AZ Republican Kelli Ward Reminds John McCain There's No 'I Have Brain Cancer' In 'Team'

She's Just Sayin'

Just a day after Senator John McCain's office announced McCain had been diagnosed with brain cancer, former state Senator Kelli Ward, his rightwing challenger from last year's Arizona Republican primary, offered her prayers and best wishes for the ailing senator. (Having lost last year to McCain, she's now challenging Arizona's other senator, Jeff Flake.) Ward also mentioned that as a doctor, she happens to know the type of tumor McCain has is incredibly debilitating, so he'd better hurry up and resign, since, sympathy and all that, but come on, he's really sick. Oh, and did she mention that she'd be an excellent person for Gov. Doug Ducey to appoint to serve out McCain's term? Because she cares.

In a message titled "My Prayers to [sic] John McCain" on her campaign page, Ward wrote,

My prayers are with Senator McCain and his family. The medical reality of his diagnosis is grim. Senator McCain has an aggressive brain cancer that is both devastating and debilitating. When the time comes that Senator McCain can no longer perform his duties in the Senate at full capacity, he owes it to the people of Arizona to step aside.

For some reason, people seem to think that was a tad disrespectful, even though Ward clearly regards McCain as a deity and prays to him. But just look at all the empathy:

Senator McCain and his family have a lot of hard decisions to make. As a doctor, I’ve counseled people in similar situations and these end-of-life choices are never easy. I usually advise terminal patients to reduce stress, relax, and spend time laughing with loved ones.

She just cares that much about poor John McCain and his family, in what little time he has left, the poor man. He should resign and make the most of that time. Like, really soon. Bus she isn't simply oozing empathy for McCain; Ward also cares deeply for the good people of Arizona:

The Senate has complicated and difficult problems to deal with and Arizona deserves to be represented by someone who can focus on those challenges.

I hope and pray that Senator McCain will be comfortable as he battles this terrible disease.

That's a hell of a lot of empathy! It might actually congeal at low temperatures. And you know she really has to care deeply about John Mccain to say all that, since before last summer's primary, Ward received nationwide criticism for interviews in which she said some decidedly impolitic things about the senator:

In an interview on MSNBC's "MTP Daily," Ward, 47, said as a physician she knows "what happens to the body and the mind at the end of life" and that McCain has gotten "weak" and "old." Inanother interview with Politico,  Ward raised the possibility of McCain dying in office should Arizona voters trust him with a sixth, six-year Senate term.

So after having said all those mean things, it's awfully kind of Ward to offer her prayers to/for John McCain, not to mention finding the courage -- helped, no doubt, by her medical training -- to speak the difficult truth and tell him to shove off so someone without a brain tumor can take on the difficult work of senatoring for Arizona. Also, you want to talk about nobility -- she didn't even pump her fist and say "Told you the old fossil would croak in office! Told you!" She is truly a class act.

She'd sure love to bring that tact and empathy to the US Senate, Ward said in an interview Thursday on an Indiana radio station. She'd be just perfect to replace McCain once he gets off his sick, cancer-riddled ass and resigns, according to a summary by the Washington Post:

The host asked Ward, a family physician and a former Arizona state senator, about whether she believes McCain will be able to return to Washington.

“I would never presume to say what someone’s prognosis is without having examined them. As a Christian, I know there can always be miracles. But the likelihood that John McCain is going to be able to come back to the Senate and be at full force for the people of our state and the people of the United States is low,” said Ward.

See? She's a Christian, and in the spirit of love and mercy, she hopes McCain gets better, but come on, get real -- he is so old and sick! It's really her duty to let him know God probably wants him to step aside. When the host asked if Gov. Ducey might be considering her as one candidate to take McCain's seat, she blushed like a schoolgirl and said it might be a possibility:

Well, you know, I certainly hope so. Because, you know, I have a proven track record from years in the state Senate of being extremely effective and of listening to the voice of the people that I represent.

Besides, America needs Kelli Ward to help Donald Trump! There is not a moment to be lost!

“We can’t wait until the 2018 election waiting around to accomplish the Trump agenda, to secure the border and stop illegal immigration and repeal Obamacare and fix the economy and fix the veterans administration,” she said. “All those things need to be done, and we can’t be at a standstill while we wait for John McCain to determine what he’s going to do.”

Oddly, pundits and other politicians don't seem to recognize how selfless Ward is in her willingness to take up poor John McCain's burden for the good of the nation. People like West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin are just being terribly partisan about all this:

Ward, of course, is terribly hurt that all these leftist liberals and fake newsers are saying bad things about her! So she's using the blowback in a fundraising email:  

“Over the weekend a coordinated attack to destroy our campaign was launched by the fake news and the NeverTrump establishment... and it's no surprise these attacks were launched as new polling shows our campaign surging to a significant lead over Sanctuary Senator Flake.

“It's true that I believe that if Senator McCain's health prevents him from performing his duties as a Senator, that he should step aside. It's also true that I'm dismayed at the Senate's inability to pass the America First agenda. It's not true that I demanded McCain resign so that I could take his place, I plan on earning my seat in the Senate by defeating Sanctuary Senator Flake.”

Not that she'd say no to being appointed to McCain's seat, either, because she's not about to be swayed by your Political Correctness/common decency. Arizona needs someone who's not a doddering, cancer-ridden invalid, and she means that in the nicest possible way.

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[ Kelli Ward for Senate / Arizona Republic / WaPo / Arizona Republic ]