Politics
After debate debacle, Kari Lake’s campaign limps to the finish line
When all is said and done, Kari Lake just might surpass Blake Masters and Martha McSally as having run the worst campaign in Arizona political history.
The earlier campaigns were certainly cursed by their candidates’ abject weirdness, off-putting demeanors and revulsion from fellow Republicans. But when it comes to electoral mishaps, Lake takes the cake.
Wednesday’s Senate debate in Phoenix was an opportunity to turn things around a bit. Sure, recent polling data has been quite unkind to her. Sure, many local Republicans have defected to back Rep. Ruben Gallegoher Democratic opponent. Sure, powerful GOP fundraising groups seem to have abandoned her campaign in crunch time, in favor of other races. Sure, she has suffered public embarrassment at the hands of Donald Trump’s own campaign.
But the debate gave Lake a chance to tee off on Gallego — a chance to slime and slander him in person, just as she has been doing online and in interviews for the past year.
And she whiffed.
Among the most memorable moments from the debate was when Lake, while defending the Republican Party’s assault on reproductive choice, repeatedly referred to IVF, or in vitro fertilization, as “UVF.”
Another notable clip features Lake refusing to acknowledge the fact that she lost the 2022 gubernatorial race in Arizona.
If Republicans at the state and national level entered the debate with some skepticism, it’s hard to imagine they feel any more confident after this performance. And it was the only debate Lake and Gallego have scheduled, so with early voting underway, the lasting image Lake left with voters — on the largest platform she’ll have had this cycle — is one of a deranged and self-obsessed conspiracy theorist who’s ignorant about one of the most significant issues in politics: reproductive rights.
I suppose anything is possible and Lake can still win. Gallego, after all, made a puzzling political calculation that I wrote about recently. But less than a month from Election Day, the Lake campaign is clearly limping to the finish line.
Ja’han Jones is The ReidOut Blog writer. He’s a futurist and multimedia producer focused on culture and politics. His previous projects include “Black Hair Defined” and the “Black Obituary Project.”
Politics
Hageman launches bid for Wyoming Senate seat
Wyoming GOP Rep. Harriet Hageman on Tuesday announced her campaign for Senate, hoping to succeed retiring Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis in next year’s election.
The Wyoming Republican is a strong supporter of President Donald Trump, and with his backing she helped oust Republican then-Rep. Liz Cheney, a vocal critic of Trump’s, in the 2022 primary.
“This fight is about making sure the next century sees the advancements of the last, while protecting our culture and our way of life,” Hageman said in her launch video. “We must dedicate ourselves to ensuring that the next 100 years is the next great American century.”
Lummis announced she would not seek reelection last week, saying she felt like a “sprinter in a marathon” despite being a “devout legislator.” Hageman, who had been debating a gubernatorial bid, was expected to enter the Senate race.
Hageman touted her ties to the president in her announcement video, highlighting her record of support for Trump’s policies during her time in the House and vowing to keep Wyoming a “leader in energy and food production.”
“I worked with President Trump to pass 46 billion in additional funding for border security, while ensuring that Wyomingites do not pay the cost of new immigration. We work together to secure the border and fund efforts to remove and deport those in the country illegally,” she said.
Trump won the deep-red state by nearly 46 points in last year’s election, and Hageman herself was reelected by nearly 48 points, according to exit polling.
Still, Hageman bore the brunt of voters’ displeasure earlier this year during a town hall. As she spoke of the Department of Government Efficiency, federal cuts and Social Security, the crowd booed her.
Politics
Ben Sasse says he has stage 4 pancreatic cancer
Former Sen. Ben Sasse announced on Tuesday that he has been diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic pancreatic cancer.
The Nebraska Republican shared the news on X, writing in a lengthy social media post that he had received the diagnosis last week.
“Advanced pancreatic is nasty stuff; it’s a death sentence,” Sasse said. “But I already had a death sentence before last week too — we all do.”
The two term senator retired in 2023 and then went on to serve as president of the University of Florida. He eventually left the school to spend more time with his wife, Melissa, after she was diagnosed with epilepsy.
Sasse continued to teach classes at University of Florida’s Hamilton Center after he stepped down as president. He previously served as a professor at the University of Texas, as an assistant secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services and as president of Midland University.
Sasse on Tuesday shared that he and his wife have only grown closer since and opened up about his children’s recent successes and milestones.
“There’s not a good time to tell your peeps you’re now marching to the beat of a faster drummer — but the season of advent isn’t the worst,” Sasse said. “As a Christian, the weeks running up to Christmas are a time to orient our hearts toward the hope of what’s to come.”
Sasse said he’ll have more to share in the future, adding that he is “not going down without a fight” and will be undergoing treatment.
“Death and dying aren’t the same — the process of dying is still something to be lived. We’re zealously embracing a lot of gallows humor in our house, and I’ve pledged to do my part to run through the irreverent tape,” Sasse said.
Politics
Cannon keeps Jack Smith’s classified records report under wraps for now
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon on Monday lifted restrictions on the release of former special counsel Jack Smith’s findings from his investigation into President Trump’s handling of classified records — but she gave the president a 60-day window to challenge her order. Cannon did not immediately lift her order barring the Justice Department from sharing…
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