Who is Arizona’s GOP Senate candidate Kari Lake? She doesn’t even know

Kari Lake, the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Kyrsten Sinema, is having a very difficult time figuring out just what it is she stands for, depending upon who she’s talking to. That’s leading her to swing wildly from the far-right fringes steeped in conspiracy theories to trying to put on a “moderate” face to consolidate support. Abortion is the most obvious example of Lake’s confusion, where she’s flip-flopped between absolute bans,  allowing each individual state to decide, and having compassion for all women’s choices.  Now she’s landed right back on the far edge of the fringes, telling an audience at an Idaho Republican gathering (yes, Idaho, and yes, she’s running in Arizona) that it’s “unfortunate” that the 1864 Arizona law banning abortion—which she called “out of line” a few weeks ago—isn’t being enforced.  “[U]nfortunately, the people running our state have said we’re not going to enforce it,” Lake told the right-wing Idaho Dispatch. “We don’t have that law, as much as many of us wish we did.”  That came after a group called Idaho Chooses Life criticized Lake for wavering on abortion, which seemingly led her to further mend fences on the fringes with some good old conspiracy theorizing.  “@HillaryClinton is talking about Trump wanting to kill his opponents,” she tweeted. “We call that projection. While on the subject of Hillary, I want everyone out there to know that the brakes on my car work just fine. I'm not suicidal.” Lake became front-runner in the Arizona Republican primary after she consolidated support with a charm offensive and apology tour with the state’s Republican party leaders during her failed 2022 gubernatorial bid.  During that campaign, she accused her primary opponent, Karrin Taylor Robson of “trying to buy the election with her 95-year-old husband’s millions,” and blasted then-Gov. Doug Ducey as “do-nothing Ducey.” She also crowed that she “drove a stake through the heart of the McCain machine” and told McCain Republicans to “get the hell out” of the state.  Her overtures at home might be falling on dubious ears, since she’s continued to pursue an election fraud case, which the U.S. Supreme Court finally put an end to that this week, and has a white nationalist involved in her campaign. Despite all of that, she has succeeded in conning establishment Republicans to support her bid, with GOP Senate leadership holding fundraisers for her and appearing with her in press conferences.  There couldn’t be a stronger contrast for Lake than her Democratic opponent, Rep. Ruben Gallego, who has been an unwavering and unapologetic progressive from his first run for Congress a decade ago. That’s why Daily Kos endorsed him ten years ago and has endorsed his Senate run. Since that first successful run, Gallego has been a stalwart in Congress where he’s been on an inspiring and very public mental health journey, which he has made part of his campaign. Gallego served in Iraq in the Marine Corps, and he’s been forthright about his struggles with PTSD.  “I can disprove the idea that people that have PTSD are like these raging balls of fire that are ready to explode,” Gallego told The Washington Post. “Or the opposite, that we’re like these meek individuals that are crying every night or something like that.” He is also crystal clear about why he’s running for the Senate, and what’s at stake in 2024. When I was running for office all those years before January 6th, rarely did people ever talk about the institution of democracy. I think this is a newfound passion. It’s a newfound passion for me. I still can’t believe how close I came to getting killed by an insurrection. It makes me more aggressive. If someone like Kari Lake is my opponent, I’m going to take her down. Not because I don’t think she’s a good person. I think she’s a real threat to democracy. I think she will do anything she can to overthrow elections for her own political game. I think there are a lot of people who would gladly join her, and I think that is a reason why we have to have people running, not just for policy goals but for pure protection of democracy. We know who Gallego is and what he’ll do in the Senate, which is exactly what Arizona needs in this seat after what Sinema has put them through. Donate now to elect Ruben Gallego to the Senate in Arizona! RELATED STORIES: We must turn the page on Kyrsten Sinema. Ruben Gallego's just the Democrat to do it Arizona Senate candidate Ruben Gallego talks with Markos Moulitsas on Daily Kos' The Brief podcast Kari Lake’s 7 steps to complete confusion on abortion Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego wages long-awaited Senate bid for Arizona seat held by Kyrsten Sinema