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Buyer's remorse: Kari Lake competitor failed in Arizona despite massive spending advantage
Washington Examiner ^ | August 11, 2022 06:45 AM | David M. Drucker

Posted on 08/14/2022 3:16:35 PM PDT by SoConPubbie

How much was former President Donald Trump’s endorsement, plus 27 years as a television news anchor, worth to Kari Lake in her successful bid for the Republican nomination for governor of Arizona? Millions.

Lake bested wealthy businesswoman Karrin Taylor Robson 47.9% to 43.2% in the Arizona GOP gubernatorial primary despite being outspent 18 to 1 on radio and broadcast and cable television. Lake spent just shy of $827,000 on the air, according to the most recently available figures, while Taylor Robson blanketed the airwaves with $15.3 million in campaign advertising. Lake also got clobbered by Taylor Robson on total spending, $18.4 million to $3.6 million.

“Kari Lake had so many built-in advantages over the rest of the field,” Barrett Marson, a Republican operative in Phoenix, said Wednesday. “I don’t think any amount of ground game, any amount of money, or any substantial policy differences could have stopped a Trump-backed media star.”

Marson, an ally of term-limited Gov. Doug Ducey (R), who endorsed Taylor Robson, supported former GOP Rep. Matt Salmon, who ended his gubernatorial campaign before the Aug. 2 primary. Some Republicans share Marson’s view, saying it’s easy to take shots at Taylor Robson’s campaign after the fact.

But other GOP operatives, particularly those worried Lake puts the party’s hold on the governor’s mansion in jeopardy in the midterm elections, complain Taylor Robson’s campaign was mismanaged. Lake is a vocal proponent of Trump's unsupported stolen election claims, a position that could be problematic in Arizona, a bona fide swing state.

The Taylor Robson advisers catching the most heat are Doug Goodyear, a Republican operative who works for government relations firm DCI Group and is a longtime Ducey associate, and Jon Seaton, a GOP strategist. Some of their Republican critics say something must have gone awry with their advertising strategy to come up short after outspending Lake by a whopping $14.4 million.

Other gripes were more specific.

“It was her campaign to lose after Matt Salmon dropped out, and she lost it,” a Republican insider in Arizona said. “There is always the balance of strong ads that get to millions of people — and the echo chamber that they hear ... at the grassroots level. You had none of that with Karrin.”

“They had zero ground game,” this GOP insider added, saying Taylor Robson’s campaign paled in comparison to previous winning efforts from such Republicans as former Sens. Jon Kyl and John McCain, each being elected several times between them. This Republican requested anonymity to speak candidly, as did other GOP critics of Taylor Robson’s campaign. Goodyear did not respond to an email requesting comment.

But Seaton, speaking to the Washington Examiner at length, said the criticisms were baseless.

To begin with, Seaton said the Taylor Robson field operation was robust. The campaign visited more than 150,000 homes, contacted more than 225,000 GOP primary voters, and deployed grassroots volunteers to dozens of events — rodeos, parades, and party gatherings. Seaton emphasized that Taylor Robson began her race with virtually zero name recognition, a problem given the peculiarities of this campaign.

Lake and Taylor Robson were both first-time candidates running for an open seat. But Seaton said Lake had the advantages of incumbency thanks to Trump’s endorsement and being near-universally known from her decades as a television news anchor in Phoenix's dominant media market. With all those challenges in mind, Seaton said he was proud of Taylor Robson and the campaign she ran, notwithstanding she lost to Lake by 4.7 percentage points.

“We needed to increase Karrin’s name ID from minimal to competitive and had very little time to do it. The only way to do that is spending money on television to tell her story; that’s a decision we made as a team,” Seaton said. “You never want to fall short. But she did a good job of introducing herself to voters, and they clearly liked what she had to say.”

Lake is facing Secretary of State Katie Hobbs (D) in the general election.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Editorial; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Arizona
KEYWORDS: 2020election; 2022election; arizona; assistantdemocrat; assistantdemocrats; buyersremorse; creepstate; davidmdrucker; deepstate; dnctalkingpoint; dnctalkingpoints; election2020; election2022; gopestablishment; janbrewer; karilake; karrintaylorrobson; mediawingofthednc; nevertrumpers; nevertrumpexaminer; okkarrin; partisanmediashill; partisanmediashills; policestate; presstitutes; rino; rinos; robson; ronklain; singlepartystate; smearmachine; taylorrobson; tds; trump; trumpendorsement; uniparty
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To: SoConPubbie

They can spend all they money on ads that they want. It doesn’t alter the reality of food and energy prices. Reality is the real campaign spending now.


