Piling On DeSantis?

The Hill wrote an interesting piece the other day on why the Republican front-runners (or at least those that have already declared their desire to be President), have been piling on Ron DeSantis rather than Donald Trump. They were rather illogical in their conclusions as to why, but I had some thoughts on this.

In fact, I’ve been thinking about this for a few weeks now.

DeSantis is getting burned by Democrats, burned by the media, burned by people like Nikki Haley, burned by Donald Trump who has been relentless over him for the past several months, calling him “Ron Desanctimonious”. It’s not a very good attempt, but you get the idea.

Here’s what’s really happening.

I think there are a couple of reasons the lower tiered candidates are jumping on the “Crush DeSantis” bandwagon. The first is that if they bring him down to their level, they have a better chance of hanging around longer. I don’t think any of them, Tim Scott, Nikki Haley or Vivek Ramaswammy or even Asa Hutchinson are able to win the nomination. It’s a two horse race right now. By eliminating one of them, it becomes clear, and these folks can then start vying for their post-election jobs in a Trump administration.

Yeah, that’s right. It’s not about those also rans winning the nomination. It’s about them getting a slot in a new Trump administration should be beat Joe Biden. Recent polling, which as I’ve said before, doesn’t mean anything this far out, shows Trump ahead and DeSantis tied with Biden. No one else was even talked about. So, they need to see if they can become Trump’s VP, or grab a cabinet position somewhere.

The media isn’t on DeSantis side, and that should tell you something. They aren’t afraid of Trump. They are afraid of DeSantis. Trump has a slew of problems coming up. He’s already been indicted by Alvin Bragg for those phony charges in paying off Stormy Daniels after a sexcapade. And, seeing how it’s going to be a New York City jury, where 85% of the participants are most likely liberal and Democrat, do you think he has a chance in hell of escaping with a Not Guilty verdict? He’s also been hit with a $5 million suit from E. Jean Carroll. She’s actually filed a second suit against him after he trashed her in his CNN Town Hall. And then there are the other investigations going on like the one in Georgia, where Trump allegedly tried to “find votes” to win the state. That one seems to be heading toward another indictment.

So, the media isn’t really scared of Trump at this point. Democrats feel that Biden beat Trump once, he could certainly do it again, especially with all of the legal troubles The Donald is facing.

And Trump himself is hitting DeSantis hard because that’s what was in his 2016 playbook. He totally dismantled every single one of the 17 people that were running for the nomination by singling them out, and riding them until the weren’t a factor any longer. That’s what he’s doing with DeSantis. The others are like gnats at a picnic. He’s not the least bit concerned about them. And, as I mentioned, they don’t want to attack Trump because it could cost them a job in his administration.

If DeSantis can slide through the next few months unscathed, and actually cut into Trump’s sizable lead in the polls, he has a better than even chance to win the nomination. If not, he’s going to be down at the bottom with the rest of the wannabees.

Carry on world…you’re dismissed!

The Race Keeps Getting Hotter!

When you look at the presidential sweepstakes race that’s just getting started, you have to ask yourself if this is going to be the nastiest, most hotly contested race of all time. I mean, I know if you go back throughout our history, you’re going to find some that probably were worse than what we’re in for, but you have to wonder. Take the election between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. It was as contentious as it could be. The two didn’t speak for years afterward.

And yet, this year’s political battles are just now starting to heat up. You’ve got the media going whole hot against Ron DeSantis, who, as of this writing hasn’t even announced his candidacy yet. But that just shows how much the media is scared of DeSantis going up against Biden. The Florida Governor is young, energetic, on top of the issues, knows where he is at all times, and I’ve never seen him trip going up a set of stairs. Biden on the other hand looks weaker by the day. I really wonder how this guy is going to play defense on what he’s done over the past two years, and how America is better for it, when he spends three days a week in his basement in Wilmington, and the other four days dodging the press.

