McSally is running as Mc...Cain

It’s 2010 all over again. Political deja vu, Arizona style.

At least it is if you’ve seen the latest campaign ad by Republican senatorial candidate Martha McSally.

Or is it Martha Mc ... Cain? Rep. McSally has been caught between a rock and a hard place since entering the Republican primary for a chance to replace Sen. Jeff Flake.

In order to win the primary, McSally must convince President Donald Trump’s supporters that she is one of them.

If she can pull that off, she’ll then have to convince the more moderate-conservative base in the general election that she is NOT a Trump zealot.

In other words, flip to win the primary, flop to win the general.

It’s enough to give a politician whiplash. So McSally decided to follow in the footsteps of someone who orchestrated and won just such a campaign: Sen. John McCain.

McSally’s latest ad is nothing more than an homage to McCain’s 2010 “complete the danged fence” campaign commercial from 2010.

There was no Trump on the horizon back then, but border security and immigration issues were just as hot.

McCain shuffled over to the right to win his race. McSally has hopped, skipped and jumped all the way to Trumpland.

Because she needed to do so. During the presidential campaign, McSally was critical of Trump, never officially endorsing him. She expressed concern for the way she spoke about veterans, Hispanics and women, saying, “That’s just not how leaders carry themselves.”

She wasn’t sold on Trump’s border wall either (as she claims to be now), saying of the proposal, “Not a continuous, 2,000-mile border wall, no.”

McSally called the “Access Hollywood” tape in which Trump boasted of being able to grab women by the youknow-what “disgusting” and “unacceptable.”

So it probably wasn’t any surprise that conservatives were critical when she entered the Senate race.

FreedomWorks President Adam Brandon said, “Martha McSally is part of the problem.”

A group of organizations including the Tea Party Patriots, ConservativeHQ.com, the Eagle Forum and Citizens United signed a joint statement saying they “stand firmly together to oppose her candidacy.”

Since that time, however, the Republican establishment has McShifted to McSally’s camp.

The big-money interests don’t believe that the two genuine unwavering Donald Trump fanatics in the Republican primary race — Kelli Ward and former Sheriff Joe Arpaio — could win a general election. So they’re supporting McSally’s imitation of McCain. There are differences, of course. McCain said we should “complete the danged fence.”

McSally just wants to sit on it.