John McCain. “It’s working together, working across the aisle to get things done.”  We all saw the effectiveness of McCain.

It’s Happening Again

It troubles me that in every election cycle the pundits find it necessary to seek out the black vote, the Latino vote and the female vote.  It especially bothers me as we approach the 2022 midterms, because the primary issues – the cost of living (the economy and inflation), crime rates and immigration – affect all of those demographics, all Americans.

For example, Pew Research recently reported that the economy is far and away the primary concern of Latinos, with eight-in-ten registered voters viewing it as “very important.”

The assumption that Latino voters embrace a policy of unrestricted immigration is false, reports Rasmussen, as is the belief that Latinos uncritically support the Democrat Party.

We saw Republican Javier Villalobos’ mayoral victory in McAllen, Texas, and Mayra Flores elected to fill a House vacancy in Texas.

The same is true among blacks, where blacks, more and more, are beginning to concede that the Democrat Party takes their votes for granted.

Then there’s the vote of women.  We saw what their involvement in education meant to Glen Youngkin in his win in Virginia when he took a strong stand on education.

Pundits and the media are attempting to mount abortion as a key issue, even though it ranks low in most surveys. Among the Latino community, recognized as heavily Catholic, abortion ranked seventh.

A recent feature in the Washington Post on women who vote, notes that the  abortion issue could be neutralized by Republicans talking about the costs of living, school decisions and rising crime.

Juliana Dixson, 36, of Denver, one of the women interviewed by the Post, said that the Supreme Court “kicked the hornet’s nest,” but argues there are bigger problems facing the country right now.

When in Doubt, Smear the Voter

We Republican voters continue to be slandered by the left. Writing in the blog, Victory Girls, Toni Williams did a number on Chauncey Devega, a writer for Salon Magazine.

Devega questioned what Trump and his MAGA movement had accomplished. “By any humane, reasonable or moral standards, nothing worth doing, or in any way great.”

He took pleasure in writing that fewer than half of all Republicans (42 percent) describe themselves as “MAGA Republicans” reported in a Grinnell College and Selzer & Company poll.  Not surprising when that is a matter of privacy to many Republicans.

He mocks Trump supporters who disproportionately work in skilled trades and other blue-collar professions, with a high degree of alienation and resentment toward elites, and others in society perceived as passing them by, culturally or economically.

Williams appropriately referred to Devega as a “condescending twat.”

May God continue to bless the United States of America.