21 posted on 08/14/2022 4:16:03 PM PDT by KamperKen (u)
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To: SoConPubbie

They actually differed very little as far as programs were concerned. Robson had the money, Lake the recognition.
What really soured me on Robson was the negativity of her campaign.
She started viciously negative right off the bat.
It took me quite a long time to figure out what she is about (and I had to do extensive searches), but I have learned all the bad about Kari Lake.
Robson lost me right there!
You do not trash fellow Republican!


22 posted on 08/14/2022 4:19:16 PM PDT by AZJeep
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To: SoConPubbie

robson lost because her milque toast message sucked. Kari is saying what we’re all thinking, the 2020 election was a fraud and we’re over ran with illegal aliens


23 posted on 08/14/2022 4:28:16 PM PDT by Jeff Vader ( )
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To: SoConPubbie

Wealthy Businesswoman?!???

Please she is a Trophy Wife… cut the crap


24 posted on 08/14/2022 4:31:36 PM PDT by HamiltonJay
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To: SaxxonWoods

In my younger days (many decades ago) I worked on several campaigns in Republican primaries.

If we lost we stepped up and took responsibility.

If you didn’t win you failed—and it was your fault.

There are no excuses.

Even vote fraud by your opponent is not a legitimate excuse—part of the job of the campaign is stopping that.


25 posted on 08/14/2022 4:33:48 PM PDT by cgbg (A kleptocracy--if they can keep it. Think of it as the Cantillon Effect in action.)
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To: SoConPubbie

Their cash is trash....Look what happened to Meg Whitman running for CA governor....I think she was a billionaire and spent more of her own money on the election than anyone anyone in CA history. She lost big after it was learned she hired illegal house servants...


26 posted on 08/14/2022 4:44:06 PM PDT by dragnet2 (Diversion and evasion are tools of deceit)
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To: SoConPubbie

Don’t even think there wasn’t cheating going on in Maricopa County
this recent Primary. I believe they cheated just like 2020.
However, Lake’s lead was beyond the margin of steal cheat.
Maricopa settled for narrowing the margin of victory for Lake.


27 posted on 08/14/2022 4:48:00 PM PDT by tennmountainman ( Less Lindell CONS, More AZ Style Audits)
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To: Olog-hai
Did not help having a slight resemblance to Hillary, either . . .

NO resemblance to Hillary. Karrin is in MUCH better shape (she's in her '60s), and has a pleasant enough visage even when tired (I saw her on her 5th campaign stop of a day that covered large parts of the large state of AZ). She's more in Carly Fiorina territory.

I will say, for someone with so much money behind her, she had lousy campaign written materials. Her literature literally did NOT say what the businesses she ran were, as if she were ashamed of them, but did mention that she was class president, as if she were a 25 year old running for Town Council.

Also, it described her as a "single mother". In fact, she was divorced after having given birth. For many of us, "single mother" means "out of wedlock", or at very least abandonment by the husband. It does NOT apply to divorces where the child is at least financially provided for, or for widows. I know the term is more broadly used today, but throw loaded words like that around without any background info sounds like there is an attempt to weave a toughing-it-out story where there really isn't much of one. She's a high-energy smart lady who has personal resources and can do things, nothing wrong with that.

I know Karrin Taylor Robson's sister casually, and I can tell you that her Karrin's sister is no RINO. Her bookshelf is lined with the kind of books you would see on any Rush Limbaugh Republican's book shelf. And her sister is active in conservative Catholic circles which means pro-life, pro-family, etc. I was also told that Karrin Taylor Robson raised $1 million for President Trump's 2020 campaign. So, I don't think she is the McCain hack that others paint her as, but she was also trying to have it both ways on the fraudulent AZ 2020 election, which pleases nobody.

She wanted to "look ahead". IF we don't have any accountability for what happened, it will only repeat. I wouldn't read Taylor Robbins out of the party, and I am not convinced that Lake is the real deal, though I voted for her and will happily give her a chance to at act on her promises.
28 posted on 08/14/2022 4:51:32 PM PDT by Dr. Sivana (What was 35% of the Rep. Party is now 85%. And it’s too late to turn back—Mac Stipanovich )
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To: dragnet2
Look what happened to Meg Whitman running for CA governor.

And look at what she did at both ebay (now a shadow of its former glory) and HP (barely filling Carly Fiorina's tiny shoes).
29 posted on 08/14/2022 4:53:47 PM PDT by Dr. Sivana (What was 35% of the Rep. Party is now 85%. And it’s too late to turn back—Mac Stipanovich )
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To: Dr. Sivana

That’s quite a diatribe in defense of a Unipartier backed by Uniparty luminaries.

I did say a slight resemblance. Particularly the eyes and the feigned smile.


