READ: Flake Says Liberals Making ARIZONA "The Key to Maintaining Their Majority In the Senate"; Features "Strong Endorsement" From Rep. Paul Ryan

Arizona Rep. Jeff Flake (R-CD6) has never been afraid to use the word "liberal" to describe anyone left of him on the political spectrum.  His latest fundraising e-mail uses it four times and attempts to move potential supporters to immediately enter their credit card info at his website.  But, he may be overreaching when he says that the libs are raising Arizona up to being "the key to maintaining their majority in the Senate," and that "the pundits" have done their part by downgrading the seat from "safe Republican".  (The text of his fundraising e-mail is after the jump.)

It was the sentence about pundits downgrading the GOP's chances ("The pundits have downgraded the race from "safe Republican," fueling speculation that a liberal could win this seat." which sent me scurrying.  Did I miss a possible news story?  Nope.

He is apparently referring to the fact that all of the well-known political horse race watchers did downgrade the GOP chances to retain the Arizona seat... immediately after Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) announced his intention to not seek re-election in 2012.  The fact that the incumbent was not going to be campaigning for another term - and that fact alone - prompted the re-categorization all the way down to "likely Republican" or "lean Republican". 

For comparison purposes only, it should be noted that when next door neighbor Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) followed Kyl's lead, Roll Call Politics stated that seat went from "safe Democratic" to "TOSS-UP".  The well-known Cook Political Report has Arizona as "likely Republican", Rothenberg lists it as "leans Republican"

I was unable to find any reports of Washington "liberals" (and "liberals around the country") declaring Arizona to be "the key" in the national efforts to retain a majority in the Senate.  In the scheme of campaign and fundraising hyperbole, this almost qualifies as truth.

Also interesting was Flake featuring a "strong endorsement" from Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan at the top of the e-mail.  Ryan has been in the forefront of the Washington debate on federal budgets/debt/deficits the past couple of months.  However, he has taken it on the chin a little bit since Newt Gingrich's comments, and other Republicans pulling back from the Ryan budget that changes the basic nature of Medicare (among other things).