How Donald Trump helped Kari Lake become Arizona’s (and America’s) new Joe Arpaio

We’re sorry, America.

Arizona did not invent Donald Trump.

However, Arizona did invent Joe Arpaio, and he invented Donald Trump.

And Donald Trump invented Kari Lake.

And she is Arizona’s (and America’s) new Joe Arpaio.

A new kind of politics: Losing is as good as winning

After having lost the race for Arizona’s governor, and apparently lost her chance to be Trump’s running mate, and lost innumerable court challenges to her election loss, Lake has filed papers to run for the U.S. Senate in Arizona.

The big difference between her and Arpaio is the he actually won elections.

A bunch of them, actually.

But that happened at a time when winning elections meant something. Trump changed all that, although he couldn’t have done so without Arpaio.

Arpaio created a political playbook. Trump copied it

Back in the summer of 2015, not too long after Trump entered the presidential race, I wrote a column that began:

”People who don't know any better are saying Donald Trump can't win the presidential election.

“In Arizona, we know that he can get elected, because Arizonans already have elected Donald Trump – many times.”

I was speaking about Arpaio.

When Arpaio entered politics in Arizona, first being elected in 1992, the rules seemed to change.

He said outrageous things, made outrageous claims, staged outrageous stunts, just about none of which had anything to do with law enforcement. And he still was reelected.

Voters and politicians fell for the tough guy act

He was an Obama "birther." He made wild accusations about other politicians. He created the infamous “Tent City” at the county jail. Within a relatively short time he introduced policies and procedures that thrilled hardliners but resulted a number of jail deaths, which led to lawsuits.

There were even more lawsuits over Arpaio’s treatment of migrants. The payouts have cost county taxpayers more than a quarter of a billion dollars.

But voters loved Arpaio’s phony tough-guy act, electing him again and again and making him a Republican icon with national and international appeal.

For 20 years Republican politicians made pilgrimages to Phoenix to kiss Arpaio’s ring, Donald Trump was among them.

Arpaio traveled all over the country at the request of candidates running for state and federal offices. He drew enthusiastic crowds and helped to finance dozens of political campaigns.

Drawing the straight line from Arpaio to Trump to Lake

Donald Trump took notes, and then used Arpaio’s playbook in his political campaign.

And Kari Lake used Trump’s playbook.

And she will no doubt continue to do so during her upcoming Senate campaign, including the part where she, like Trump, will try to tone down her rhetoric, hoping to fool people into believing that her campaign is not the ugly, grievance-based, conspiracy-filled vaudevillian schtick that it is.

Like Trump’s. Like Arpaio’s before him.

Media types like me will remind you that during her failed campaign for governor Lake, channeling Trump, told a gathering, “The media might have a field day with this one, but I’m gonna just repeat something President Trump said a long time ago and it got him in a lot of trouble.”

She continued, “They are bringing drugs. They are bringing crime, and they are rapists, and that’s who’s coming across our border. That’s a fact.”

It’s a straight line (Or is it a crooked one?) from Arpaio to Trump to Lake.

And America, seriously, “We’re sorry.”

Reach Montini at ed.montini@arizonarepublic.com

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Kari Lake is Arizona’s (and America’s) new Joe Arpaio