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As much as Congressman Jeff Flake and his supporters want voters to believe his Democratic opponent, Rich Carmona, is BFFs with President Barack Obama — Carmona hasn’t shot hoops with the prez like Flake has.
Here’s a photo of Flake and Obama sharing sweat on the court.
This is funny given that, in several campaign ads, Flake sharply criticizes Carmona over a phone call — just one call — he received from President Obama, encouraging him to run for U.S. Senate.
From that, Flake says Carmona was “handpicked” by Obama and will “rubber-stamp” Obama’s agenda. Carmona says Obama’s was one of many phone calls he received and that by the time Obama called, he’d already decided to run.
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However, Flake’s effort to play off of anti-Obama sentiment among staunch conservatives isn’t working out well.
A poll released by Public Policy Polling shows Carmona leading Flake 45-43. Three weeks ago, the same pollsters reported that Flake was ahead by a single point.
“There’s two things you have to do to win as a Democrat in a pretty Republican-leaning state like Arizona: win independents and a get a healthy amount of crossover support from GOP voters,” according to Public Policy Polling’s press release. “Right now Carmona’s doing both of those things.”
The poll shows Carmona has a 52 to 37 advantage over Flake with Independents, and he’s also lured about 14 percent of Republicans into his corner.
