McCain, Kyl and Flake Find Hundreds of Supporters in Airport Hangar

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McCain, Kyl and Flake Find Hundreds of Supporters in Airport Hangar

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Written by Lynne LaMaster

Republicans gather at Legend Aviation to show their support for Jeff Flake, campaigning for US Senate.

Several hundred people gathered in an airport hangar at Legend Aviation to see Senators John McCain and Jon Kyl proclaim their support of Congressman Jeff Flake's candidacy for the Senate.

McCain, Kyl and Flake disembarked from their aircraft a little before 11 AM Saturday morning, greeted by throngs of eager supporters anxious to shake their hands and show appreciation for their service.

Both McCain and Kyl had expressed their condemnation earlier in the week regarding an ad released by Flake's opponent, Rich Carmona, which took old video out of context, implying that the Senators actually endorsed Carmona. McCain and Kyl made it clear at the time that nothing could be farther from the truth, and their whirlwind weekend tour of the state of Arizona was a strong exclamation point to their united and unequivocal support of Flake.

In addition to the Senators, Arizona's Speaker of the House, Andy Tobin joined in to offer his enthusiastic endorsement of Flake.

Prescott Mayor Marlin Kuykendall got up to introduce the guests, and joked that Prescott and Yavapai County was the most non-partisan community around, noting that Prescott and Prescott Valley Councils and Yavapai Supervisors were all Republican, as well as the local state and federal representatves were all Republicans.

Speaker Tobin reminded the crowd that getting Flake and Mitt Romney elected has never meant so much. "You remember, two years ago, we talked about taking our country back. And we talked about 2010 - remember, that was the playoffs? We had to take the House back, remember that? But, we didn't rest on our laurels, as my wife says, she hasn't seen 2010's campaign come to an end yet... 'cause we knew we had to have 2012. And that's why we're here now. To finish what we started... The stakes could never be higher."

He then introduced, "America's veteran's hero, Senator John McCain."

Senator John McCain Gives a Rousing Stump Speech

McCain started with a couple of standard jokes, before launching into a blistering attack on the Obama administration regarding the Benghazi situation. "This election - after I lost in 2008, I was worried about the future of the country, because I was worried about a very inexperienced, very liberal, most liberal member in the Senate, and I was worried about his lack of experience, knowledge, and what he had was certainly far-left. My friends, my worst expectations have been realized, this is the most important election in history in my view, and we've got to send Mitt Romney to the White House, and we have got to do it with the state of Arizona..."

McCain continued, "And, my friends... What happened in Libya is the worse thing that I have seen in my years in the United States Congress. My friends, there were four brave Americans that gave their lives and we need to know the reason why. I'll tell you what we do know. We do know that there was attacks on our embassy in April and June. We do know that there were pleas for pre-security that came back. The last message that our brave Ambassador sent before he died were requests for more security. We do know that there was live video going back to Washington, as this was going on, we know it lasted for seven hours. And we also know that there was no spontaneous demonstration bred by a hateful video. This was a terrorist attack by an al Quaeda affiliate group and it is disgraceful for the President of the United States to have gone out to the American people and said that it was a spontaneous demonstration. There was no demonstration... Suffice to say, this President was either misleading the American people, or he is so incompetent that he is unfit to be Commander in Chief in the United States of America."

McCain then turned his comments to Jeff Flake, applauding Flake's stand against earmarks during his early days in Congress. "This guy stood up against the old bulls in his own party and they punished him, and he still stood up to get rid of corruption and a careful stewardship of American's tax dollars. That's what Jeff Flake is all about. His opponent? His opponent thinks that earmarking is great. Oh really, do you?" McCain asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "And, by the way, if you're Senator number 100, what kind of pork are you gonna get, even if you supported it?"

McCain also noted pointedly that Carmona was appointed in President Bush's first term as Surgeon General, but, "...there was a reason why Bush didn't reappoint him. Because he did a lousy job. This guy will be a reliable vote for Harry Reid... I don't feel like having my vote in the United States Senate canceled out every time by somebody who doesn't share our values, our beliefs, our principals, and our philosophy."

Senator Jon Kyl Offers Hearty Endorsement

Next up was Senator Jon Kyl, who also stressed the need to elect Jeff Flake as the next US Senator from Arizona. "You can imagine, how it's personal to me, who takes my place," Kyl said. "I've tried to work hard, and we've accomplished some things. We've got a lot more to accomplish. And I don't want to see that all turned over to somebody who going in the exact opposite way. Who's going to cancel out John's [McCain] votes. Who instead of being a teammate, is going to work to undercut him. John and I work together as a team, sometimes we're working on exactly the same things, sometimes he'll say, 'Look, I'll take this, and you take that.' ...It works together as a team, together representing our state. And I cannot imagine turning it over to somebody who is going to try to undercut him and vote against him at every turn."

Kyl then paid Flake a huge compliment, stating, "Jeff Flake is going to be even better than I am."

Kyl also went on to explain earmarks, voting for/against certain issues, and the importance of gaining the majority in the Senate. "The control of the United States Senate could literally, literally depend on whether Jeff Flake is elected here in the State of Arizona... Because we've got right, truth and justice on our side, all we have to do is work as hard as the other side, and we'll win. But the other thing is that it befalls places like Yavapai County, and, Mr. Mayor, our beautiful non-partisan way of governing up here - it falls to you all to get a lot more votes. Because there are other places in our state, like Tucson, for example, where we're not going to pick up as many votes. You've got to make it up here. So it isn't just enough to win by a couple of votes here, you've got to to stomp on them, you've got to whoop 'em."

Flake Energizes the Crowd

Representative Flake spoke at the end, coming to the platform amidst great applause, "I always feel so welcome in Prescott," he said. He offered his appreciation to both Senators, and thanked them for their service.

In describing why this election is so important, Flake cited the 'generational theft' of the $16 trillion federal debt. "We can't tolerate that, we can't go on that way. We've got to change it, and it will only change with new leadership in Washington and new leadership in the Senate. We've had a Senate, under Harry Reid, that hasn't passed a budget in three years, 1200 days... We've tried for years to convince Harry Reid and Barack Obama that we're going in the wrong direction. We've not been able to convince them. The beauty of an election year is that you don't have to convince them any more, you just have to replace them."

Regarding veteran's issues, Flake said soberly, "My father is a Korean War Veteran, my brother is in the military, just served his fourth tour, two in Afghanistan, two in Iraq. Just came home from that. I will never deny our veterans or the military what is needed. The priority of the federal government, the first and primary function, is to protect us from attack. And we've got to support a strong military and make sure our veterans are taken care of. I appreciate the service that all of you have rendered."

And in a jab at the President, Flake said, to appreciative applause, "The role of government is to create an environment where the private sector can flourish. You did build that!"

Donny and Debbie Chowden, owners of Legend Aviation, hosted the event.

Jeff Flake Campaign website | Congressional website | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube

Watch the entire event in the video below.
(Editor's note: The slight cut during Flake's speech is due to an unavoidable camera technical issue.)