30 posted on 08/14/2022 4:57:46 PM PDT by Olog-hai ("No Republican, no matter how liberal, is going to woo a Democratic vote." -- Ronald Reagan, 1960)
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To: HamiltonJay
Please she is a Trophy Wife… cut the crap

She got married only a few years ago, and had been financially successful long before then (graduated law school in '94, working as Executive VP for DMB Associates before she married in 2017.)

Trophy wives are usually in their '30s or early '40s. She was considerably older when she married Mr. Robson. He is older still, but in the real world many women in their '50s marry men considerably older regardless of financial status. I erroneously stated in another post that she was in her '60s. She is in her late '50s.
31 posted on 08/14/2022 5:04:05 PM PDT by Dr. Sivana (What was 35% of the Rep. Party is now 85%. And it’s too late to turn back—Mac Stipanovich )
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To: SoConPubbie
Lake is a vocal proponent of Trump's unsupported stolen election claims, a position that could be problematic in Arizona, a bona fide swing state.

This is why I do not care much about The Washington Examiner. Too many David M. Drucker's writing for them, as far as I am concerned.

She lost David, get over it. Katie Hobbs will be the next loser.

32 posted on 08/14/2022 5:09:36 PM PDT by Robert DeLong
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To: Olog-hai
That’s quite a diatribe in defense of a Unipartier backed by Uniparty luminaries.

It wasn't much of defense. I attacked her literature and her stand (or lack thereof) on the election. There is a lot of in-between from Kinzinger/Romney to Trump/DeSantis. If she did raise a million for Donald Trump, that's more than any McCainiac ever did.

I call them as I see them. If I got something wrong (for instance, I described her as in her 60s when she is late 50s), call me out. As far as physical appearances, women describe Mrs. Clinton's type as a "pear". Taylor Robson is firmly in "banana" territory. Also, Mrs. Clinton has RBF (Resting Bitch Face). Taylor Robson does not.
33 posted on 08/14/2022 5:10:08 PM PDT by Dr. Sivana (What was 35% of the Rep. Party is now 85%. And it’s too late to turn back—Mac Stipanovich )
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To: SoConPubbie

“Goodyear did not respond to an email requesting comment.”


He was too tired.


34 posted on 08/14/2022 5:28:48 PM PDT by Ken H (Trump /DeSantis)
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To: pierrem15

Lake was on the Warroom plenty-o-times. [For free I assume]


35 posted on 08/14/2022 5:29:22 PM PDT by Paladin2
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To: Dr. Sivana

Her husband is in his early 90s tho. Quite an age gap, which makes the charges of “trophy wife” more fitting. That’s pry one of the reasons he wasn’t seen on the campaign trail. I just don’t understand what a woman in her late 50s sees in a rich old man in his 90s other than dollar signs TBH.


36 posted on 08/14/2022 5:30:20 PM PDT by Prince of Space (Let’s Go, Brandon! )
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To: SoConPubbie

Where did Karrin Taylor Robson’s campaign get the $15.3 million plus to spend on an AZ gubernatorial election?
Did most of it come from out of state?

A lesson many pols should learn is that ad saturation annoys lots of voters, especially if they perceive the ads as disingenuous, unfairly negative, empty and vapid, or just a waste of time. Throwing away a fortune on ads signals that the candidate is in the thrall of consultants and big contributors, has weak judgment, thinks they can buy anything with someone else’s money — and that they would govern the same way. A few smart, interesting ads beat a slue of repetition.


37 posted on 08/14/2022 5:39:45 PM PDT by Chewbarkah
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To: SoConPubbie

I received at least 100 fliers for Robson. They went direct to trash. On the radio, I was and am more interested in someone being interviewed for an hour than on 100 ads screaming, “Fake Lake”.

In the end, it was endorsements by Ducey and Pence for Robson, combined with Robson’s horrible record on the Board of Regents (controlling the super liberal universities in Arizona) that caused me to vote for Lake.

I didn’t care about Trump’s endorsement, but the debate on FR’s Arizona board may have influenced me. I care more about what people on FR think than about what Pence (or Trump!) think.


38 posted on 08/14/2022 5:47:32 PM PDT by Mr Rogers (We're a nation of feelings, not thoughts.)
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To: Chewbarkah

“Where did Karrin Taylor Robson’s campaign get the $15.3 million plus to spend on an AZ gubernatorial election?”

Her hubby is a billionaire. VERY OLD husband....92 years old. She’s 58.


39 posted on 08/14/2022 5:55:52 PM PDT by Mr Rogers (We're a nation of feelings, not thoughts.)
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To: Prince of Space

I’m older than Karen Robson. NO WAY would I want to be married to a 90+ year old woman!


40 posted on 08/14/2022 5:58:58 PM PDT by Mr Rogers (We're a nation of feelings, not thoughts.)
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