With legislation in the Senate in serious jeopardy — just one more Republican defection could scuttle the effort — the dilemma facing Flake is acute.
Bidding for a second term, he is one of only two GOP senators from swing states facing reelection in 2018, when healthcare is once more likely to be a key issue. Unlike the other Republican at risk — Nevada's Dean Heller, who has harshly criticized the Senate plan — Flake has been studiously opaque.
Perhaps that’s because whatever he does, a great number of people will be very unhappy.
Arizona’s senior senator, Republican John McCain, has expressed strong reservations about the GOP plan, which would deeply cut federal assistance to low- and moderate-income Americans. (A vote planned for this week was abruptly canceled after McCain underwent surgery Friday to remove a blood clot above his left eye.)
Republican Gov. Doug Ducey, the state Chamber of Commerce and the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Assn. — not a wild-eyed radical in the bunch — have stated their opposition.
