This, in microcosm, is the existential battle within the Republican party. On one side is a firebrand, unapologetic (and yes, recent convert to) conservative, who is endorsed by President Trump. On the other side is an establishment Republican, endorsed by Pence, whose work as a lobbyist should immediately disqualify her from holding any political office.
Is Kari Lake a long-time Republican with deep ties to the establishment? Nope! Is it possible that she is a recent convert for less noble reasons than an honest change in her political philosophy? Sure! But she is a fighter who is willing to say unpopular-to-the-media things, willing to state unequivocally that she will not recognize federal overreach, and fights back. She is a disruptor.
Karrin Robson is a typical cookie-cutter politician whose political philosophy can be viewed accurately by her decades-long immersion in Arizona politics and the unhealthy and destructive relationship between government and business.
Showdown? Trump, Pence endorse opposing candidates in Arizona’s GOP primary
Pence is a chameleon, whose coloring during the 2016 campaign and for a couple of years after was that of a principled conservative. But his true colors…the lily-livered faux-conservative whose only goal is to protect the status quo was revealed in the weeks after the 2020 election. So anyone he endorses is immediately suspect. Is that fair? No, and I don’t care. It is far past the time when we had the luxury of showing respect for and deference to politicians.
The future of our nation is in doubt, but it cannot recover its former greatness with the traditional corporate whores of the Republican party in power. That’s where disruptors like Kari Lake and Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert and a few dozen others will be the tip of the spear in our battle against the GOPe, their corporate masters, and their esteemed colleagues across the aisle.
Will some corporate lackeys win? Of course. Will we be fooled by some of the new rabble-rousing crop of Trump lovers? Yup. Look no farther than Dan Crenshaw for confirmation of my point. But that doesn’t mean that the effort is doomed. In fact, the effort will be successful in the next election cycle, and if a critical mass of this sort of young, energetic and unapologetic conservative is formed in Congress, then we might just claw our way back from the abyss.
