NRSC endorses Kari Lake the uniter. Has anyone in Arizona actually seen this Lake?

Kari Lake’s apparently gone mainstream. After months of trying, Arizona’s MAGA queen has finally landed the coveted endorsement of the D.C. swamp.

Specifically, the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

This means the senators either believe she has retired her election conspiracy schtick or somebody high up in Republican ranks was caught on one of her secret tapes.

Yeah, I’m going with the tape thing.

NRSC endorsement is big for Lake

Either way, it’s a major boost for Lake, one that confers legitimacy with the establishment and presumably, a fat wad of cash.

“It’s big,” Republican strategist Tyler Montague told me. “Hard to win without the money that comes with it. It’s more of a recognition that nobody else is going to win the primary, so they might as well reluctantly face the hard reality.”

Count Republican Chuck Coughlin as a bit more skeptical.

“I think it is the NRSC’s acknowledgement that she is not getting out of the race, that she will win the primary, so they have no other option ...,” he said. “My bet is they do not end up investing in Arizona unless she can show competitive polling numbers from a credible polling firm.”

Lake for months has been courting the NRSC, only to be advised to move on from the stolen election conspiracy theories that are her signature grievance.

And she did. For about two minutes.

Who is the Kari Lake they've endorsed?

Lake mounted a charm offensive hoping to win over Karrin Taylor Robson, whom she savaged during the 2022 gubernatorial election, and those McCain supporters who have been walking around for the last 18 months with Lake’s celebrated stake in their hearts.

Then she went running back to court in November, asking the Arizona Court of Appeals to invalidate the results of the 2022 election and order a revote, claiming to have new evidence of sabotage.

Despite her refusal — or inability — to pivot, Lake has landed the NRSC seal of approval.

If you’re from Arizona you might not even recognize the Kari Lake they describe.

Politico, quoting sources, notes that Lake spent last weekend at NRSC’s winter meeting in Palm Beach, impressing senators and key donors.

“This year, Lake has scaled back her focus on the legitimacy of past elections, though she has not avoided that or other conspiracies entirely. And she has made concerted steps to broker a detente with major players in the Arizona GOP,” reported Politco, which broke the story of NRSC endorsement.

“Lake’s prepared remarks touched on her attempts to unify the party, take on the Democratic front-runner, Rep. Ruben Gallego, and reach out to those who didn’t support her in 2022, according to a person in the room.”

They describe Lake as a GOP 'uniter'

Huh?

Is this unifier the same Lake whose secret tapes recently led to the downfall of now-ex state GOP Chairman Jeff DeWit, the MAGA-despised party official who was trying to find a way to unify the party?

Is this diplomat the same Lake who has refused to publicly apologize for calling Robson a gold digger, former Gov. Doug Ducey a cartel doormat and former Rep. Matt Salmon a protector of pedophile rapists?

“Short of an engraved apology, I wouldn’t consider helping her with anything,” Salmon told the Washington Post in December. “She employs the politics of personal destruction, and she’ll say anything — the most vile things in the world — to get ahead. And I’m sorry, I just can’t forget that."

Is this the same Lake who just a month ago offered the mother lode of conspiracy theories, revealing that “they” unleashed COVID-19 in order to stop Donald Trump from getting reelected?

Can she win moderates without an apology?

Apparently, the view from Palm Beach and D.C. is different than the view here.

“I did come away impressed. I thought she was not at all like the caricature that’s sometimes painted of her in the media. She was very engaging, she was very warm,” one GOP donor, who met with Lake at last weekend’s retreat, told Politico.

Here in Arizona, there is still a question about how Lake can win over those all-important moderate Republicans and independents she trashed. The ones who in recent years have rejected MAGA candidates, turning over both Senate seats and all major state offices to Democrats.

“It’s like she successfully described to the NRSC what she needs to do,” Montague told me. “But she sure hasn’t actually done it yet from where I sit.”

That’s not to say she can’t. Certainly, her chances just improved with that NRSC endorsement, provided it comes with cash.

What does that mean if Sinema doesn't run?

It becomes clearer by the day that independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema isn’t running. Last week, the Legislature moved up the Aug. 6 primary election to July 30, which in turn moved the candidate filing deadline up a week to April 1.

Sinema hasn’t even begun to the collect the 45,000 nominating signatures she would need.

Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego, meanwhile, hails from his party’s liberal wing. Polls show him trailing Lake, though it's early days and he’s working hard to broaden his appeal to moderates.

“Lake’s ability — or inability — to unify Republicans will be the story of the campaign, especially if it’s a three-way race,” Republican consultant Barrett Marson told me. “If she can reach out to moderates and right leaning independents and not berate them, she will have a solid chance to win a Senate seat.”

Kari Lake? The same Lake who, upon winning her 2022 primary called for the GOP to unite behind her then three days later boasted that she “drove a stake through the McCain machine?”

OK, I’ll quit laughing in a minute.

Reach Roberts at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at @LaurieRoberts.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Kari Lake the uniter? No kidding, that's what the NRSC says