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Article snippet: Sen. MORE (R-Ariz.) shocked his colleagues on Tuesday by announcing that he will not run for reelection, saying he can no longer be “complicit” in President Trump’s transformation of the Republican Party. Flake was headed for a tough primary battle next year, with polls showing him down by double-digits to a primary challenger backed by former White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon. Facing a possible election loss, Flake, 54, joined Sen. MORE (R-Tenn.) in heading for the exit. And like Corker, he used the occasion of his retirement to sound the alarm about where the GOP is headed — with much of the focus on the man in the Oval Office. “Here’s the bottom line: The path that I would have to travel to get the Republican nomination is a path I’m not willing to take, and that I can’t in good conscience take,” Flake told The Arizona Republic. “It would require me to believe in positions I don’t hold on such issues as trade and immigration, and it would require me to condone behavior that I cannot condone.” In a dramatic flourish, Flake went directly to the Senate floor after announcing his retirement. There, he delivered an extraordinary, 17-minute speech that appeared to be aimed squarely at his Republican colleagues. “It is clear at this moment that a traditional conservative who believes in limited government and free markets, who is devoted to free trade, and who is pro-immigration, has a narrower and narrower path to nomination in the Republican Party — th... Link to the full article to read more