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

[Sir Mohamed]

https://twitter.com/lxeagle17/status/1534424578608332801?s=20&t=GuS0OO93Bk3H...

That sounds a lot like Mr. Trump's guy!

[Politician]

https://twitter.com/lxeagle17/status/1534424578608332801?s=20&t=GuS0OO93Bk3H...

The guy hit a woman. He deserved it.

[Ferguson97]

The guy hit a woman. He deserved it.

Amazing how comfortable you feel blatantly lying like this.

She attacked him first and he defended himself. Then Masters assaulted him.

From the article:

When it became clear Jackson had no intention of leaving, several people dialed 911. The crowd around him grew, including one woman who got in his face with her pink phone.

He caught it all on his Go Pro.

At one point, and just inches from his face, the woman reached out and shoved him in the side. Then she balled up her fist and delivered a right hook that snapped Jackson's head back.

He had his phone in his left hand and his Go Pro in his right — and the video started getting a bit wobbly. But it's clear enough to see that he put out his hand and pushed hers away. He did not strike her, according to the video I saw. It was clearly a move to protect himself.

Then out of nowhere comes Blake Masters, a U.S. Senate candidate who'd been glad-handing in the background.

Masters lunged at Jackson, put both hands around his neck and pushed him backward.

[GP270watch]

 This guy is being backed by Peter Thiel who has a significant interest in a company called Palantir Technologies, a CIA-funded intelligence-gathering organization. Very disturbing stuff.

[Lognog]

Trump would be a fool to endorse Masters, he's probably the weakest candidate to run against Kelly.

That would go to Lamon.

Eh, I kinda think Lamon is as “generic R” as possible. He has less baggage than Masters, IMO, and hasn’t done everything to please no one like Brno.

I think Masters is a smarter campaigner and has a higher chance of winning than Lamon. Lamon seems like he could falter if Kelly runs a good campaign.

I agree. Even though Blake Masters is an insurrectionist, he is running a very strong campaign and is positioning himself as a more moderate Republican more aligned with Theodore Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, and Gerald Ford when compared to Mark Brnovich, who is a throwback to the old Reagan-era Republican establishment.

The guy is backed by Peter Thiel and managed a hedge fund. He thinks that Griswald should be overturned. In what possible world could you see him as moderate on social or fiscal issues. This is a joke

[Senator Incitatus]

The guy is backed by Peter Thiel and managed a hedge fund. He thinks that Griswald should be overturned. In what possible world could you see him as moderate on social or fiscal issues. This is a joke

Not sure what managing a hedge fund says about his economic views, unless he's planning to manage a hedge fund while in office. (He's not.) All this means is he has enough money to think for himself (or for Thiel), unlike most donor-reliant politicians.

[Lognog]

The guy is backed by Peter Thiel and managed a hedge fund. He thinks that Griswald should be overturned. In what possible world could you see him as moderate on social or fiscal issues. This is a joke

Not sure what managing a hedge fund says about his economic views, unless he's planning to manage a hedge fund while in office. (He's not.) All this means is he has enough money to think for himself (or for Thiel), unlike most donor-reliant politicians.

Yeah but it is Thiel hedge fund, meaning he is backed by someone who hold very right wing economic views

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

The guy is backed by Peter Thiel and managed a hedge fund. He thinks that Griswald should be overturned. In what possible world could you see him as moderate on social or fiscal issues. This is a joke

Not sure what managing a hedge fund says about his economic views, unless he's planning to manage a hedge fund while in office. (He's not.) All this means is he has enough money to think for himself (or for Thiel), unlike most donor-reliant politicians.

Yeah but it is Thiel hedge fund, meaning he is backed by someone who hold very right wing economic views

The National Conservatism that Thiel has embraced isn't economically very right wing in the conventional sense. Hawley, Vance & Masters want to move the GOP in a more populist direction, with an interest in opposing tech monopolies and providing more economic support for families.

[Senator Incitatus]

The National Conservatism that Thiel has embraced isn't economically very right wing in the conventional sense. Hawley, Vance & Masters want to move the GOP in a more populist direction, with an interest in opposing tech monopolies and providing more economic support for families.

Of course, it's still fair to be skeptical that they'll deliver on this until they actually start moving and shaking. Right now, the person who has moved the most in this direction on policy is probably Mitt Romney.

My only point is that being a hedge fund employee doesn't tell us much about Masters's politics. Most people barely tolerate their jobs, let alone make it some part of a grand social mission. (Romney, himself coming from private equity which is a far more "conservative" sector than venture capital, is proof positive of this.)

[Lognog]

The guy is backed by Peter Thiel and managed a hedge fund. He thinks that Griswald should be overturned. In what possible world could you see him as moderate on social or fiscal issues. This is a joke

Not sure what managing a hedge fund says about his economic views, unless he's planning to manage a hedge fund while in office. (He's not.) All this means is he has enough money to think for himself (or for Thiel), unlike most donor-reliant politicians.

Yeah but it is Thiel hedge fund, meaning he is backed by someone who hold very right wing economic views

The National Conservatism that Thiel has embraced isn't economically very right wing in the conventional sense. Hawley, Vance & Masters want to move the GOP in a more populist direction, with an interest in opposing tech monopolies and providing more economic support for families.

I don't know what reality you are living in but those Republicans have repeated blocked or wish to block things like the CTC which actually help working families

[Lief 🗽]

RATINGS CHANGE

AZ SENATE: LEAN R >>> TOSS-UP/TILT D

https://twitter.com/KyungLahCNN/status/1540173323098652672

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Even with an all R Gov Privatized SSA is never gonna pass Murkowski and Collins are against it and Romney , Collins already didn't support it in 2005

[Sir Mohamed]

RATINGS CHANGE

AZ SENATE: LEAN R >>> TOSS-UP/TILT D

https://twitter.com/KyungLahCNN/status/1540173323098652672

LOL. In a state like AZ, with tons of retirees, this sounds like a great idea... to blow your race.

