DEMOCRATS MADE KARI LAKE A STAR:

In the lead-up to the 2016 presidential election, the national media and the Hillary Clinton campaign devised a plan to elevate Donald Trump and so-called “lunacy” over a field of up-and-coming Republican politicians. According to New York Times journalist Amy Chozick, who was embedded with Hillary Clinton’s campaign from inception to death, campaign manager Robby Mook called a meeting with an agenda of specifically asking “How do we maximize Donald Trump?” Chozick also noted how Mook “salivated when a debate came on, and Trump would start to speak. ‘Shhhhh,’ Robby said, practically pressing his nose up to the TV. ‘I’ve gahtz to get me some Trump.’”

We all know how that worked out. Yet fast-forward to the 2022 midterm elections — and Democrats are using the same strategy in several key races across the country that will tilt the balance of power. One such race in Arizona has captivated Democrats and the media, where Republican candidate Kari Lake benefited from Democratic efforts to boost the “crazy” candidate. Once again it looks like the Dems are going to come to regret it.

Lake, who has been a leading voice for Donald Trump’s 2020 election claims, is on a short rocket ship ride to MAGA stardom. Early in the GOP primary, Democrats deployed tactics such as statewide mailers attacking Lake’s opponent, Karrin Taylor Robson. The goal was to elevate Lake, who has been labeled an election denier, into the general election against secretary of state Katie Hobbs. The strategy worked. Lake secured the nomination and Democrats swiftly turned on Lake, just as they did Trump in 2016.

Now a full-blown panic has set in, as Lake has pulled away in the polls thanks to an inept campaign by Hobbs that saw her refuse to debate Lake in front of voters. As for Lake? Democrats don’t seem to know what hit them, and who they were actually messing with.

Indeed: CBS Reporter Tried to Corner Kari Lake on January 6. Her Response Was Brilliant.

https://twitter.com/Heminator/status/1588182352802586626

UPDATE: ‘I’m not suicidal:’ Kari Lake reacts to Hillary jab with ‘Clinton Body Count’ joke.

ATTN: @HillaryClinton 👀

I’m in perfect health, my brakes on my car are in good shape & I’m not suicidal. That is all. pic.twitter.com/ke7qVxz7bF

— Kari Lake (@KariLake) November 4, 2022

Heh, indeed.™

(Updated and bumped.)

CURIOUSER AND CURIOUSER: Paul Pelosi ‘Did Not Immediately Declare an Emergency or Leave His Home’ When Police Arrived.

FLASHBACK: Ron DeSantis has emerged as America’s awesome ‘shadow president.’

LAUGHING WOLF’S PREPPING SERIES CONTINUES WITH Preparedness On The Fly II: Complete Nutrition I.

He has links to the rest of the series at the bottom of today’s article.

BE PREPARED: Rechargeable Camping Lantern. #CommissionEarned

THEY’RE AFRAID: 87% of Networks’ Coverage of GOP Is Negative — Kari Lake Scores 100%.

THE NEW ANTIRACISM LOOKS AN AWFUL LOT LIKE THE OLD RACISM: ‘Anti-racist’ professor calls Herschel Walker ‘subliterate,’ uses racial slur.

IS COLLEGE ACCREDITATION POINTLESS? It’s certainly not living up to its potential. But it may also be one of the few notional limits on abuses at private colleges.

CHRIS QUEEN: The Left Is COMPLETELY CLUELESS About Conservatives’ Free Speech Concerns. “The reason they don’t understand is that they’re in control of most of the gatekeeping mechanisms of speech. The left controls much of the media, the vast majority of cultural institutions, and the lion’s share of academia, so its voices are amplified, while conservatives find themselves shut out.”

They feel very threatened by the prospect of a slightly less uneven playing field.

UNSURPRISING: DeSantis surges, Biden fades in 2024 election odds.

SEGREGATION NOW, SEGREGATION TOMORROW, SEGREGATION FOREVER! ‘The endpoint of critical race theory’: Columbia University faces backlash for segregated graduations.

AFTER SEVERAL YEARS OF BEING PRO-RIOT, IT’S A TOUGH ONE TO PULL OFF: Biden’s riot act falls flat.

Joe Biden wanted to give a stirring speech to rouse Americans to angry purpose about the threats to democracy represented by “election deniers” running for office across the country. He was, according to CNN’s reporting, spurred to action by the horrible attack last week on the husband of the speaker of the House, which Biden believes is a direct result of Donald Trump’s effect on the United States over the past seven years.

