As June temperatures soar and campaigns become more desperate for waning public attention, it appears that Republican CD 1 candidate Gary Kiehne continues to succeed where few have gone before.
In the past month the wealthy oil rancher’s oratorical skills have proven to be as effective as the proverbial cow at drawing summertime flies. From comparing Arizona police officers to the SS, making offensive comments about immigrants or throwing out wildly inaccurate statements about mass shootings, Kiehne has doubled down on his “Intolerance R Us” campaign to persuade Republican voters in his CD 1 primary that he’s their man.
Our bet here is that the DNC is rooting for Kiehne victory so they can trot him out as Arizona’s latest example of intolerance and ignorance.
They’d like to do anything but talk about the major issues facing Arizona and Kiehne appears eager to do just that. The DNC will be singing ‘Anchors Aweigh, My Friend’ the minute Gary “mass shootings are done by Democrats” Kiehne waves the victory flag in August. Yes, that’s ‘Anchors Aweigh’ as in he will be an enormous anchor on the entire Republican ticket. Many won’t remember, but Kiehne reminds us of Texas Gubernatorial candidate Clayton Williams in 1990. If you don’t remember Clayton, you must remember his incredibly ignorant comments on rape and other head scratching remarks that cost Republicans the Texas Gubernatorial Election of 1990. Sharron Angle and Todd Akin also jump to mind as more recent mistake-plagued candidates who cost Republicans control of the Senate.
Arizona Republicans don’t need their own Clayton Williams or Todd Akin. We need to nominate a solid conservative that focuses on jobs and immigration, not someone who is in the running to be the next poster child of the DNC.