Rarely.
Let me take a moment to speak in praise of Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ).
I remember him from his periodic appearances with Bill Maher, he's definitely a Conservative, and I hope he loses his upcoming Senate race to replace John Kyl.
But there's some indication that if Jeff Flake were to win, he wouldn't be that bad. There's something honorable about the man. Take his three quotes from this week. The first was when he was asked about possibly running against Gabrielle Giffords for Kyl's Senate Seat:
"The most wonderful thing in the world would be to have her make a Senate run."
Now, that was wasn't empty boilerplate about Giffords of the tragedy that befell her. That wasn't a generic "we'll see what happens". That was a unapologetic "My God, my friend and colleague from the House would be better and whole and thus...that would be the most wonderful thing in the world."
A couple days later, he was asked about (yawn) the President's Birth Certificate. But quel suprise!
Responding to a question Thursday on CNN about a recent poll that found a majority of Republican primary voters don't believe President Obama was born in the U.S., Flake said he didn't believe the findings.
"Well, I have a hard time believing that poll," Flake said. "I think that most people understand and accept the reality. The reality is that, yes, he was born in the United States."
And wait, it gets better. When talking about the GOP's proposed spending cuts he said:
We’re proposing $100 billion in cuts — kind of. It’s a little funny math, as it always is here. But it’s a pretty significant cut to non-defense discretionary [spending]. But that’s a rounding error when it comes to the overall budget and deficit. It represents one-fifteenth of the current deficit that we’re running.
This one is a little less than good news in that, he sees the cuts being proposed by the GOP as nothing more than a flea on a Lion, and that any cuts he'd propose would be far, far more drastic...which isn't good news...
...but at least he's honest about the worthlessness of what the GOP is trying to do.
I have to admit, I have no idea about his Tea-Party background (I'd bet he's sympathetic), but if we can rely on him to be this straightforward and honest, he wouldn't be a bad Senator. If nothing else, I would hope that a General Election campaign between Flake and Giffords (should she recover and choose to run) might be a model of civility where the people of Arizona might actually gain just from the debate.
Still, just to be sure, get ready to scratch some checks for Giffords for Senate in 2012, okay?