And then you’ve got Biden’s opponents. It’s kind of like Hillary’s opponents in 2016. No, Bernie Sanders isn’t going to run. He’s finally learned that he’s going to be too old for the job. And he can pull whatever puppet strings he can with Biden. I mean, he’s been pretty successful doing it so far, right? But you’ve got Bobby Kennedy Jr., who has never been elected to any office anywhere. And he gets in and immediately jumps to 20% in the Democrat primary polls just on name recognition (even though most of the “new” Democrats weren’t even alive when his dad ran for the office!)

And then you’ve got the alien being from Venus in the form of Marianne Williamson. I swear, every time I hear this woman speak, I think she’s from another planet. She’s so far left wing, I don’t think AOC or the Whack Job five or six or however many there are these days look at all liberal standing next to her. She’s in it like Martin O’Malley was in 2016. She’s there to round out the ticket and make it look like Joe has some competition.

On the Republican side, you’ve got some quality candidates to be sure. Tim Scott is certainly qualified. He’s young (comparitively at 57), energetic, and an African American. He’s conservative as the day is long. He was appointed to the Senate to fill an unexpired term by yet another candidate, former Governor and former UN Ambassador, Nikki Haley. Then you’ve got Ron DeSantis, who hasn’t even announced as I write this, but will this week. Vivek Ramaswammy is another one that has impressed me. At 37 he’s the youngest in the field and would run circles around Biden. He’s high tech all the way and has been a CEO of a finance company. We did pretty well with business people in 2016, so why not again? Oh, and then there’s Asa Hutchinson, who has as much chance of winning the nomination as I do.

What’s interesting is not necessarily the people in the race, but the ones NOT in the race (yet). Mike Pence hasn’t decided yet. Glenn Youngkin, the Governor of Virginia has bowed out, but word is his top donors are pressuring him to reconsider, and he might. John Bolton, Chris Sununu, Chris Christie, and Kristi Noem, are all sitting on the sidelines waiting. I doubt we are going to get some 17 or 18 candidates like 2016, but there will be a handful to choose from.

And the Democrats say that they don’t want Biden to run again, while the Republicans don’t want Donald Trump to do the same. Yet, when asked that if Biden WERE the candidate, most Democrats say they’d stick with him. I guess that’s also true for Trump seeing how he has the majority of people supporting him in the primary…at least today. That can always change. But how does Biden win reelection if he can’t even get more than 65% of his own party to say they want him?

It’ll be an amazing year and a half to be sure…and yes…I’ve just ordered a 50 pound bag of popcorn from Amazon. It’ll be here in two days.

Carry on world…you’re dismissed!

Scott’s In… Sort Of. Does He Have A Chance?

South Carolina Senator, Tim Scott (R-SC) sort of threw his hat into the ring earlier this week to become the 47th President of the United States when he announced an exploratory committee has been formed.. The question that people all over the country are asking, not just of him but of the three other contenders that have entered the race after Donald Trump is, does he have a ghost of a chance of succeeding?

Well, the same question was asked back in 2016 about Trump. In fact, I remember very clearly that early on in that primary battle, when everyone thought Jeb Bush was going to win the nomination just because of his pedigree, that the guy named Donald Trump had no chance to win. I think the first person that said she thought Trump was going to win the nomination AND the election was Ann Coulter.

So, if it can happen with Trump, can it happen for the likes of Nikki Haley, and Vivek Ramaswamy, and Asa Hutchinson, it can happen for Tim Scott.

I rather like Scott and his approach. He does have a demeanor about him that is very presidential, and you can’t argue with his politics. There is nothing in there that suggests he’s anything but a conservative.

That said, it’s a long way from 0% to the Oval Office, and that’s where Scott starts out at. But he’s done his due diligence, and has his team together. Now it’s a question of whether America will tune into his message, see if he can differentiate that message from the rest of the field, and become the most likeable guy on the block.

As I look at the field, I’m still waiting for the 800 pound gorilla to enter the fray. That would be Ron DeSantis. His entering officially would most certainly give him a boost in the polls, most likely at the expense of Trump. If he chooses not to get in, then the nomination is Trump’s to lose. And I really don’t think that any indictments from any of the various investigations going on will sway that. Republican voters see this anti-Trump hatred as something that is in Democrats’ minds only. It’s not necessarily a real thing. And if it goes to the Supreme Court (as it very likely could), just on jurisdictional issues, it could most certainly be in Trump’s favor seeing how he nominated three of the nine justtices!