Still premature at this point, but if Dems indeed keep the senate this year, a large part can be attributed to the GOP nominating horrible candidates. I feel like they're overconfident in almost all their elections. That was different 4 years ago, when Dems often chose to play it safe and nominated good candidates (except for Gillum, lol).

[ProgressiveModerate]

RATINGS CHANGE

AZ SENATE: LEAN R >>> TOSS-UP/TILT D

https://twitter.com/KyungLahCNN/status/1540173323098652672

LOL. In a state like AZ, with tons of retirees, this sounds like a great idea... to blow your race.

Still premature at this point, but if Dems indeed keep the senate this year, a large part can be attributed to the GOP nominating horrible candidates. I feel like they're overconfident in almost all their elections. That was different 4 years ago, when Dems often chose to play it safe and nominated good candidates (except for Gillum, lol).

I'm not sure what the end result will be, but this is very much one of the main differences between 2018 and 2022.

In 2018, Democrats ran relatively inoffensive and moderate candidates throughout the US in key federal races; progressive "squad-like"  members really only ran and hence got elected in ubersafe Dem seats.

In 2022, the Republicans seem very cocky and have recruited a lot of more controversial candidates in key races, even though many races in safe states actually have decent GOP nominees. The GOP really seems to be betting on the populist Trump message which ultimately failed them in 2018 and 2020 to bring them back in 2022. It may work given in wave years the party out of power is given a media pass for the most part, but overall it would not be the direction I would want to take the GOP if I want to win elections down to road.

I wonder if we'll see a "2-tiered" wave year where the "normal"/establishment GOP candidates generally hold up a few points better nationally than controversial candidates tied to the big lie and just general extremism. In many ways, generic ballot polls and individual race polls aren't really lining up and this could be part of the reason.

Like just imagine how 2018 would've gone if Dems got AOC type candidates to run for congress in places like Iowa or the competative suburban SoCal seats.

[Buffalo Mayor Young Kim]

He’ll deny he said it and everyone who bring it up will be called a liar by our liberal media.
CFE, Paul Ryan

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

RATINGS CHANGE

AZ SENATE: LEAN R >>> TOSS-UP/TILT D

https://twitter.com/KyungLahCNN/status/1540173323098652672

LOL. In a state like AZ, with tons of retirees, this sounds like a great idea... to blow your race.

Still premature at this point, but if Dems indeed keep the senate this year, a large part can be attributed to the GOP nominating horrible candidates. I feel like they're overconfident in almost all their elections. That was different 4 years ago, when Dems often chose to play it safe and nominated good candidates (except for Gillum, lol).

I'm not sure what the end result will be, but this is very much one of the main differences between 2018 and 2022.

In 2018, Democrats ran relatively inoffensive and moderate candidates throughout the US in key federal races; progressive "squad-like"  members really only ran and hence got elected in ubersafe Dem seats.

In 2022, the Republicans seem very cocky and have recruited a lot of more controversial candidates in key races, even though many races in safe states actually have decent GOP nominees. The GOP really seems to be betting on the populist Trump message which ultimately failed them in 2018 and 2020 to bring them back in 2022. It may work given in wave years the party out of power is given a media pass for the most part, but overall it would not be the direction I would want to take the GOP if I want to win elections down to road.

I wonder if we'll see a "2-tiered" wave year where the "normal"/establishment GOP candidates generally hold up a few points better nationally than controversial candidates tied to the big lie and just general extremism. In many ways, generic ballot polls and individual race polls aren't really lining up and this could be part of the reason.

Like just imagine how 2018 would've gone if Dems got AOC type candidates to run for congress in places like Iowa or the competative suburban SoCal seats.

Kelly and Hobbs have lead in every pool OHI POLL

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1541080816310259713

[SnowLabrador]

Yeah, Brnovich has no chance.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

The guy is backed by Peter Thiel and managed a hedge fund. He thinks that Griswald should be overturned. In what possible world could you see him as moderate on social or fiscal issues. This is a joke

Not sure what managing a hedge fund says about his economic views, unless he's planning to manage a hedge fund while in office. (He's not.) All this means is he has enough money to think for himself (or for Thiel), unlike most donor-reliant politicians.

Masters is Thiel's willing muppet.

From Wikipedia:

After meeting Thiel, Masters went to work for him, becoming chief operating officer of the Thiel Capital hedge fund and president of the Thiel Foundation.[12][13] Thiel chose Masters and other employees to assist in the presidential transition of Donald Trump in November 2016.[14][15] In October 2019, Masters suggested he would launch a primary challenge against Republican U.S. Senator Martha McSally, expressing concern McSally was not a good candidate and criticizing her loss in the 2018 election, which Masters said was a "winnable" race.[16] In January 2020, Masters said he would not run.[17] Masters resigned from his positions at Thiel's hedge fund and foundation in 2022, during his Senate campaign

This is like Eric Holder, only even more blatant, with a pretty openly anti-democracy billionaire instead of an establishment law firm.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blake_Masters_(author)

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/brahmresnik/status/1544832049101488128

[wbrocks67]

More negative coverage for Masters from his online writings-


https://twitter.com/mattholt33/status/1545001251498299392

[Senator Incitatus]

https://twitter.com/brahmresnik/status/1544832049101488128

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

They don't need VBM we can Early vote from now on

[Hindsight was 2020]

https://twitter.com/brahmresnik/status/1544832049101488128

Except the GOP doesn’t want to improve early voting. They want it ended so the meme doesn’t work