Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer may run on the Republican presidential ticket in 2016, building on the following she has built for her strong conservative stances, particularly on abortion and immigration.
As Brewer, who announced earlier this year that she wouldn’t seek a third term as governor, determines whether she’ll join other GOP hopefuls in the upcoming race, national pundits have commented more on what she’s done leading Arizona than her chances on a GOP 2016 ticket.
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1. In particular, the issues where Brewer didn’t stay conservative — pushing for Medicaid adoption in the state, for instance — received a lot of national media attention.
The general belief seems to be, as
CBS News said, that her running in 2016 would be “not only unlikely, but inadvisable, too.”
"If she jumps in the race for president, she would be adding to the current pool of polarizing and unelectable candidates who are a distraction to the viable,"
Trey Hardin, a campaign strategist, told CBS.
Here’s a look at what pundits have had to say about Brewer’s Arizona leadership on four key issues she faced during her tenure:
2. When Brewer vetoed a “religious freedom” bill in Arizona that would have allowed businesses to refuse to serve the LGBT population based on religious views, the conservative media criticized her strongly for the decision.
“The storm rose against Arizona and Jan Brewer proved she was no Ronald Reagan. She has an honored place in the ranks of the French Republicans. Corporations and business interests, many of whom support far left wing causes, like Apple demanded this bill be vetoed. Apple gives 96 percent of its political giving to Democrats. Why a Republican listens to a word from Apple or lifts a finger to help them is beyond comprehension. The NFL threatened to pull the Super Bowl from Arizona in 2015. Someone with courage would have called their bluff. Arizona has Jan Brewer,”
wrote Judson Phillips of the Tea Party Nation.
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3. Brewer fought President Barack Obama’s decision to “dump” illegal aliens in Arizona, and she fought strongly on immigration issues on both state and federal levels.
To that, Frank Camp wrote at ReadingTheScore.com, “Jan Brewer (though not particularly conservative) stood up to a president who is endangering this nation, and now she’s being punished. Take note of the fact that the two states in which the illegals are being dumped are two of the nation’s most conservative states: Texas, and Arizona.”
4. As Brewer wrapped up her six years as governor of Arizona,
columnist Robert Robb at The Arizona Republic summed up what he thought of her tenure: “Brewer inherited a fiscal mess. After six years, she's leaving a fiscal mess. In my book, that's a failure, irrespective of what happened in between.”
5. Brewer surprised many when she pushed for Medicaid expansion in Arizona, even going so far as to threaten to veto all legislation until she got a bill in front of her addressing the situation.
Rachel Alexander of Townhall.com had this to say: “Brewer’s support of Obamacare sounds more like that of a Democrat governor, and her bullying tactics similar to the Alinsky tactics the left uses. …To many Arizonans, the desertion of principles by Brewer is nothing new. She avidly supported an 18% sales tax increase in 2010, appearing in TV commercials with attractive looking children to advocate for it. The tax increase was to be spent on infrastructure and education. State Rep. Eddie Farnsworth (R-Gilbert) perhaps said it best, ‘This governor, who became famous for wagging her finger in the face of the president, is now wagging her finger in the face of the people of this state.’ The repercussions of this will be deep and long lasting, and will be seen in the 2014 gubernatorial and legislative races.”
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