Staff Reports
Kari Lake’s campaign has come out swinging in the Arizona Senate race, aiming to tie Democrat Rep. Ruben Gallego directly to President Joe Biden’s disastrous performance. In a bold new digital ad, aptly named “Arizonans Deserve Better,” Lake’s team wastes no time highlighting Biden’s failings and Gallego’s unwavering support for him.
The advertisement kicks off with Vice President Kamala Harris performing the cringeworthy task of asking viewers to tune into Biden’s debate, followed by a series of clips featuring pundits criticizing Biden’s debate performance. For those paying attention, it’s hard to miss the narrator’s pointed commentary: Biden has lost it, and Gallego is no different. It’s Biden’s blunders, wrapped up with a neat little bow of Gallego’s rubber-stamp support—100% of the time.
🚨NEW AD🚨
We all saw the Biden Debate Disaster.
And we know that @RubenGallego votes with Biden 100% of the time.
Arizonans deserve better than this train wreck.
When I get to the U.S. Senate, we're going to get America back on track.
Join Us⤵️https://t.co/2OpN9mTbX6 pic.twitter.com/HTdFXdTbTY
— Kari Lake (@KariLake) July 8, 2024
This digital slap to the face is part of Lake’s $10 million ad campaign, emphasizing a growing Republican strategy: tying downballot Democrats to Biden’s sinking ship. David McCormick, another GOP Senate hopeful in Pennsylvania, employed a similar tactic against his opponent, Sen. Bob Casey, showcasing embarrassing debate clips to highlight Casey’s misplaced confidence in Biden. Clearly, this isn’t just an Arizona play; it’s becoming a national GOP strategy.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee is also joining the party, churning out a video montage that pairs Democrats’ comments on Biden’s fitness with his on-stage stumbles. The message is unmistakable: Democrats like Gallego are all-in on Biden, a man who, according to the clips, can barely string a sentence together. It’s a gut-punch of an ad campaign that leaves little to the imagination.
A spokesperson for Lake’s campaign didn’t mince words, asserting that Gallego’s records speak for themselves. He voted with Biden every step of the way, supported his presidential bids in 2020 and 2024, and lied to voters about Biden’s evident decline. Gallego’s support for Biden’s open border policies and the subsequent high inflation is another nail in the coffin, according to Lake’s camp. Despite his token votes against some Democrat policies, it’s clear Gallego can’t escape his long history of backing Biden.
Loyalty to Biden may be Gallego’s Achilles’ heel, but polling shows a tight contest. Although Gallego leads Lake by a narrow margin of 4 percentage points, Trump’s favorable polling numbers in Arizona might give Lake the momentum she needs. Gallego’s campaign has tried to paint Lake as a power-hungry liar, but the question remains: how much appetite do Arizonans have for more of Biden’s America?
