Haley’s support and other election 2024 matters
Nikki Haley’s supporters in Iowa are Biden-friendly (or Biden-adjacent):
nearly half of [Haley’s Iowa voters] — 43% — [said] they’d vote for Democratic President Joe Biden over Trump.
These new findings from the latest NBC News/Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll of Iowa further illustrate the degree to which Haley is bringing in support from independents, Democrats and Republicans who have been uneasy with Trump’s takeover of the GOP. Fully half of her Iowa caucus supporters are independents or crossover Democrats, according to the survey results.
This makes perfect sense. It’s exactly the demographic to which Haley would be likely to appeal. The GOP base, of course, is loyal to Trump, and my guess is that many would not vote for Haley were she to be the nominee – which I predict won’t be happening anyway. But the split between a candidate who seems to appeal to moderate and especially Independent voters, such as Haley, and one who appeals to the conservative right is an old old story.
My favored candidate remains DeSantis. But unless he can make big inroads in New Hampshire in the next week, Haley will best him there – probably as a result of crossover votes from Democrats and Independents. Crossover votes represent a flaw in the primary system in my opinion. They’re not as much of a problem in a year in which both parties’ primaries are very competitive, but this year Biden has it locked up (if the powers behind the throne don’t give him the hook, that is), and so Biden supporters feel free to meddle in the Republican primaries in states that allow it.
Haley has refused to attend a planned debate in New Hampshire with DeSantis for the ostensible reason that Trump won’t be there. That reason doesn’t pass the smell test. She has attended many debates, including one recently with DeSantis, without Trump. I think her refusal now is that she’s way ahead in NH polls and she did somewhat poorly against DeSantis in her one-on-one debate with him, so why risk it? DeSantis has rightly called her on this:
Making his case to host Wolf Blitzer and an audience of New Hampshire voters, including registered Republicans and undeclared voters, DeSantis made the point that he is the sole remaining candidate who hasn’t refused to show up and debate his opponents.
He said at this point he was the only one not running a “basement campaign.” Good point, but I don’t know if this will help him. That link to the DeSantis talk has some interesting remarks of his about many other things, such as baseball and why he joined the military.
As I’ve said many times, though, I believe Trump will be the nominee. Will Biden be his party’s nominee? I continue to think it more likely than not because a mechanism for removal and a good replacement hasn’t been found. And to those who say “Michelle Obama,” I say that if she had wanted to run she’d have run in 2020 instead of Joe.
I’ve read here and elsewhere that Trump might pick Elise Stefanik as his running mate. I think that would be a good choice, but I have no idea what he’s thinking.
You’re certainly correct about Haley’s motivation in refusing to debate. There is little to be gained and the potential of much to lose, if she debated.
As I said yesterday, DeSantis has no realistic path forward and should drop out. His campaign is floating the absurd scenario that can make a big splash in South Carolina…five weeks from now! Come on! He’s in single digits in New Hampshire. One of two things is going to happen:
1. Trump wins decisively in New Hampshire, effectively ensuring his nomination. If so, Haley will likely drop out shortly thereafter.
2. Haley pulls off an upset or at least keeps it very close. If so, she’ll have the buzz and momentum to push forward.
Either way, DeSantis will be left high and dry. Neither donors, the media nor GOP voters are going to hang around for a month to see if ‘maybe’ he can pull off a miracle in Haley’s home state, where Trump is enormously popular.
DeSantis ran a terrible campaign. He should return to Florida and focus on maintaining and building upon his successes as governor.
Both DeSantis and Haley should drop out at this point. Neither one has a chance in hell. All they’re doing is wasting money and everyone’s time. What’s more, neither one is likely to get any position in a future Trump administration, assuming that even happens at all. And I say that as a fan of DeSantis. I wish he was the nominee. But clearly it ain’t happening.
The cynic is me suspects the D checks for a Haley independent run are already being drafted.
I think some donors pumped up Haley for the specific reason of pulling support from DeSantis, or at least muddying the waters.
The situation in the country is very volatile. I’d like to see DeSantis hang in for a while. I am afraid something is going to happen to Trump.
I would wager that all those “Biden adjacent” Haley supporters are just Democrats who came out to try to embarrass Trump. And I would also bet that at least half of the “non-Biden adjacent” Haley supporters lied to the pollster about not being Biden voters.
I am aghast at people who think DeSantis should drop out at this point.
I know that Trump has his core; but it is limited. As Haley has shown, there are a good many people who would not vote for him under any circumstances.
