Kari Lake Should Debate Mark Lamb So Republican Voters Can Compare Their Candidates

Getting wrapped around the axle is a phrase used when someone ends up tangled up in something, so it’s fair to say that Kari Lake’s campaign for Governor has gotten wrapped around the axle when it comes to its wildly oscillating debate strategy.

In 2022, Lake wisely pursued debates with Democratic nominee Katie Hobbs. Lake’s skills as a TV news anchor and her comfort in speaking on the issues was apparent and gave her an obvious advantage over Hobbs who, despite holding public office for a number of years, was a very scripted and robotic personality. The Hobbs campaign rightly surmised that the debates would not go well and would make Lake look good by comparison, so they ducked them. Lake correctly called out Hobbs as a coward for ducking the debates and stated emphatically that if somebody couldn’t stand the pressure of a simple debate, they had no business running for an office like Governor of Arizona.

There is no question that Hobbs’ numbers suffered during that period of time and the entire incident worked in favor of Lake, who later lost for different reasons. Fast forward less than one year and it was Donald Trump ducking debates with his Republican competitors in the race for President. While it was no surprise to see Kari Lake defend his actions, as she defends virtually every one of his actions, it was an awkward pivot from someone who had just cursed the cowardice and questioned the ability of her own opponent for doing the exact same thing. And Republicans observed that much in the same way as Trump ducking debates with his GOP rivals would empower Joe Biden to later duck debates with Donald Trump, Lake cheerleading the strategy would empower her future opponents to duck debates with her.  As everyone knows, Trump’s strategy paid off, he refused to debate his opponents, and he won the GOP nomination in overwhelming fashion anyway.

These days, it is Kari Lake once again calling for debates, this time with her likely Democratic rival for U.S. Senate, Ruben Gallego. According to emails from the Lake campaign, her campaign is falling behind on its fundraising goals and is trailing in polling against Gallego, and it is apparent she is looking for some sort of reset in the Senate contest. Naturally, Gallego’s team has no reason to provide her with any sort of a platform or opportunity to improve her standing, so they are declining any and all invitations to this point.

But followers of Lake aren’t done whip-sawing between positions, because at the same time that Lake is calling out Gallego for ducking debates with her, she has spent months ducking debates with her GOP rival for the Senate nomination, Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb. There is no question that Kari Lake should enjoy a natural advantage in any debate given her skill in front of a TV camera and her ability to deliver memorized lines and responses. Her refusal to debate Lamb feeds the public perception that her positions are born entirely of convenience or political expediency, and lack true conviction.

Kari Lake should debate Mark Lamb and Republican voters should get to compare their candidates on the same stage. This wouldn’t just be good for the Republican candidates and provide them with a significant volume of free media exposure, it would remind candidates all over of how things ought to be done. Otherwise, as Kari Lake herself has said so many times, voters might well conclude that anyone too scared to debate has no business holding the office they are running for.