LYING: GOOD CAREER MOVE?

Roy Edroso thinks this is just a Washington Examiner effort to suck up to the White House...

How far will *you* go to sweeten that beat? https://t.co/mIXE9LJCJa

— Roy Edroso (@edroso) December 1, 2017

But, really, why not?

Arkansas political observers were surprised to read Thursday that Republican Sen. Tom Cotton may become CIA director in a Trump administration shakeup, but names already are circulating for potential appointees to replace him in the Senate.

Among those under discussion is White House press secretary Sarah Sanders, the daughter of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

“I would support Sarah in a New York minute!” former U.S. Rep. Tommy Robinson, an Arkansas Democrat turned Republican, told the Washington Examiner.

At the rank-and-file level, the GOP is increasingly becoming the We Drink Liberal Tears Party, so I think she'd have an excellent shot. All she'd have to do is run campaign ads quoting her negative press and reproducing critical tweets -- she'd be a shoo-in. Own the Libs! Vote Sarah!

I don't think it will happen because (a) she seems to be the only member of the administration who's never in Trump's doghouse and (b) there are probably quite a few Republicans in Arkansas who want the job more than she does.

I think a number of horrible people connected to the Trump White House could have careers in elective politics. In particular, I continue to believe that the Trump boys -- assuming they evade federal incarceration -- could win elections in any deep-red state, after a brief period of establishing local credibility. All they'd have to do is punctuate every campaign speech with a defiant wave of an elephant-hunting gun and they'd be home free.

Arkansas used to elect Democrats, so you might think this would be a shot at a Democratic pickup. However, the state's last two Democratic senators lost reelection bids in blowouts: Blanche Lincoln lost to John Boozman 58%-37% in 2010 and Mark Pryor lost to Cotton 57%-39% in 2014. Trump got 61% of the vote in Arkansas in 2016 (against the state's former First Lady) and his approval-disapproval numbers in the state are still 54%-40%.

Of course, the rumor of a Cabinet shuffle might have just been a White House effort to shame Rex Tillerson into resigning, because our tough-guy president is too spineless to fire people himself. But if the shuffle happens, someone horrible will be elected to replace Cotton. It's Arkansas, folks.