So Where Does Jeff Flake Stand?

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Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) seemed to be trying to fix his bleak approval numbers today when he told CNN that he was willing to reverse his vote against the Manchin-Toomey compromise that would have expanded background checks on gun purchases. The only catch, he said, was that some small changes had to be made to the measure.

But a short time ago, Flake took to Twitter to, I guess, walk back what he told CNN. “Cutting thru clutter, I’ve always supported background checks,” he wrote. “I didn’t support Manchin-Toomey, and still don’t.”

So that doesn’t exactly clear anything up. But it’s also important to remember that Flake got $345,000 from the National Rifle Association, which opposes the measure, during his run for Senate last year. So he’s stuck between a measure that’s popular with voters and a vote that’s popular with the lobby that helped him get elected. It must be a hard position to be in.

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