Democrats may mock GOP candidates, but who are the unelectable ones now?

It’s not just you.

Everyone can feel the ground shifting, and it’s not the ripples of a California earthquake. Arizona’s political fault line is rumbling and it’s breaking the Republicans’ way.

Most now expect Kari Lake to win the governor’s seat due to Katie Hobbs’ feckless campaign. Blake Masters went from double digits behind Sen. Mark Kelly to closing within the margin of error. The most recent poll puts him a single percentage point behind the incumbent.

The GOP momentum is showing up not only in Arizona but nationwide.

Republican Senate candidates lead big in Nevada, Ohio and Wisconsin. They’re also surging in Georgia and Pennsylvania. Even Oregon’s governor and Rhode Island’s congressman are expected to turn their deep blue states red.

For all the summer talk of Republicans choosing bad candidates, the Democrats are the ones with buyer’s remorse.

It was all fun and games for Democrats to cheer on Lake and Masters as “unelectable” candidates in their primaries. This idiotic strategy famously backfired with Trump in 2016 and is primed to backfire yet again.

Hobbs never engaged. Kelly ignores issues

It’s not that each Republican nominee is running a perfect campaign. Much of the blame lands on lackluster Democrats and atrocious messaging.

From the jump, Katie Hobbs emulated Joe Biden’s “basement” strategy, keeping her profile and name recognition as low as possible. At least Biden showed up for debates; Hobbs shunned podiums in both the primary and general contests.

Voters gave some leeway to a shaky 77-year-old during a pandemic. Hobbs doesn’t have that excuse.

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Lake spent 2022 talking to crowds, fielding questions from critics, and tussling with local and national press. Hobbs has so little practice, even interviews with friendly hosts turn into embarrassments.

Sen. Mark Kelly hasn’t been much better. With a war chest dwarfing his opponent’s, Kelly inundated the airwaves and internet with endless ads about abortion, abortion and abortion. With 40-year-highs on inflation, sky-high energy prices, a loose border and a likely recession, voters had other issues top of mind.

In the past week or two, he’s shifted to a new message: bashing his own party’s president. Kelly spent the last two years voting with Biden 94% of the time. Now he pretends to oppose the massive spending, war on oil, and soaring numbers of undocumented migrants that have characterized the administration.

It all feels so desperate.

Democrats never learned: Out of touch loses

Granted, 2022 was always going to be a challenge for Team Donkey. President Biden is wildly unpopular and his policies keep moving the country from bad to worse. But any Democratic strategists enjoying multimillion contracts this cycle should be sued for malpractice.

After debate drama: Katie Hobbs does solo interview with Arizona PBS

As the primaries wrapped up, I strongly advised all candidates to talk about issues voters care about. Crazy, I know. The GOP moved on from relitigating 2020 while Democrats stuck to talking points from the primary.

A Harvard-Harris poll this past week listed the top issues for voters. Unsurprisingly, they are inflation, the economy and immigration. Not so coincidentally, these are the top three issues Republican candidates have focused on.

The Democrats? Jan. 6, women’s rights and climate change. Voters rank the storming of the Capitol the 19th most important issue, but it’s number one for Dems seeking office.

The rest of the poll offered more good news for the GOP. Two-thirds of voters say the economy is weak and that crime is on the rise. Nearly that number blames Biden for the high gas prices while the majority opposes his energy policies.

When Sens. Sinema and Kelly each beat Martha McSally, you’d think their party would have taken a few notes.

Instead, it looks like Arizona Democrats copied McSally’s failed playbook yet expect a different result.

Jon Gabriel, a Mesa resident, is editor-in-chief of Ricochet.com and a contributor to The Republic and azcentral.com. On Twitter: @exjon.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Democrats mock Republicans as unelectable. Who's laughing now?