As the Brits are wont to say, “early days yet”.
As to Iowa. Let’s review recent history on who Iowa picked.
2008 Huckabee
2012 Santorum
2016 Cruz
2020 Trump
That track record is telling.
If Trump is to be the nominee, let him earn it. Maybe he should even debate the current issues face to face with his opponents. As we know he has no claim on incumbent privileges; and should not be allowed to exploit them.
I hope that Neo is right about Michelle.
I have to believe that the Democrats have a scheme ready to spring; but have no idea what it might be. Newsom? Heaven help us.
I also think Trump will choose Stefanik as VP.
Oldflyer:
Newsom does not poll well against Trump, so I doubt he’d be the replacement.
I don’t think the Democrats have a replacement, or Joe would already be gone. That doesn’t mean they won’t come up with one, but I can’t think who it would be.
I don’t think most of the people saying DeSantis should drop out are ex-DeSantis supporters who are saying it reluctantly. I think they are Trump and Haley supporters – especially Trump supporters who have been bitterly against him from the start and have been spreading lies about him from the start. They always recognized him as potentially Trump’s biggest GOP threat and they have been quite successful in undercutting him. DeSantis’ biggest failing, IMHO, is his lack of charisma. I don’t think he’s utterly lacking in it, but he doesn’t have the excitement factor of Trump. Some people have gotten addicted to that factor and now demand it in a candidate.
https://www.dossier.today/p/nikki-haley-is-an-extremist-not-a
There’s a report out of Des Moines, the only county that went for Haley in Iowa, that the caucus ran out of forms that allowed people to switch their political affiliation and attend the Republican caucus. She didn’t get Republican votes at all.
The only county Haley carried was Johnson County. Not Des Moines County nor Polk County, where the city of Des Moines is located.
Johnson County is where the University of Iowa is located, so it is considerably more liberal then the rest of the state. I’m sure there was a fair amount of Democratic crossover
Part of the problem of replacing slow Joe is Kamala. Being a black female it’s problematic to bypass her.
Personally I was for DeSantis but at this point I think he’s toast. Like Rand Paul, I’m a never Nikkie.
DeSantis should stay in the race.
He has the most articulate vision for national governance.
Trump’s VP pick will be Kristi Noem.
Those Dems that voted for her will vote Dem in the General. As for charisma, remember Obama. I want someone that is Good, Stable, Intelligent and Committed. I too am a fan of DeSantis, but we know unless Trump is not around DeSantis doesn’t stand a chance. And, NO on Haley.
Nonapod,
So the rest of us should be disenfranchised from ever voting in a few weeks or months for DeSantis solely based on the few people who were at the Iowa caucuses?? Wow, the D’s are right in the the GOP wants to destroy the democratic system. Looks like our system of voting has now been replaced by polls conducted by obscure people with agendas.
I’m aghast, like Oldflyer.
I think Stefanik would be a poor VP pick. But I think Trump should find a place for her in his administration (if he wins). I’m not aware of her having actual executive experience.
DeSantis and Noem are two of the strongest choices with executive experience. Although Noem has some baggage, and I doubt Trump would pick DeSantis.
See the article by Andrew McCarthy. Nailed it IMO. All we can do is watch this train wreck.
“I took in a wide array of television and web coverage of former president Trump’s 30-point win in the Iowa caucuses last night.
What I found most curious was the Trump crowd’s crowing that Democrats woke up this morning to the news that their plan has failed — because, the irrational exuberance goes, Trump looks strong while Biden is floundering. This misapprehends the Democrats’ plan, which, in fact, continues to be working to perfection.
The plan was built on the four indictments and sundry civil suits, all brought by Democratic partisans (led by the Biden Justice Department). The point of the lawfare siege, which is the target of Trump’s constant ire and is thus scoffed at by his fans as ineffective partisanship, was to get Trump nominated. In that sense, the siege has been effective beyond the Democrats’ wildest dreams.”
https://www.nationalreview.com/2024/01/the-democrats-2024-plan-is-still-working-to-perfection/
Bob Wilson:
I read most of that McCarthy piece earlier today, and I think he’s right about some things and wrong about one big thing: the Democrats are genuinely worried that Trump will survive the lawfare in terms of his political future, and may end up being elected. They believed the lawfare would help him win the GOP nomination and that he’d be the weakest possible candidate of all of them. But it seems that his stock has risen not just with the GOP and Trump regulars but with many independents – or at least Biden’s stock has dropped so much that Trump remains quite competitive with Biden.