But back to Scott. He says that this “is a fight we must win”, and he’s absolutely correct about that. Scott aptly made his announcement at Fort Sumter, comparing the situations then and now, “On this day, April 12, 1861, in this harbor, the first shots of the Civil War were fired and our country faced the defining moment: Would we truly be one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. America’s soul was put to the test – and we prevailed,” 

There is no denying that Scott is a stateman. There’s no denying his conservative values. And while he has a ways to go to beat someone like a Donald Trump or a Ron DeSantis, I think he’s likeable enough to do that if his message resonates with the public. That will be the key. Well, that and fundraising. You have to be a genius at fundraising these days to become president. Either that or a billionaire!

I probably would slip Scott into third place at the moment behind DeSantis and Haley on my lineup card of who I could support. He’s close to beating out Haley, but we’ll have to wait and see about that. And, being from South Carolina, he most certainly is likely to test the will of the South Carolina voters, seeing how he and Haley hale from the same state.

It’s going to be a long fight, and it will be interesting to see how many others, besides DeSantis decide to throw their hat into the ring. I would tend to agree with most of the talking head pundits that the more candidates there are in the primaries, the better the chances are for Donald Trump to win the nomination because the votes and the delegates will be split among more people. And we’ve already seen how well Trump does at picking off opponents one by one. It’s just a question of who is he going after next.

Carry on world…you’re dismissed!

EXTRA! GOP Gets Sixth Person In Race For The White House

The Republicans have just added the sixth person to their list of candidates to run for the White House. Asa Hutchinson, the former Governor of Arkansas has just tossed his hat into the ring. Why? Well, as he said…

“I am going to be running. And the reason, as I’ve traveled the country for six months, I hear people talk about the leadership of our country, and I’m convinced that people want leaders that appeal to the best of America, and not simply appeal to our worst instincts. I believe I can be that kind of leader for the people of America.”

Hutchinson joins Donald Trump, Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy in the race for the GOP nomination. One other candidate entered the fray to less than stellar media coverage back at the beginning of February. Steve Laffey, the mayor of Cranston, Rhode Island announced his candidacy on February 2nd. He hasn’t made a blip in the polls yet. And Michigan businessman, Perry Johnson announced his candidacy back on March 1st. Johnson is 75 and has zero political experience.

I don’t believe Hutchinson has shown up in any of the polls to date, and I don’t believe I’ve even heard of anyone mentioning him as a potential candidate. We still haven’t heard from people like Mike Pompeo, or Ron DeSantis, or Mike Pence, who are considering it.

We should all be able to agree at this point, at least according to the polls I’ve seen from several polling services, that Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis are the only two people out there with any traction at all at this point. Now, it’s early, and a lot can happen, especially with Trump getting indicted in New York State. But everyone that has anything in the polls is in single digits except for Trump and DeSantis.

For anyone else to make a legitimate run, it’s going to take close to a billion dollars, name recognition out the wazoo, and a national network second to none to upend either Trump or DeSantis. And we’re hearing more and more scuttlebutt that DeSantis may just decide to wait until 2028 and run then. If Biden wins, he’ll be unable to run again, and if Trump wins, the same thing happens. Both will have served their two terms and will be termed out.

I would expect at the very least that there will be three or maybe upwards of four, five, or six additional announcements coming over the next four months or so. Either way, for any of them, it’s going to be an uphill battle the likes of which they’ve never seen before.

Carry on world…you’re dismissed!

Poking A Hole In Haley’s Argument

I’ve said before that Nikki Haley is probably at this point, my number two choice as the Republican presidential nominee. I believe that still today, but as I thought about her “coming out party” last week, I realized that not all is going to be gold and silver with her agenda. There are some problems.

Let’s take the mental acuity test for instance.

Now, do I feel that Haley is right in that politicians should have some sort of mental test before taking office so we don’t run into the same situation as we’ve got with Joe Biden? Should we make sure that someone’s mental capacity is strong enough to deal with what’s been described as the “toughest job in the world”? Absolutely. But there is a flaw in her argument. I didn’t see it right away. But it crept up on my like a liberal wanting to take away someone’s guns.

