By Alexander Lomax
The parade of new entrants in Arizona political races continued last week, as we have a new candidate looking to unseat Mark Kelly: Blake Masters declared his candidacy for the US Senate.
Who is Blake Masters, you may be asking yourself. Not much is known about Mr. Masters, but what is known is unusual. Most notably, he is the COO for a foundation started by ideological multi-billionaire Peter Thiel. Thiel is known as a strident Libertarian, an incredibly wealthy man who wants as little taxation and as few rules as possible; an Ayn Rand purist. It is safe to say that Masters would take that ideology to the US Senate if elected.
The other most notable thing about him is his age, a ripe young 34 years old. While I don’t think that your average voter is clamoring for more septuagenarians in the halls of power, I have to wonder what skill sets and experience one could accrue by such a young age to be prepared to deal with the host of different issues that a Senator must tackle.
Masters seems like an intelligent guy, I have few doubts about that. But what does he add to the race? When I see someone who is very young and inexperienced for a particular role, I see someone who can easily be molded into someone else’s likeness, someone who could easily be manipulated to do someone else’s bidding. In this case, it is obvious and clear; he will serve as a puppet Senator of sorts for Thiel, who has been attempting to steer American policy towards his whims and to his advantage for years now.
So then why wouldn’t Thiel run for Senator himself? Well then the cover comes off, and you would know exactly what you are voting for; a systematic dismantling of public safety nets and a further funneling of wealth towards the top. With Masters, you get a fresh face serving to mask that policy.
I for one have been happy with Mark Kelly’s performance, or at least not displeased by it. But when I think of who in the Republican primary would best serve the interests of everyday Arizonans, Mark Brnovich has already demonstrated his ability to do this, and would be a significantly better choice in the primary.