For what it’s worth, and this is highly anecdotal, I have two Jewish friends (practicing), with whom I actually talk politics with from time to time. I’m quite certain both are generally democrats but neither are “leftists”. Anyway, both love Nikki Haley. Both said out of nowhere, years ago now, that if they ever got a chance to vote for her, they would. This all stems from her time as UN ambassador. They very much liked the forcefulness with which she was willing to speak. That she was willing to name and shame the dictators and their evil acts, and of course she was very pro Israel.
Now, are these the kind of people that might show up in this 43% group that would vote for Biden over Trump? Probably. Did Haley do anything to court them specifically in her campaign? I don’t know. I don’t actually follow politics per se. But the 43% number is not a surprise to me. And also for what it’s worth, Haley is ok by me. If she winds up somewhere in a Trump administration I’d be very happy about it.
Neo, I assume that you are basing your statements about Trump‘s stock rising on polls. I have to admit that the polls were pretty accurate in Iowa but this was after massive crossover voting by Democrats. Ron DeSantis is the candidate that the Democrats are afraid of so the Iowa Democrats probably all voted for Haley or Trump.
All the Democrats and independents that I know including close family members would not vote for Trump ever. What is the case with your friends and family? Do you see any of them voting for Trump?
I think the polls you are relying on are cooked by the partisan Democrat media. But the main point is indisputable: The Democrats want to run against Trump.
Neo, I hope you are right about Newsom. The worrisome thing is that he has a brilliant, phony smile; and he has had a lot of power behind him in California. He easily survived a recall attempt. How all of that translates in other places remains to be seen. To know him is to detest him.
As I said; I don’t know what the Democrat plan is. Maybe I give them too much credit by thinking that they have one. I hope so.
When DeSantis is allowed to be DeSantis, he has plenty of charisma–although his smile is not as compelling as Newsom’s; and he doesn’t utter wild and frequently questionable sound bites like Trump. Nor does he blow with the wind like Haley sometimes does.
I really believe that Trump and the Dem/media cabal have, each for their own reasons, have worked very hard to keep people from getting to know DeSantis. Trump fears him–the tell is the outlandish names that he calls him–and the Dems don’t want to run against him; they prefer a flawed and damaged Trump.
No he has just destroyed a great state, larry elder was a fine candidate the people didnt seem to care
Physicsguy:
Yes that’s how it works. A few early states have an outsized influence on the nomination. That’s the way its worked for decades. Is it fair or reasonable? Not really, but it’s reality
DeSantis knew this going in (all candidates do). He decided to focus heavily on Iowa. It didn’t pay off. He’s going to be creamed in New Hampshire. Typically, any candidate of either party who does poorly in both those states is finished (except for Biden, who got a deus ex machina in South Carolina).
I think some sort of a national primary or at least say, four Super Tuesdays, would be preferable. But that’s not on the horizon anytime soon.
Also, I have no doubt if DeSantis had pulled off an upset in Iowa (or kept it close), but Haley had been in single digits, most DeSantis supporters would be clamoring for her to withdraw. Let’s just be consistent.
Bob Wilson:
The people I know would never vote for any Republican. Period. So although they especially hate Trump, they would hate the other GOP candidates almost as much so it doesn’t matter. Many of them are the people who in 2012 started talking about Romney’s “binders of women” as soon as the MSM starting spreading the word.
So they’re not the ones going over to Trump in the recent polls. However, some Hispanics, black men, independents, etc. are.
I have noticed that polls are nowhere near as bad as people on the right continually say they are. And I’m speaking of polls over the last few years. I spend a lot of time looking at them and trying to assess their accuracy ex post facto. I think polls are inherently difficult to do and I think they represent a snapshot, and there are degrees of error. But look, for example, at this post of mine as well as this one.
State polls are more difficult to do and aren’t done as frequently as national ones, and so they are somewhat less accurate more often.
Ackler:
Actually, typically, Iowa and NH primaries don’t matter so very much as people think they do. The Iowa and NH primaries mainly serve to eliminate the outliers. NH has a better track record then Iowa.
See this as well as this.
Nikki Haley doesn’t believe what she’s been saying in her ads (term limits, balanced budgets). That’s probably true of most politicians, but the insincerity is especially glaring now. It’s not so much that she’s more dishonest, but because many of us have grown up. One ad has former senate candidate Don Bolduc call Haley “strong on the Border and strong on China,” because she can’t even bring herself to make those claims about herself.
