AZ-Sen: Salmon, Schweikert considering

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

As expected and yes, Salmon is much stronger than Hayworth. In fact Salmon running would mean that McCain retiring becomes more likely but you never know with him.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Arizona needs its own version of Rand Paul.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Salmon is "strongly considering" and will make a decision by early August.

Considering the going buzz was that he was not going to run previously, this sounds promising.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Salmon doesn't have Hayworth's record of pork barrelling.

McCain cannot out fiscal conservative him like he hid Hayworth. He will also lock up both the border hawks and probably the Paul types as well, the latter of which Hayworth wasn't capable of doing it either.

And Palin is a spent force now.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

FWIW, Carmona carried AZ-01 in 2012.

Jeff Flake was/is a terrible candidate and the worst Republican Senator out there.  I almost would tell the tea party to forego the McCain challenge and challenge Flake, who actually masquerades as a conservative and votes like an amnesty liberal. Atleast McCain is open and honest about his many deviations from conservatism.

Jeff Flake earned a lot of props from me for opposing the corruption and out of control spending during the Bush-Delay years. That said, since he joined the Senate he has voted with McCain constantly and lost most libertarian appeal that he had, which was his only saving grace. I wouldn't be surprised to see Schweikert or somebody primary him in 2018.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

It is safer to have it be someone with political experience then someone with none at all, particularly in a state with so many hispanic voters in a Presidential year, gaffes could be deadly. McCain is very vulnerable and having a more credible primary challenger emergy as a opposed to one is not serious, whilst being very bad for McCain would likely be good for the GOP's chances overall in this seat.