It has to do with the test itself.

It’s one thing to say we’re going to make sure someone is mentally competent to run for office before they are actually elected to that office. But we’re missing the liberal picture. See, when someone on the right says that, we’re all thinking that would take someone like Joe Biden out of the picture. And you could probably make the argument that a Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren, or an Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, or most certainly an Ilhan Omar wouldn’t pass that test, right? Well, what if the shoe were on the other foot?

I refer to it as the “Reid Rule” after former Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid. Remember when he wanted to help Bobo Obama install a bunch of new liberal judges onto the federal bench? And he didn’t have the votes to do so. In typical liberal fashion, if you can’t win by following the rules, change the rules. So, rather than try and get 60 votes, he got a change in the rules to allow non-Supreme Court Justices and other appointees to get confirmation with only 51 votes. And he got that through Congress. The problem was that he wasn’t thinking long term. He knew he could help out Obama, but what about when Obama was out of office and someone else took over, say someone like Donald Trump? Well, then the Republicans put the shoe on the other foot and make it possible that you could confirm Supreme Court Justices with only 51 votes as well.

The same thing can happen here. Yes, it makes sense we could go after people who mentally are unfit for the job, but has anyone thought of what happens when WE don’t control the questions asked during such an examination? Who is to say that once liberals take over (as they always will), they don’t change the rule to make it that if you’re not a “democratic socialist”, you’re not mentally fit? Who’s to say that a question that reads, “Do you believe in a woman’s right to abortion on demand?” isn’t a qualifier for being mentally fit for office? You can go on and on.

This is one of those times when an idea that is proffered by a Republican candidate can be turned against them and used in a way that would be totally against what the person offering up the idea intended. And we have to be careful about that. Sorry Democrats, but you’ve lost my trust and I have started looking at things with a rather jaundiced eye.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. If we don’t start taking a much closer look at what could possibly happen with all of these ideas being floated, we’re going to find just how easily they can be manipulated into the Democrats barring the Republican party from ever getting elected. Think I’m wrong? Tell me why!

Carry on world…you’re dismissed!

Time To Get Off “The Pot”?

Ron DeSantis has a decision to make, and he doesn’t have all the time in the world to make it. There are a bunch of people that are waiting in the wings to jump into what The Hill calls, the GOP Conga Line of potential nominees for president. But a lot of those folks are waiting to see what Ron DeSantis is going to do.

His time is running out.

The longer he waits, the more people will feel that he isn’t going to run, and they’ll announce their candidacy. And the more people that are running, most pundits say the better it is for Donald Trump, who likes to take on each candidate individually, and blow them out of the water until he’s the only one left. At least that’s the way he did it in 2016.

What’s DeSantis got to lose by joining the fray? Well, for one thing, if he isn’t successful at beating Trump, he goes back to being just the Governor of the nation’s newest “red state”. But he also loses a lot of that “superstar” power he got in kicking Charlie Crist into a retirement home this past November. He is most certainly the golden boy in Republican politics nowadays, and I’m sure that’s a status that he doesn’t want to give up all that easily.

So, why wouldn’t DeSantis want to jump into the race? There aren’t that many reasons. I guess the first would be he doesn’t think in his own mind, or through whatever research he’s done, that he could outlast Trump in a primary. It would indeed be costly, and Trump could most certainly outspend him without batting an eye. But I think there are more reasons that go beyond that. First is the fact that DeSantis may very well be content to be the Governor of Florida. I don’t think every politician that gets elected to an executive leadership position has their eyes set on the Oval Office. DeSantis may be one of them. Maybe he doesn’t like the weather in DC in winter? Maybe he fell in love with Tallahassee? Who knows?

But another reason is just that DeSantis may not be done reshaping Florida into the Republican juggernaut that he thinks it can be. After all, Florida is a growing state. It’s getting a ton of people moving into it from places like New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. And it is going to face the growing pains in the coming years that all states like the Sunshine State have faced. Look at Texas, California, Arizona, Nevada. They’ve all seen incredible growth over the past decade. Granted, Cali is losing about 300,000 of their people a year to states like Texas, Arizona, and Utah. But it may be that DeSantis thinks Florida can actually be a bigger state than any of them except maybe California.