Assuming Donald Trump can control his own behavior, he could easily thwart the Democrat strategy by being more focused and acting more responsibly — but can he really control himself? Does he even want to?
Ackler:
I am a DeSantis supporter. I assure you at this point that I wouldn’t expect Haley to withdraw if she were in single digits. People tend to stay in there as long as they can, and unless she had something like 1 or 2 percent I wouldn’t expect her to withdraw so early as long as she had the money.
By the way, DeSantis did pull off somewhat of an upset in Iowa by beating Haley at all. She was very much predicted to beat him.
Oldflyer there’s been a lot of water under the bridge since the recall. The situation in California has deteriorated rapidly and even Democrats are raising hell about crime and the drug addicts and mentally ill on the streets. The Democrats in Oakland are mounting two recall campaigns: one against the Soros district attorney, and the other against the incompetent mayor. Crime is the main driver of both recalls. The situation with the people camping out on the streets has gotten so bad that when SCOTUS took up the Grants Pass decision by the ninth circuit that said cities could not run them off, the Democrats led by Newsom cheered it on. The tax situation is getting out of hand. The top marginal tax rate is now over 14%. California depends on high income taxpayers heavily and as they leave the state the budget deficit is exploding. And as was pointed out above, Newsom has the Kamala problem. FWIW I think the Democrats will play the Biden basement strategy and run against J6 and abortion. It will probably work if Trump is the nominee.
Re: DeSantis
I don’t think he should drop out either, unless he wants to.
As I say, 2024 is going to be a damn strange and dangerous year. Anything could happen.
In January 1968 who forecast Hubert Humphrey as the Dem nominee? Or in 1972 McGovern?
I would like to know who is trying to make Haley happen, and why they gave up on DeSantis. Earlier in the race he was the greatest, who would save us from Trump, and he was encouraged to run. Now it’s almost DeSantis who? I think DeSantis and Haley are/were both excellent governors, like Scott Walker, and yes, Sarah Palin. Haley was great at the UN, too. But of the Republican candidates, only Vivek had the balls to say there was something fishy about the 2020 election, and that maybe we ought to do something about ensuring that future elections are honest. The others are afraid to touch the subject – even though unless the process gets fixed, no Republican, not even the “Good” ones will get elected.
I remember Rush Limbaugh used to say that we should pay attention to who they (the media, the Left) think is a Good Republican, who we should be voting for, because that is who they want to run against. He said it about The Maverick McCain, and he said it about Mitt Romney (how’s that for a no-baggage candidate – they had to work very hard to find/create some). No one was going to defeat Obama though – now there’s a candidate oozing with charisma, but he was as phony as a 3-dollar bill. I think some people’s problem with DeSantis may not be so much a lack of charisma as they don’t trust him to have their best interests at heart. Maybe they remember Romney. Who knows. Personally, I don’t give a rat’s rear end if a candidate has charisma – I just want them to be real, and to know they want to put American interests first. I really liked Jeb as my governor, and I think he did good for the state, but wasn’t sure I wanted him to be president. I don’t know why, to be honest. I’m kind of in the same boat with DeSantis. He should stay in the race though, with Haley. He started, finish.
Well as humphrey was veep it wasnt that surprising although considering that vietnam was the source of the discontent maybe he wasnt the best choice then again could mccarthy have won that year.
Andrew McCarthy is too establishment to ever “nail it”.
Johnson and RFK were well ahead of Humphrey that year.
Until they weren’t.
Neo,
I certainly am not questioning you. But I do think a lot of DeSantis supporters would be pressing Haley to withdraw had the Iowa results been markedly different. Nothing unique about that; it happens every Presidential primary season.
My point is simply that DeSantis has no realistic path to the nomination. The strategy his campaign has outlined is completely absurd. Continuing to campaign until South Carolina will largely be an exercise in vanity.
All that wouldn’t be too significant were it not for the fact that he’s a sitting governor, and a very accomplished one at that. The longer he persists in his quixotic campaign, the more his overall credibility and strength in Florida will be reduced. He’d do well to return to Tallahassee so, while the legislature is in session and focus all his efforts on maintaining and building on his gubernatorial legacy.
Rfk didnt run until after february or do i have that wrong
Nor did Johnson decide not to run until April. Not the point.
In a realistic appraisal of the Dem bench in 1968 it would have been Johnson, RFK and farther down HHH.
ComputerLabRat:
I beg to differ. Vivek was not the only one who’s spoken on the matter.
