AZ-Sen: Salmon, Schweikert considering

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

I have a feeling Salmon will end up winning the primary but lose the general

Unless the democrats run Sinema or Kirkpatrick (which is a legitimate possibility, but far from a certainty), I don't really see any republican losing AZ, barring a terrible republican campaign or an utter democratic wave. Carmona/Giffords/Napolitano would make it close, but it's hard to see them actually winning.

Sinema would be an opposition researcher's dream.  Kirkpatrick, Carmona, Kelly, Stanton, and Gordon all seem like they could win statewide.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Sinema would be a far better senator than McCain. RUN, SINEMA, RUN!

She'd lose pretty badly.  Stanton, Kirkpatrick, or even Carmona would be much better candidates.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

All right dems, time to draft Sinema.

Sinema would be an extremely weak candidate (I get that she may seem strong on paper, but she has an absurdly large amount of baggage that would all-but-gaurentee she loses in a landslide in any statewide race).  Even Richard Carmona would give us a much better chance of picking up the seat (at least Carmona would force the Republicans to waste some money, even if he probably wouldn't win).  I'd prefer to see Phil Gordon, Jonathan Rothschild, or even Greg Stanton (although I'm not a fan of some of his positions) run instead.  Kirkpatrick could be good too, but I think her best bet is to lock down her congressional district and wait for a better opportunity assuming she wants to run for Senate at some point.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Sabato moves it to Lean R.

Really dumb. McCain hasnt any great primary challenger yet and he has really great political skills.

Kirkpatrick is by far the strongest GE opponent he has ever received. And while Ward can't win, she can still give McCain an embarrassing margin of victory in the primary (say, less than 15 points) and send him into the general significantly damaged. And Schweikert outright saying McCain can't win the general (whether he actually believes it or is just saying it to swing donors) is definitely a good sign for those who want him (Schweikert) to run.

Oh just to be clear,
I really would love to see him go down. But he has politically skills. And I do believe he will survive.  I don't see a primary challenge beating him. I mean, we're not even sure Schweikert is running.

And even if Kirkpatrick is indeed a very good candidate, Mccain will quite overperform among the latino voters allowing him to be reelected easily.

Actually McCain is extremely unpopular in Arizona, including among Latinos (IIRC).  Not Jeff Flake-level unpopularity, but in that ballpark.  Kirkpatrick could definitely win this race.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

You all don't think that similar to Uncle Barry in 1980 (a very strong GOP tidal wave year), that Mac wouldn't win again out of principle?

No, not really  I don't expect 2016 to be a Republican tidal wave, even if they win the Presidency.  At this point a Democratic tidal wave is far more likely (although I'm not expecting that either).  I'd also Goldwater was a much stronger incumbent in 1980 than McCain is today.