Some Arizona Republican candidates target their own party members in election campaigns

PHOENIX -

"We cheat the other guy and pass the savings on to you."

It's an old tongue-in-cheek promise from a bar in Anchorage, Alaska, but that slogan leaps to mind now at a Republican Party rally in Phoenix, Arizona.

As the beat of ’80s rock and the cheers of the faithful fill a country club banquet room, the Republicans seeking state-wide office make some of the usual political promises.

They are running, they say, for an Arizona that "loves everyone."

But talk of wrapping all people in their benevolent embrace is accompanied by a long list of the people they see as enemies.

It starts with Democrats of course, who are portrayed as "communists" and "perverts" and who are accused of everything from collaborating with drug cartels to deliberately sabotaging the economy. Then attention turns to other Republicans.

To be sure, Democrats have plenty of vilifying words for Republicans too. But they rarely attack their own. That's the stark difference between them and the 2022 version of the GOP.

The U.S. is a nation split almost evenly between two parties, where – in the normal course of politics – each side claims to represent a majority. But on this night in Phoenix, these new Republicans are unapologetic about not even representing all of their own side.

A candidate for the state legislature thanks the crowd for weeding out "RINOs" during the primaries. That acronym – for “Republicans in Name Only” – has become a standard pejorative for party members who commit the sin of seeming too moderate.

A mention of the name Liz Cheney draws some of the loudest booing of the night. Cheney is the once powerful congressional Republican, now reviled by her party for being a thorn in the side of Donald Trump.

By contrast, Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake is a full-throated election denier who has been called "Trump in a dress." She makes a point of saying that "the new Republican party is not the party of Mitch McConnell."

It's a seemingly unprovoked sideswipe of her own party's leader in the Senate and it raises a question: How far to the right does one have to go for Mitch McConnell to look like a closet liberal?

Missouri Senator Josh Hawley, here to lend support, offers an unconventional endorsement of Arizona's Republican senate candidate, Blake Masters.

"The D.C. politicians absolutely hate Blake Masters,” he says. “It's the best thing. They hate him. By the way, both parties. The D.C. politicians; both parties. They talk bad about him. They won't help him. They run him down. And the more they do it, the more I love him. The more they do it, the more I say ‘that is the guy for Arizona.’"

The crowd roars in approval, as if all that matters about the candidate is whether electing him would send a satisfying bird flip to other politicians – Republicans included.

Clearly, it's a measure of how extreme the prevailing views of Republicans have become that so many in the party are not considered extreme enough. But infighting aside, the real question is what message this sends to the electorate.

Donald Trump's events to support midterm candidates are billed as "Save America" rallies. Lake, in the same fashion, calls out to "save Arizona." But for whom?

As they prepare to vote on Tuesday, even some Republicans must be wondering whether any of that "saving" will be for their benefit. Or are they just "the other guy?"