Whatever reason is going on in Ron DeSantis’ mind, I think personally, he’s already made up his mind one way or another. It’s a timing thing now. He needs to wait for the proper moment to decide when to announce if he’s already decided to get in the race, and I think he has. The problem with waiting too long is that you become one of the guys at the back of the Conga Line, and you are then having to fight your way to the front of it. If DeSantis announces before the end of February, he can be assured that he will be next to Trump when the music starts.

I do think it’s going to be a crowded field this year and next for the Republicans. I’m not going to say there will be 17 or 18 people trying to get the nomination, like there was back in 2016, but there will be quite a few folks vying for it. If Ron DeSantis is one of them, he does have a half decent chance at dethroning Trump. If he decides not to run this time around, then basically he’s giving the nomination to Trump. It will be the former president’s nomination to lose. No one of the other Conga Line dancers is even close.

Carry on world…you’re dismissed!

Haley’s Opening Gambit

I’ve made no bones about it. I like Nikki Haley. I’ve always thought she was well spoken, had conservative ideas that would be great for this country, and frankly, isn’t bad eye candy. But do I think she’s ever going to be the President? No. Not a chance.

Look, she made a couple of really good comments at the opening rally after she announced her candidacy. She wants to put term limits on Congress. I’m all for that. We have term limits on the presidency. There are 38 states that impose some sort of term limits on the Governor’s job. So, why don’t we have term limits in Congress. It would put an end to the Diane Feinstein’s and Nancy Pelosi’s of the world. Give them a chance to serve, and then return to their districts, just as the Founding Fathers intended. They never thought serving in federal government should be a lifetime job or a career. It’s a duty…just like getting called to sit on a jury.

But Haley didn’t take that one far enough. It isn’t just the mere fact you’ve been in Congress so long, it’s also the fact that a) we spend a TON of money on retired Congressmen and women. It’s not a lot when you consider the trillion dollar plus US budget, but it’s over $30 million per year! And there are hundreds of people on the pension plan. What is amazing is that we pay them anything. The average net worth of people serving in Congress is just over $1 million. So, why are we paying them a pension?

The part b) to that is Haley’s promise to include mental acuity screening for anyone over the age of 75. While that’s nice, and a jab at Joe Biden, it’s not enough (again). You should have a retirement age of 65 in the House, and 70 in the Senate. No president should serve past their 75th birthday. If they turn 75 during their term, they become ineligible to run.

While a lot of people thought Nikki Haley’s presidential run is a good thing, and I think it’s better than not having anyone run against Trump, there is the popular idea out there that the more people that run, the better Trump’s chances are of getting the nomination. That’s because he has a solid base already. If you get more people in the pool, his base doesn’t decline, but the total number of voters would be split among more people, making it less likely that someone would defeat him. That’s a flawed theory. In short, it’s true that would happen if everyone stayed in the race. They don’t. They run out of money, they get tired of seeing small crowds, they don’t qualify for the debate stage, and they realize they don’t have a chance in hell of winning. As those folks leave, their supporters go somewhere else. And the likelihood of Trump’s numbers being high and the rest being low decrease.

Columnist Kurt Schlichter has compared Nikki Haley to K-baby Harris saying that she’s the Harris of the Republican party. He thought her opening rally was overblown, saying she’s just wrong for the party (comparing her as “Jeb-lite”). That may or may not be true, but you’ve got to give her the chance to run and find that out for herself. Remember, when Donald Trump came down that escalator at Trump Tower in 2015, everyone thought he was wrong for the Republican party as well. I think Schlichter is wrong on that one point. But he is right that Haley isn’t going to win, as I said in an early blog.

If Ron DeSantis fails to get in the race, I’d be happy to support Haley. But, as I said before, I fully realize that I’m supporting someone like I did in 2016 with Scott Walker. I ended up having to switch candidates a few times. I think the same thing would happen with Haley. But I have a feeling DeSantis will get in and will give Trump a run for his money. Don’t get me wrong, Nikki Haley would make a much better “First Female President” than K-baby Harris or Hillary Clinton would. But I think she may have missed that opportunity. She should have been in the race in 2016.

