AZ-SEN 2022 Megathread: Mastering the Art of the Thiel

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

AZ right now is a hard Lean D, verging on Likely if one month from now the picture doesn't improve for Masters or gets worse.
I wonder what the D ceiling in AZ is...

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

This is pretty interesting, as Masters is one of very few Republican candidates who’s trying to make government overreach in the context of COVID-19 a key theme of his campaign. He’s also pivoting away from Trump -

After a bruising primary campaign, Arizona Republican Senate nominee Blake Masters and his team are seeking to center his general election against Democratic incumbent Sen. Mark Kelly on what they term as “cultural issues,” immigration, inflation and COVID-19, among other topics.

A recent Masters speech at a Turning Point Action event, where he was joined by GOP gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, suggests he sees latent frustration at the lockdowns and mask mandates of two years ago as an issue that could attract voters in November.

Masters never once mentioned politically divisive former President Donald Trump, whose endorsement he promoted until winning the Republican primary. Instead, he talked about the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's new COVID-19 guidelines, which eliminate isolation restrictions for unvaccinated people.

https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/elections/2022/08/20/senate-hopeful-blake-masters-aims-government-overreach-covid-19/10341704002/

Looks smart. Arizona does feel like a place in which an "non-libertarian thing the government did" could be more effectively attacked than elsewhere.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

This is pretty interesting, as Masters is one of very few Republican candidates who’s trying to make government overreach in the context of COVID-19 a key theme of his campaign. He’s also pivoting away from Trump -

After a bruising primary campaign, Arizona Republican Senate nominee Blake Masters and his team are seeking to center his general election against Democratic incumbent Sen. Mark Kelly on what they term as “cultural issues,” immigration, inflation and COVID-19, among other topics.

A recent Masters speech at a Turning Point Action event, where he was joined by GOP gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, suggests he sees latent frustration at the lockdowns and mask mandates of two years ago as an issue that could attract voters in November.

Masters never once mentioned politically divisive former President Donald Trump, whose endorsement he promoted until winning the Republican primary. Instead, he talked about the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's new COVID-19 guidelines, which eliminate isolation restrictions for unvaccinated people.

https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/elections/2022/08/20/senate-hopeful-blake-masters-aims-government-overreach-covid-19/10341704002/

Looks smart. Arizona does feel like a place in which an "non-libertarian thing the government did" could be more effectively attacked than elsewhere.

Except immigration continues to sink in the top issues for voters and COVID-19 is basically non-existent in voters worries as well.

I get the idea that he's pushing but it's kind of like pushing CRT at this point. It's just not as potent of an issue.

Hmm.
If you were Masters at this point, what would you campaign on and how would you focus your attention?

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Suggestions for a new thread title?

Jack of all trades, Masters of none

I like the thing of that one.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Hadn't realized how much of a dweeb Blake Masters was. Guy has no charisma.

This race is Crypto Dude vs Space Man.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Masters just said that states should have the right to choose their laws yet also somewhat supports a federal abortion ban within a minute or two?

He referred to it as a "federal backstop" to prevent late-term abortions.

So it's "states have the right to define their abortion laws all the way up to the third trimester".

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Not saying for certain this race isn't close, it's decently close at the very least, but it should be noted that public statements like this are important to remind people to get out to vote, by holding out the specter of a Masters win. Even if the race was actually strongly in Kelly's favor (say, private internals for both campaigns having it around Kelly+8), they would have reason to say this.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

I'm not surprised. Based on the GCB and Arizona's partisanship, there's no way Kelly was ever winning by 5+ points. He'll be lucky to win at all.

The claim Kelly would win by huge margins was always something that should have aroused skepticism. Fundamentals matter and the leans of states have a significant impact on how things are once all votes are counted. It wasn't always like this, but it's like this now.