Decaffeinated conservatism served at CAP: Come hear the lobbyists

Aside from the fact that they are both liquid beverages, coffee and wine have little in common. But like fine wine, many who congregate  here at “Seeing Red AZ” are of a vintage able to recall “conservative coffee klatches” of years past.

One of the longest running franchises connecting caffeine and conservatives was the “Jon Kyl Coffee Club.”  Whether in the House or Senate, before the topic of border security (and the lack thereof) alarmed the Grassroots, there was the ultra-cautious and calculating Kyl serving up regularly scheduled Saturday morning breakfasts, featuring prominent GOP politicians brought to sunny Arizona to spread “sweetness and light” about the ambitious lawyer-turned-legislator.

The harsh light of his Open Border/Amnesty advocacy and his personal “caution” eventually prompted Kyl to retire from the Senate —-  to start collecting massive K Street fees as a lobbyist.

The same could be said of another lawyer-turned-legislator-now lobbyist. Both physically and intellectually, former Congressman John Shadegg was never able to cast much of a shadow in the heated political battles that marked his time on Capitol Hill.

Fortunately for him, he resided in a safe Republican District, never attracting the invective and money that was spent against former-Rep. JD Hayworth. In fact, during the mid-terms of 2006, Rep. Shadegg offered up criticism of his more prominent and embattled Republican colleague, telling the New York Times that conservatives championed “xenophobic and intolerant” policies as outspoken opponents of amnesty. Shadegg signed on as an enthusiastic supporter of John McCain’s 2010 senate re-election campaign against Hayworth, erroneously thinking that such action would result in a McCain quid pro quo senate endorsement of Shadegg in 2016, as the senior Senator claimed 2010 would be his last race.

McCain’s 2016 Campaign did provide work for another Shadegg, as John’s son Stephen, worked as a McCain aide.

During his days in the US House, Shadegg also tried his hand at emulating the “Kyl Coffee Club” approach with a series of breakfast fundraisers he dubbed “The Shadegg Group” — a variation on TV’s “McLaughlin Group — with little success.

What brought all this to mind was Saturday morning’s Center for Arizona Policy Breakfast featuring — wait for it — Jon Kyl and John Shadegg! What would prompt executive director Cathi Herrod to call on this pair of “has-beens?” Could it be she’s paying penance for this 2013 run-in with McCain and Flake? (links have been removed.)

Conservative current office holders, who are also Pro-Life would doubtless be happy to find the time to address this group of “values voters.”

A quick check of the CAP website provides a possible answer. One of the CAP’s  new initiatives is called El Proyecto La Verdad.  Some might regard this “outreach” as practical, but it seems to be in line with the “inevitability” of Open Borders championed by “Corporate Conservatives” like Kyl and Shadegg.

SRAZ long ago grew weary of the fast food franchise owners in town who are so prominently Pro-Life but also Pro-Amnesty. The “counterfeit compassion” endorsed by these burger-meisters have held down wages while transferring healthcare and education costs to local taxpayers.

Though the Left would never admit it, the “import” of “hard working migrants” gave AZ Dems the “backdoor rationale for their successful statewide Arizona Minimum Wage initiative.

Ironically, the subject the Kyl/Shadegg Duo addressed Saturday was President Trump’s First 100 Days in office. It wouldn’t be a surprise if the pair offered some “whine” along with the coffee that was served.