Carry on world…you’re dismissed!

Haley’s In

Nikki Haley became the first woman, and second politician to enter the 2024 presidential race on Tuesday. She posted a video that made the announcement. It was widely speculated that Haley would be jumping into the fray against her old boss, Donald Trump.

In Haley’s video, she echoed the mantra she’s been using for quite some time…that it’s time for NEW leadership not only in the GOP, but in Washington. She could not be more correct on that one. “Republicans have lost the popular vote in seven out of the last eight presidential elections. That has to change. Joe Biden’s record is abysmal, but that shouldn’t come as a surprise. The Washington establishment has failed us over and over and over again. It’s time for a new generation of leadership.”

I’ve personally always thought Haley was a good politician, and has done a great job, be it as South Carolina’s governor, or as the ambassador to the United Nations under Trump. She speaks her mind, she’s intelligent, she’s conservative, and she knows how to play the game. That said, I wonder how long she’ll be able to stay in the race.

Look, there are a lot of people today that are contemplating jumping into the race along with Haley and Trump. Most of them don’t have a chance in hell of winning the nomination, and personally, I don’t think Haley does either. She is at this point, my second choice behind Ron DeSantis, who has the experience, the political savvy, and the wherewithal to make the run successful. While I like Haley, I really liken her to Scott Walker, the former governor of Wisconsin. I liked his policies, I liked his background, but he didn’t have the “oomph” behind him when he ran. I doubt that Haley will either.

Still, you have to give her credit. Nikki Haley loves to mention that she’s won every race that she’s ever run and doesn’t intend to start losing now. Of course, what else would you expect someone entering the toughest race in their life to say? Would you expect her to say, “Well, I don’t have much to do right now, and I’m tired of living on the pensions I got from South Carolina and the US Treasury for serving both of those jobs. So, I might as well increase my name recognition.”? I think not.

Still, I don’t think she’s going to be the one to cross the finish line. All of the polls currently show her in single digits with most of the folks out there either going for Donald Trump or DeSantis, and that should be a close race either way. In the end, my hunch is, there are going to be enough folks liking what DeSantis has to say, enjoying the fact that he is almost half Trump’s age (Trump is 76, DeSantis is 44), and his personality is a “take no prisoners” type of Republican. I think that plays well against the Trump base as well as what he’s done in Florida. Beating Charlie Crist overwhelmingly in Florida for the governorship this past November made him the GOP’s golden boy. I don’t see much that could tarnish that mantle.

There are going to be quite a few challengers to Donald Trump’s nomination for 2024 however. Currently pondering the race are Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who all ran in previous contests, as well as former Vice President, Mike Pence, former Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, DeSantis, Texas Governor, Glenn Abbott, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, and a couple of longshots. Those would be former Wyoming Congresswoman, Liz Cheyney, and Fox News host, Tucker Carlson (has he even talked about a run???). That’s a pretty well loaded field.

So, Haley is going to have her work cut out for her. Everyone except DeSantis and Trump are in single digits so far. It’s going to be difficult for anyone to chip away at the two frontrunners and get enough of the support away from them to make a difference. But it is early, and at this point in 2016, no one in their right mind, except maybe Ann Coulter thought that Donald Trump had a chance in hell. We’ll have to wait and see.

Carry on world…you’re dismissed!

Is It A Clinton/Bush Thing All Over Again?

Remember back in the primaries of the 2016 presidential race? People on both sides of the aisle were sick and tired of having either a Bush or a Clinton running the country. George HW Bush won election in 1988 after having served as vice president for eight years. He lost to Bill Clinton in 1992, and Clinton served eight years. Then in 2000, George W. Bush took over and served eight years. That was 20 years of two families running the country. And in 2016, voters basically said no to Clinton and no to Bush. But it was Hillary Clinton this time, and Jeb Bush. Clinton got the nomination, Bush didn’t.

