There's an Opportunity Here......

The pending retirement of Senator Jeff Flake has set off a flurry of speculation as to whose hands the seat will wind up in.  Governor Doug Ducey already ruled out running as that he'd rather be a governor than a Senator.  There's some talk that my own Congresswoman, Martha McSally, will make a run for it.  McSally is a favorite of the Establishment, and I'm thinking......if they really want her in there, then why are they failing to make use of an opportunity before them?

In other words, why doesn't Jeff Snake (oops!) step down right now, and allow Governor Ducey to appoint a replacement?  He could name Martha McSally to the seat, and the Establishment could entrench her there and better position her against any potential primary challengers.

There are a number of reasons for this.

One.  The governor doesn't want to get involved in national politics at this time.  He's very likely going to sit back and let the primary process sort itself out.

Two.  The Establishment doesn't yet know whether to keep McSally where she is for a while, and then have her run for McCain's seat.

Three.  Martha McSally may feel the need to stay where she is to keep her seat in Establishment hands.  She narrowly defeated Ron Barber to get the seat in the first place, and she might stay where she is as that eventually McCain's seat will open up.

Four.  The Establishment is waiting to see what the Trump faction is going to do.  Right now I'm sure most of the Trumpites will be supporting Kelli Ward for this.  The thinking is that she would have gotten 53% of the primary vote in a matchup against Jeff Snake, (dang it, another typographical error!), but now that that is out the window the latest poll suggests she's not going to get that percentage against other candidates.

Five.  Jeff Flake (this time I got it right) hasn't yet gotten his next job lined up.  I'm sure he'd like to go work for CNN or MSNBC, but the catch here is that they have to make him an offer and until they do he might as well continue basking in his power.  This gives him more time to weigh his options.  I wouldn't suggest a book deal as that I'm not sure he sold more than 2000 copies of his book, and it doesn't look good for him if he can't outsell Hillary.

I think in this case, there is a rationale for this wait and see mentality, if that's what they're really doing here.

But I can't help but wonder why, though I think donor money has a lot to do with it right now, and the big donors themselves haven't yet figured out where to go from here.