McSally made changes to her team, but her overarching message has remained. Not only has she stuck with Trump through thick and thin, she’s gone out of her way to defend his behavior while adopting his scorched-earth attacks against the press. One McSally adviser noted that she’s forged a productive relationship with her former right-wing rival, current state party chairwoman Kelli Ward, even taking a page from the activist playbook.

This strategy is a profound misreading of the Arizona electorate. It’s one of the few battleground states with a significant share of persuadable voters. Many of them already rejected McSally once because she wasn’t seen as independent enough. She’s gratuitously alienated the press, which may never have been sympathetic to her campaign but is now unlikely to ever give her a break. Indeed, her media-bashing stunt drew sharp criticism from Meghan McCain on national television…

McSally has lost control of her own race, handing the reins over to Trump instead. If the president wins Arizona, she’s hoping to be carried to victory on his coattails. But if he loses, which is very possible given the state’s political trends, she’s a surefire loser. And given that she’s consistently run behind the top of the ticket in all her races, a narrow Trump victory could easily lead to a Democratic Senate pickup.