I find that often when people say so-and-so never spoke on such-and-such, the people saying it are just unaware that the person DID speak on the matter and just assume that, if they’ve not heard about it, it didn’t happen.
For example, I wrote an entire post on what DeSantis actually said about the problems with the 2020 election. Please read it.
As far as who was initially promoting DeSantis and who is now promoting Haley, it’s two very different groups. The Haley group didn’t drop DeSantis; they never were keen on him. The people who initially liked DeSantis (and many still do) saw him as a less abrasive alternative to Trump who was nevertheless very conservative and didn’t have Trump’s legal or personal baggage. They were and are not Trump-haters; they see Trump as having alienated too many people to be elected, and also old. DeSantis is much younger and therefore a nice contrast to Biden.
Haley’s promoters, on the other hand, are NeverTrumpers on both left and right and in the middle. There also may be some people who think being a woman is a plus.
Where does she have a stronger path to the nomination if she cant win her own state
DeS should stay in because there is a non-zero chance that Trump will not be available later in the election season. He may be in jail, may have a health issue (old and obese and overworked does not lead to persistent good function) or he may be the victim of a physical attack.
I say this as a Trump supporter who is motivated by a desire to ensure that lawfare explodes in the D’s faces.
That would leave us with Haley or DeS as options.
I would much prefer DeS.
Haley’s Iowa voters who said they would vote for Biden over Trump will vote for Biden over Haley also. Pay no attention to them.
Trump should pick Noem or Haley for VP. I agree that Stefanik would be better but will not garner additional votes for him.
Dems will find a way to replace Biden with Whitmer.
Another possibility – Haley’s voters are soft Republicans/Independents who will vote GOP, but not for Trump.
The “pay no attention to them” crowd is whistling past the graveyard.
Is it better to have Haley, or Biden, because that may be the real question.
I also am aghast and think DeSantis should stay in the race. Let the people vote!
What is the plan (if any) if Trump is not able to serve on November 5?
I don’t like Stefanik as VP pick. She seems to be not very conservative, and I don’t think two New Yorkers is a good look. Also I would prefer a man. Surely there is someone better available for this “great job with opportunity for advancement”?
It’s not a flaw in the ‘primary process’. It’s a flaw in the state law governing the organization of political parties and the nomination and designation of candidates. Ideally, all political parties are foundationally organizations of dues-paying members who govern themselves according to by laws whose template is to be found in state corporation law or state election law. Political parties who perform satisfactorily in quadrennial contests for seats in the state legislature are designated ‘public organizations’. Their core of dues paying members is supplemented with a periphery of registrants who now and again participate in the nomination and designation of candidates through primaries and caucuses. The open primary is a practice which makes very little sense.
IIRC correctly, Max Weber used the term ‘charisma’ to refer to rare inspirational ability e.g. Buddha and Christ. Doesn’t belong on pols.
Haley’s promoters, on the other hand, are NeverTrumpers on both left and right and in the middle.
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There are no consequential NeverTrumpers, just shills (Charlie Sykes), grifters (the Lincoln Project), and idiots (Mona Charen). I think you mean the Capitol Hill / K Street nexus, Glitch McConnell first and foremost.
Art Deco:
I wrote this post a month ago explaining who I’m talking about who’s funding Haley. The Koch group is anti-Trump and they apparently have sunk a lot of money into Haley.
Pardon my French, but if Kristi Noem can’t keep her p***y under control, she should have no place on the GOP ticket, a heartbeat away from the presidency!
Here’s an idea: how about Neo for VP?
In re Humphrey: The trajectory of American politics would have been completely different had he succeeded Johnson.
Here is an excellent retrospective.
https://www.americanexperiment.org/the-tragedy-of-hubert-humphrey/
There are, as others have noted, a lot of “rhymes” connecting HHH’s era and our own, but I won’t try to point them out.
I will, however, draw attention to this excerpt:
I chose that one because, back in the sixties, everything I knew about Humphrey, I learned from Tom Lehrer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C11ZNuVSBMU
@ miguel in re your link to Jordan Schachtel’s Substackpost, in which he says:
“Nikki Haley is an extremist, not a moderate
Beholden to corporate donors, Haley will do and say anything, no matter how nefarious, to advance her political ambitions”
He may or may not be correct about her do-and-say character, but he does provide an extensive list of Haley’s positions, very few of which are acceptable to the more conservative wing of the GOP.
However, the way Schachtel presents them, they are sometimes moderately left of some Republicans and sometimes moderately right of some Democrats.