It looks like we could be facing the same type of sentiment again in 2024, but with only two combatants. That would be Joe Biden and Donald Trump. When asked if their respective candidate should run again in 2024, only 27% of Democrats said Biden should run. Only 37% of Republicans said that Trump should run according to a Fox News poll. And yet it appears that at this early stage, at the very least, Trump is going to be announcing in early 2023. Biden has stayed mum, in fact, has changed from “definitely going to run again in 2024” to “if my health allows me to run”. That’s the out given by the White House. Remember K-baby’s retraction of a couple of weeks back? She went from “Joe Biden will run and I will be his running mate. Full stop!” to “IF Joe Biden decides to run again, I will be his running mate.” Big difference.

My question in this, and I know a lot of you a huge Trump fans, is if either of them run, does that temper that party’s enthusiasm? Could we have another “No more Clintons, No More Bushes” type of scenario?

The Democrats have a much shorter bench of potential candidates than the Republicans have. Dems’ will be pretty much counting on the same cast of characters that lost out to Biden in 2020, with a couple of exceptions. Gavin Newsome, California’s Governor, has hinted he’d be seeking the White House next time around, even if Biden chooses to run. Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has also been called a possible contender. So has Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, as devisive as she has been in Congress! Niether Newsome, who survived a recall election, or Whitmer who stands a better than even chance of winning reelection in the Wolverine State have much gravitas on the national stage. And AOC can’t even get a majority in her own party to support her ideas.

Republicans have a deeper bench with fresher faces should Trump decide not to run. Florida Governor, Ron DeSantis leads the parade. Former UN Ambassador and South Carolina Governor, Nikki Haley is also in the mix. Ted Cruz would most assuredly make another attempt, having carried himself almost to the convention in 2020. Then there would be Ivanka Trump and Donald Jr. who could enter the fray if daddy decided to skip it. Mike Pence would probably split the party, but would be considered a solid choice having served as vice presdient, as would former Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo who has made rumblings he’d be interested, and has national name recognition. Senators Tim Scott of South Carolina, and Tom Cotton of Arkansas have also been touted as possibilities.

Should it not fall to a Biden/Trump rematch, the Republicans would be well served with fresh, younger faces, while the Dems would be forced to stick to the tired bunch that ran (and failed) in 2020. Either way, if Biden stays in office through his first term, and the economy doesn’t improve, the chances of a Democrat in the White House on January 20, 2025 would be slim and none!

Carry on world…you’re dismissed!

GOP Not Waiting On Trump

Donald Trump has done this for years. I remember watching an episode of the Apprentice one night, and Trump had all of the celebrities in the board room (he stopped giving away jobs at Trump Inc. years ago!), and asked them if he should run for president. Of course their answer was yes. What else could they say?

Fast forward to today. Trump is still the titular head of the Republican party, having been the last presidential candidate. And he continues to have rallies and speak around the country, hinting that he’s going to “make American great yet again”. He did so again this past weekend at the Faith & Freedom Coalition’s Road To Majority Conference in Nashville.

But apparently that doesn’t mean that others that have been also considering a run for the White House are waiting on Trump to make a decision. I don’t think this is going to end up like when Hillary Clinton ran in 2016, and all of the Dems’ out there decided to wait to see if she was going to run.

Two of the potential candidates also spoke at the Nashville get together. Mike Pompeo and Nikki Haley were there giving keynote addresses. And neither sounded like they were waiting for Donald Trump. In fact, both praised Trump as being the right person needed in 2016 when he won. But they will decide if THEY are the right person in 2024, and if they are, THEY will run.

I get the feeling hearing from the Pence clan that Mike Pence is pretty much thinking along the same lines. That means that Trump, if he does decide to run, may not have seventeen other candidates to plow through as happened in 2016. But he may have more competition than he would like to have had going into the primaries in 2024.

What is interesting is that when some of the others considering running were asked if Trump should stop talking about 2020 and focus on 2024, they all responded basically the same way. Trump should do what Trump thinks is right for Trump. Personally, 2020 was two years ago. It’s history. And yes, we need to learn from our history, but I don’t think we need to relive it quite as often as Trump would want us to believe we need to. Just a thought.

Either way, I think I’m going to be buying stock in Orville Redenbacher.

Carry on world…you’re dismissed!