Photo Credit: AZ Central
In what will almost undoubtedly be one of the most interesting political races in the entire country, Kari Lake will be vying for Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s seat in the US Senate along with Rep. Ruben Gallego. While it’s a long way out, one thing is for absolute certain: that this race will be very, VERY expensive and will draw in tens of millions of dollars from all around the country.
While we have a long time to wait until the fully obnoxious inundation of political ads, when every single commercial break is completely full of ads for this race (as well as mention the presidential race), not all parties are ready to wait until that time comes closer. The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) is already pulling out their weapons and shooting.
With probable enemies on two ends, they recently initiated an ad campaign that takes both Sinema and Gallego to task, and the tactics are already drawing attention. It paints Sinema as being firmly on the side of President Biden, a time-tested tactic against candidates of the party of the president when said president is unpopular. But in an even more eye-opening tactic, they are accusing Gallego of being a “deadbeat dad”.
Gallego’s personal life has long been a topic of murmurs and rumors and local Dems; his divorce from Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego is well known, but also fairly well known is Gallego’s appreciation of a (sometimes too) late night out and hijinks that would usually be associated with someone half his age. But never (at least in our experience) has his fatherhood ability been in question, something that without strong evidence to the contrary comes off as a cheap shot.
As the article alludes to, it actually offers Gallego an opportunity to insert some of his life experience that is both relatable and perhaps admirable. As an Iraq War veteran, he has spoken about having PTSD and that that led to the failure of his marriage with Mayor Gallego. While most people would privately admit that he is far from perfect, perfection as presented in politics is usually a mirage anyway. Voters typically gravitate towards someone who is real and relatable; after all, George W. Bush won the presidency on the back of the appearance that he was someone you’d want to have a beer with. In a three-way race as to who you’d like to have a beer with, Gallego very likely wins that race handily.
Mind you, this is so incredibly far out from the race that it probably doesn’t matter for anything more than something for us in the chattering class to talk about. A year in the political cycle is a decade for everyone else. And almost certainly, the NRSC will perform polling and see just how effective this line of attack is, and will course correct if our instincts end up being correct.
That said, it’s not a great start; painting Sinema as a lefty, in direct opposition to the years of the precisely curated appearance of a political independent that she has carved for herself, and a deeply personal attack against Gallego that is without real evidence. This is why people hate politics.