Since “extremist” generally conveys the idea that a Republican is way to the Right of traditional conservatives, or a Democrat way to the Left of traditional liberals, I would say she does in fact average out as “moderate.”
I wouldn’t put it quite as colorfully as Jordan Rivers, but Kristi Noem’s alleged affair with one of Trump’s top advisors is going to go over like a lead balloon with the electorate. Picking her as VP would be a huge mistake.
Not to mention that a ticket of Trump plus an interior state governor/conservative media darling is not going to run very well on the coasts, and especially the suburbs.
Personally, I think Noem is a bit of a squish, but she hasn’t been portrayed that way. Frankly, she has a lot of the same problems as Haley when it comes to conservative convictions.
The most palatable Trump VP that I’ve seen floated is Doug Burgum. (Yeah, I know, another interior state governor – but he’s not going to scare the coastals as much as Noem.) Stefanik would lean into Trump’s ability to pull votes from outside the traditional GOP base from among working class coastals. Politically, she may be best.
The Koch group is anti-Trump and they apparently have sunk a lot of money into Haley.
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The Koch brothers have always been libertarians. My suspicion is that they are real deal libertarians, not poseurs like Tyler Cowen. The trouble with libertarians is that, with an exception here or there, they are open borders enthusiasts.
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I don’t see any indication that Haley is on board with the program of the Koch Institute, just more agreeable to the Koch worldview than is Trump.
As for the Vice Presidency as currently constituted, it’s a stupid job which should be abolished.
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The optimal VP is someone who does not mind being second banana, is an experienced executive who could take over without glitches, in broad agreement with the president on policy, capable of giving decent advice and running policy task forces, and capable of going about the business of campaigning without generating distractions or embarrassments. Pence had many of these qualities. The trouble is, he also had, in the words of a blogger I follow, “A spine of the purest cream cheese”.
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What we need in the VP slot is someone who has served as a governor or cabinet secretary who can adjust to being a utility man of modest significance. Not many people fill that bill. Noem might actually, but it’s hard to say.
Stefanik is engaging, but she needs more seasoning by holding executive positions and that will have to be at the federal level or in the private sector given New York’s politics. Also, she is antagonistic to the criminal element in the Democratic Party, but she herself is also antagonistic to the social conservative segment. Trump is a roué, but he’s also willing to pay his respects to social conservatives (albeit not consistently). With Stefanik, such respects would be sparing and mostly in regard to the corruption of public education by the DIEYT crowd.
See Wm. Schneider’s remarks a generation ago on picking a VP candidate. The risks are on the downside (say, a distraction like Geraldine Ferraro or Thomas Eagleton). Your single best guess is that your VP pick will net you 2% of the vote in their home state and that’s it. It benefits you electorally if you can cadge a purple state with it. Otherwise, think about what your VP will be doing once they are sworn in.
Alleged affair you keep falling for this carp
So pence was supposedly seasoned yet he gave all the wrong recommendations
You cant elect anyone sane on the east coast potatoe head hogan is your best bet maybe youngkin can beat the balloting machines but i sort of doubt it
Desantis…didn’t have Trump’s legal or personal baggage.
Nor did Romney, or Herman Cain, or heck even Trump until he became a Republican. The baggage will be found and/or created and trumpeted from the rooftops 24/7, regardless how nice and good and young the Republican candidate is. They loved McCain until the nomination, and then they hated him. And no one heard of Sarah Palin until she was his VP. She was the first one to get the Trump treatment – how many still cringe when her name is mentioned? After 8 years of Bushitler I was surprised at how nicely Jeb was treated on the national stage. The pattern goes back decades. But it’s moot, in my opinion, if nothing has been done since 2020 to fix the election process, secure the mail in voting, it doesn’t matter who the Republican is.
My bad though on forgetting the post about DeSantis – I had been waiting for him to speak up and say something real about the election problems, and I remember not being impressed with his statement. I mean – he seemed fearless about going after Disney – I guess I wanted to see some of that fire and determination applied to a very real, nationwide problem. He has to know that if this stuff doesn’t get fixed, he won’t be elected president, even if they eliminate Trump somehow.
The Haley campaign reminds me of the Biden campaign 4 years ago. The idea seems to be that the other guy (Trump, of course, but to some extent also Bernie Sanders) is so horrible and unthinkable, that let’s all unite behind Joe or Nikki and overlook their flaws and pretend they’re wonderful, even though we know there’s not that much there with either of them.
Jordan Rivers:
When you get up out of the gutter there is a horse you can ride out on.