Those Burned Bridges Are Hard To Repair

Arizona's zealous Trumpist election denier Kari "Dry" Lake is seeking the Senate seat currently occupied by kooky turncoat Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, and also sought by Dem Rep. Ruben Gallego. Lake ran a scorched earth primary campaign for Arizona Governor last year against a host of Republican candidates, including some with ties to the late Sen. John McCain. She managed to alienate a solid core of his followers while spouting vicious nonsense about her opponents. When she lost the Governor's race to Dem Gov. Katie Hobbs, in Trumpian fascist fashion she refused to concede and spread conspiracies about her loss, going to court multiple times and losing with her baseless claims.

Lake's problem, aside from her radicalism and cult behavior, is that she burned many bridges to groups of long time Arizona Republicans by her nasty attacks on McCain and Republican Gov. Doug Ducey, who rejected the Malignant Loser's demand that he sign a false slate of electors. Those bridges won't be easy for her to rebuild despite her current charm offensive with them, according to reports:

"The outreach, made over the course of several weeks through in-person meetings and phone calls, is a welcome sign to Washington Republicans, who would like to see Lake broaden her MAGA base in the once reliably red state and help them retake the U.S. Senate in 2024. But Lake’s effort to reassure political rivals and onetime supporters in this desert state has been met with skepticism, according to interviews with half a dozen Republicans familiar with her conversations who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to detail the private talks.

Most cite her refusal to acknowledge her electoral loss — even up to today — as well as the relentless demonization of members of her own party, including former Arizona governor Doug Ducey and the late U.S. senator John McCain (R-Ariz.)."

Lake has contacted her former primary rival, top GOP donors and past supporters, party officials and activists, and even a former senator as she tries to persuade them to coalesce around her. But Lake’s appeals for support have so far contained no actual apologies — and some Republicans say they are not likely to forgive her any time soon, complicating her path to victory in a state home to many moderate Republicans and independents whose support is key to winning. And as she continues to pursue a so-far unsuccessful legal battle to overturn her 2022 loss to Gov. Katie Hobbs (D), national Republicans fear she may continue pursing the same type of conspiracies and election denialism that harmed her previous campaign."  (our emphasis)

There were reports last summer that Lake had virtually moved into the Malignant Loser's Merde O'Lardo estate, apparently trying to boost herself as his 2024 ticket mate. Lake belongs to the same delusional and demagogic Trumpist cohort as House of Representatives bomb throwers Marjorie Traitor Greene, Lauren "Bobo" Boebert and Matt Gaetz. As is theirs, her main goal is to always please the cult leader, the Malignant Loser; everything else is secondary, even at the cost of an election, past and future.

(photo: Lake, here seen auditioning for Trump wife #4 / Mario Tama, Getty Images)