Dear Arizona Senator Jeff Flake

I can’t help but notice the overwhelming presence of your ads on Twitter lately:

• “Flake’s Conservative Credentials Are Sterling.” – Washington Post
• “Flake Deserves A True Profiles-In-Courage Award For His Willingness To Put Conservative Principals Over Short-Term Political Gain.” – National Journal
• “A Conservative With Impeccable Credentials” – USA Today
• “Taxpayer Super Hero” award
• Freedomworks: 95% Rating
• Club For Growth: 96% Rating
• National Taxpayers Union: A Rating
• National Right To Life: 99% Rating
• Americans For Prosperity: 98% Rating

You scared Senator?

I know you are up for re-election in 2018 and it is going to be a tough race. I wish I could feel sorry for you. I really believed you to be a principled man. And I liked you, even though I am not a Republican and I am definitely NOT a conservative. But that was before Donald J. Trump was elected President.

You definitely talked the right kind of talk when Donald J. Trump was running as a candidate for President of this great country.  In fact you were just as horrified as I was at the thought of a man like him becoming our 45th President and I really admired you for that. You did not hold back. I took great comfort in your words. I truly thought you’d stand your ground and act as a buffer to this president. I was SO wrong.

What happened Senator?

As soon as this horrible, unstable, carnival-barking, buffoon became President you fell in line. You voted in support of just about everything this horrible man wanted. You remained silent and did not push back, no matter what kind of vile, racist, dog-whistle garbage he spewed. You caved Senator. You put your party and self-preservation over your country. You became one with the lowest of the low in your base. You lost your voice and with it any respect so many had for you. You abandoned everything you believed in. And now you are seeing the writing on the wall.

So out come all these lying ads and your new book with a title that is stolen from another Arizona Conservative of a bygone era, Senator Barry Goldwater (The Conscience of a Conservative by Barry Goldwater). Your book, Senator Flake, Conscience of a Conservative: A Rejection of Destructive Politics and a Return to Principle, is a lie. You rejected NOTHING. If the President wanted it or said it, no matter how unconservative, no matter how despicable, you fell in line and either voted for it or remained silent.

You and your book and your ads are a fraud.

You did not reject the destructive, racist politics of this president nor did you stick to your own principles. Instead you straddled a fine line trying to piss off no one. And now you will most likely be facing a primary opponent from your angry right-wing base and a solid NO vote from those who admired you when you spoke your mind when Trump was campaigning. So you screwed yourself with basically everyone, Senator. You pleased no one. You would have been a whole lot better off if you had picked your poison and stuck to one side or the other.

I get it Senator Flake, you are and always have been between a rock and a hard place, which is why you are probably going to lose. It is a no-win situation, so you should have just stuck with your principled stand when Trump was a candidate. At least you would have gone down with a clean conscience and the ability to sleep at night.

Your new book probably won’t save you. Your gushing twitter ads won't save you either.  But there might be a way to save what's left of your legacy if you go back 43 years in history, study it, and repeat it. 

How do you do that?

Pull a Barry Goldwater: 
On August 7th, 1974  U.S. Sen. Barry Goldwater, R-Ariz., U.S. House Minority Leader John Rhodes, R-Ariz., and U.S. Senate Minority Leader Hugh Scott, R-Pa., made it clear to the embattled Nixon that he faced all-but-certain impeachment, conviction and removal from office in connection with the Watergate scandal. Nixon resigned at noon on August 9th.

Trump probably won't resign, but at least you will give your Arizona constituents many more years of bragging rights for having yet another Senator with real cajones, real courage, and a real love for his country. You won’t be a hero to everyone, at least not right away, but your legacy and the legendary political lore that goes along with it will live on forever.

It's not re-election, but something better: a total restoration of your soul.