After winning the Republican primary for governor, Kari Lake issued calls for GOP unity — then traveled to Texas to bash the late U.S. Sen. John McCain.
At the Conservative Political Action Conference, Lake boasted that she “drove a stake through the ‘McCain Machine’” by winning the gubernatorial nomination.
Political analyst Jim Heath said Lake’s McCain-bashing ways are a losing strategy in the general election, when she’ll need to appeal to more voters than the state’s conservative GOP base — especially given the late U.S. senator's status as an Arizona icon, Heath added.
“To go after Sen. McCain after he’s no longer here and suggest that somehow he was not an American hero, I think it sends a very exclusive — not inclusive message — to independents and to conservative Democrats in Arizona that they’re not welcome,” Heath said.
Lake’s comments at CPAC are a stark contrast to her previous calls to “bring the Republican Party together,” despite differences conservatives may have on certain issues.
