Jeff Flake and John McCain want the governor to veto the bill on financial grounds. GOP on Ariz. bill: Make it go away

As Republican Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer weighs whether to sign a bill that would allow businesses to deny services to gay customers, top national Republicans just want the issue to go away.

Proponents of the legislation — which Brewer has until Saturday to sign or veto and is reportedly leaning against — say the bill is designed to protect religious liberty. But many Washington Republicans see it as a political loser, giving the left another cudgel to attack conservatives as intolerant while motivating liberals and younger voters ahead of the midterm elections. It also threatens to widen the chasm between social conservatives and GOP operatives, who have become increasingly public in their support for gay marriage.


“There are lots of economic and fiscal issues that people care pretty deeply about. I think those are good issues for us to focus on,” Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) said Tuesday when asked about the bill, SB 1062. “We’ll stay focused on Obamacare. Those are the issues we want to talk about.”

( Also on POLITICO: Mitt Romney to Jan Brewer: Veto Arizona bill)

The state’s Republican senators, Jeff Flake and John McCain, are prodding the governor to veto the bill on financial grounds, warning that boycotts of Arizona could do untold economic damage to the state. They even worried about losing next year’s Super Bowl.

“I know that the entire business community is galvanized, in a way that I’ve never seen, against this legislation,” said McCain.

“I hope she moves quickly,” Flake said. “I just don’t see any reason to wait.”

Still, the legislation puts other elected Republicans in a touchy spot, not wanting to antagonize social conservatives who oppose same-sex marriage or force business owners to go against their conscience.

“This is one of the societal issues that has to be resolved,” said Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah). “I do believe states should be able to decide things for themselves, I do believe that that’s the constitutional way of handling these matters. And the states that want to go a certain way have a right to do so.”

But, Hatch added: “I don’t think we should have discrimination anyway. On the other hand, I think there’s a legitimate question raised about whether businesses have to conform to certain moral standards they disagree with. I think it’s a real important pivotal issue, and I don’t know how to resolve it, honestly.”

( Also on POLITICO: Jan Brewer: 'I will do the right thing' on SB 1062)

A Republican strategist active in congressional races said the bill will most likely be a nonfactor in the midterms if Brewer vetoes it. Boycott threats and strong opposition from the business community in Arizona could deter other states from taking up similar legislation.

“If it becomes law, it will be a big issue,” the person said. “All indications are that she’s likely to veto it, and if she does … eight months from now, it’s pretty much ancient history.”

“The idea that someone in Montana, or North Carolina or Alaska will predicate their vote for Senate on a law in a state 2,000 miles away is crazy,” said GOP consultant Brian Walsh.

If Brewer signs the legislation, the major concern of party strategists is that opponents would launch an effort to overturn it. A referendum in November would allow the debate about whether denying services to gays is discriminatory to simmer through November, drawing global attention and increasing turnout among younger, liberal voters. This could complicate GOP hopes of holding the open governorship and picking up targeted House seats.

Others say the controversy comes at a bad time for the party. Mark McKinnon, ad maker for George W. Bush’s 2000 and 2004 campaigns, said “the GOP rebranding effort is [the] classic one step forward, two steps back.”

“In this country, the arc of human rights always bends forward, never backwards,” said McKinnon, a co-founder of the centrist group No Labels. “So these kinds of incidents are always backward steps for the Republican Party because they remind voters they are stuck in the past.”

Republican consultant Steve Schmidt, a supporter of gay marriage rights who was McCain’s senior strategist on his 2008 presidential campaign, called the bill a political mess.

“It makes the party of Lincoln and Reagan look small, closed and intolerant and exacerbates our political differences with every single demographic group in America that is growing,” he said.

Mike Murphy, another prominent GOP strategist, said the bill makes holding the party’s 2016 convention in Phoenix “a terrible idea.”

“Bill should be vetoed and buried,” he emailed. “Bad on merits and politically it gives the Democrats a useful wedge issue.”

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus declined to weigh in on the Arizona bill.

Several GOP senators expressed either unfamiliarity with the issue or little appetite for discussing the controversy.

“I’ll just leave it to the Arizona folks,” said Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn of Texas, who faces a primary election next week.

“I’m just not familiar with it,” said Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, who supported anti-discrimination legislation in the Senate with regard to sexual orientation.

“I haven’t really looked at it,” said Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky. “Let me get back to you.”

And National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Jerry Moran of Kansas said, “I don’t know a thing about it.”

Party strategists are advising challengers to avoid wading into the debate, lest they offend the religious right or independents.

Others say religious liberty needs to be protected, but perhaps in a more nuanced way.

Socially conservative strategist Keith Appell, defending the Arizona legislation, argued that the push for religious liberty will make evangelicals and some Catholic voters more enthusiastic.

“When the government starts to single out people of faith and tries to prevent them from practicing that faith in the name of satisfying Washington’s particular cultural or political goals, then you’re ticking off a whole class of people you didn’t need to tick off,” he said.

Even if the fight in Arizona simmers down, Democrats express confidence that some GOP House candidates will pay a political price. A front-runner to take on Democratic Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick is House Speaker Andy Tobin, who voted for the law and helped speed it through his chamber. The incumbent blasted him in a Tuesday statement, blaming the speaker for damaging the state’s image.

The Democratic House Majority PAC simultaneously attacked another Republican House candidate, Martha McSally, for not taking a firm position on the bill. She, in fact, had urged a veto the night before, saying it would “open the door for potential discrimination.”

State Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), the assistant minority leader, noted that Arizona voters rejected a 2006 referendum banning gay marriage because it was widely seen as too broad. He predicts a similar backlash in November.

“It motivates young people to come out in an off-year election, and despite rumors to the contrary, our average voters’ age is still younger than most states’ in the country,” he said.

Seung Min Kim contributed to this report.