So … that’s what he wanted. But, as the great philosopher Mick Jagger once said, you can’t always get what you want.

The address he delivered Wednesday night wasn’t a forceful speech. It was a forceless speech. Biden didn’t appeal passionately to the better angels of our nature because there was no energy behind his words.

He seemed exhausted, spent — so much so that even in the course of making an argument I find repellent, he didn’t even get me mad.

Well, you know he has no idea what he’s talking about. Your anger should be reserved for the people who installed a dotard in the White House.

Related: After the Jan. 6 Committee finishes, maybe a GOP Congress can probe some actual ‘threats to democracy.’

Also: The ‘cabal’ that bragged of foisting Joe Biden on us must answer for his failed presidency.

HOPE FOR THE BEST, PREPARE FOR BIDENOMICS: Hedge fund giant Elliott warns looming hyperinflation could lead to ‘global societal collapse.’

QUIN HILLYER: KEEP CALM, FOLKS:  “Arizona’s Ballot Vigilantes Deserve the Rebuke the New Black Panthers Never Received.”

(Remember the New Black Panthers’ scandal?  I sure do.)

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Democrats’ Love of Criminals Will Be Their Downfall. “For reasons that are unclear to sane people, Democrats have decided that violent criminals should be given a hug and set free in polite society.”

NOPE: Seriously, can anyone name a well-run Democratic city?

I REMEMBER WHEN PEOPLE SAID WE SHOULD SUPPORT HIGHER EDUCATION BECAUSE IT PRODUCED MORE ENLIGHTENED CITIZENS: College students turn more liberal, OK speech death penalty.

It’s an industry that is polluting society with intellectual toxic waste.

PUNCH BACK TWICE AS HARD: Karine Jean-Pierre hit with Hatch Act complaint for “mega MAGA Republican” comments. Democrats are always hitting Republicans with process complaints, time to return the favor.

WHERE’S MY UMBRELLA? Chinese Long March rocket to crash somewhere today. This isn’t bad luck, it’s a design issue: “Other orbital rockets are designed such that their first stages ditch into the ocean or over unpopulated land shortly after liftoff, or, in the case of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy, come down in one piece for powered landings and future reuse. But the Long March 5B core stage reaches orbit and has no way to steer itself down, so it lets atmospheric drag do the work, messily.”

Says Bill Nelson: “It is clear that China is failing to meet responsible standards regarding their space debris.” Yeah, kinda like their virology.

CHRISTIAN TOTO: NY Times Reports Hollywood Is Having Second Thoughts About Going Woke. “Insiders add it didn’t help that Time’s Up, the organization championed by Hollywood’s brightest stars to prevent sexual abuse, imploded following a series of monumental missteps.”

STRUCTURAL RACISM:  Did you know that the federal government earmarks piles of money for “Hispanic Serving Institutions”?  To qualify for this gravy train at least 25% of a university’s students must identify as Hispanic.  Naturally, this causes universities located in areas with large numbers of Hispanics to fall all over themselves to get to 25%.  Alas, my own university is an example.  Even if the Supreme Court comes down hard on race-preferential admissions, the system will continue so long as structural supports like the HSI program are in place.

(In this article, I recommended that Congress–or more realistically, some future equality-friendly Congress–terminate the program on the ground that it is unconstitutional.  Note that Historically Black Colleges and Universities are on a different constitutional footing and that they are not required to have any particular racial make up to be qualified.)

TO BE FAIR, COLBERT GENERATED SOME LAUGHS FOR A CHANGE: Michigan GOP Gubernatorial Candidate Tudor Dixon Gets the Last Laugh at Stephen Colbert.

WHY THEY HATE HIM:

The left wants feudalism, and Elon’s giving them capitalism. Which is their worst nightmare because under capitalism, it is necessary to produce something of value.

DEAL OF THE DAY: CHEXPEL Flannel Jackets for Men. #CommissionEarned

ME, IN 2021: Dems are losing the multiracial working class on basic lifestyle issues.

Dem Pollster Stanley Greenberg, now: How Democrats Mishandled Crime: The most effective issue for Republicans in this midterm is a result of Democratic elites failing to understand what their diverse base of working-class voters wants.

Advantage: InstaPundit. Also, the diverse base of working-class voters is now pretty much the GOP base, not the Democrats’ base. Democrats are the party of billionaires, woke white gentry class people, and, decreasingly, their poverty-stricken client groups.