Would you vote for Jeff Flake for U.S. Senate?

[Romantarchist]

Jon Kyl isn't running for re-election in 2012 and Jeff Flake has declared his candidacy for the Republican nomination. I know Flake isn't as good as Ron Paul but he's still easily in the Top 10 best members of the House. I'm considering voting for him just as an improvement over Kyl. What's the alternative? Vote Libertarian Party for a whopping 5% of the vote? Post your thoughts about Jeff Flake's Senate run here and we'll see where everyone stands on this.

[libertybrewcity]

yea, he is better than most others. I would vote for him.

[realtonygoodwin]

Depends on any opponents.

[specsaregood]

i'd probably throw him a donation

[heavenlyboy34]

I'm going to write in an imaginary name, as usual. Probably Big Bird this time.

[tsai3904]

It's a tough spot, but I would vote for him. His domestic policy is solid except for his stance on the Patriot Act and his foreign policy is ok in the sense that he did vote for the Iraq War but has questioned it since. He is still unwilling to commit to pulling the troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan, but he is very reluctant to start new wars as he has voted for getting out of Libya.

I dug through his votes and noticed he voted with Ron Paul a lot and often against their party:

-One of 3 R's to vote against sanctions on Iran
-One of 10 R's to vote against creating the Dept. of Homeland Security
-One of 3 congressmen to vote against Sarbanes Oxley (a bill that probably 90% of Congress doesn't support today)
-One of 19 R's to vote against Medicare Part D
-Voted to repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell
-Voted against making online gambling illegal
-Voted against No Child Left Behind
-Voted for Kucinich's recent amendment to remove all US forces from Libya
-One of 20 R's to vote against the recent Appropriations for Homeland Security
-Voted against increasing minimum wage
-Voted for ending trade embargo on Cuba

[trey4sports]

seems to be against the war on drugs as well...

http://www.ontheissues.org/house/jeff_flake.htm#Drugs

[t0rnado]

If I lived in Arizona I'd vote for him.

[Kregisen]

Yes he's not perfect but he's as close as you can get without having the name Paul. He's my congressman and I will definitely be voting for him for senate....hopefully Palin won't run against him (yes, she is moving to arizona and there are rumors she might run for it lol! imagine having Senators McCain and Palin in one state!)

[Romantarchist]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I share the majority opinion here that Flake is good enough to be a Senator. Sure, I'd prefer Jim Deakin (or David Nolan if he was still alive) but Kyl is an indistinguishable neocon who no one will miss.

BTW, Matt Salmon (who represented this district before Flake) is running to replace Flake in AZ-06. My mom voted for him for Governor in 2002 but I'm not sure what to make of him yet, research is in progress.

[t0rnado]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I share the majority opinion here that Flake is good enough to be a Senator. Sure, I'd prefer Jim Deakin (or David Nolan if he was still alive) but Kyl is an indistinguishable neocon who no one will miss.

BTW, Matt Salmon (who represented this district before Flake) is running to replace Flake in AZ-06. My mom voted for him for Governor in 2002 but I'm not sure what to make of him yet, research is in progress.

Salmon is as much a neocon as Kyl is. Salmon has a lot of baggage now as well including the fact that he has an openly gay son and still is strongly against gay marriage.

[dejavu22]

I dont live in AZ any more but i was reasonably pleased with flake at the time. Some of his votes have been bad for sure but a somewhat liberty focused candidate he would still be better than probably 95 other current inhabitants in the senate. As well as a vast improvement over both Kyl and McCain. Also in AZ this may be as libertarian as you can get short of the second coming of AuH2O who probably could not get elected there anymore.

[libertybrewcity]

It's a tough spot, but I would vote for him. His domestic policy is solid except for his stance on the Patriot Act and his foreign policy is ok in the sense that he did vote for the Iraq War but has questioned it since. He is still unwilling to commit to pulling the troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan, but he is very reluctant to start new wars as he has voted for getting out of Libya.

I dug through his votes and noticed he voted with Ron Paul a lot and often against their party:

-One of 3 R's to vote against sanctions on Iran
-One of 10 R's to vote against creating the Dept. of Homeland Security
-One of 3 congressmen to vote against Sarbanes Oxley (a bill that probably 90% of Congress doesn't support today)
-One of 19 R's to vote against Medicare Part D
-Voted to repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell
-Voted against making online gambling illegal
-Voted against No Child Left Behind
-Voted for Kucinich's recent amendment to remove all US forces from Libya
-One of 20 R's to vote against the recent Appropriations for Homeland Security
-Voted against increasing minimum wage
-Voted for ending trade embargo on Cuba

Wow, i didn't know he voted against all that! I will definitely consider throwing him a small donation if he needs it.

[Tyr]

I won't be voting for Jeff "The" Flake, no.

[Romantarchist]

Salmon is as much a neocon as Kyl is. Salmon has a lot of baggage now as well including the fact that he has an openly gay son and still is strongly against gay marriage.

That doesn't sound very promising but I still am holding out until I hear Salmon himself talk about what he does/doesn't support. He's been out of Congress since before 9-11, so his votes and views on the modern political area aren't fully known.