[ad_1]
(CNN) Hours after South Carolina Senator Tim Scott announced his plans to run for the Republican presidential nomination, the question posed to him was simple.
Scott spoke for nearly a minute, talking about his mother, his belief in the power of prayer, and “faith in God and faith in our future.” When Fox and Friends co-host Steve Doocy teased for a more direct answer, Scott waved him away again.
“I think we’d be better off talking about beating Joe Biden than about how to beat Republicans,” he said.
Scott, like his fellow Republican presidential candidates, wants to challenge a Democratic president who is ready to officially begin his bid for re-election. But their first task is to get through the Republican primary and remove Trump as the party’s standard-bearer.
Despite Trump facing historic indictments and ongoing questions about his continued lying in the election, his challengers have faced numerous legal issues and the presidency he elected. Still very reluctant to challenge the former president, who leads in nearly every poll in the field, despite widespread rejection of the 2022 midterm election candidates. Whether it’s the fear of alienating his core supporters or getting caught up in the social media hype, this new class of candidates – some officially joining, others planning to join. Some are wary of what they say about Trump, mostly avoiding sharp criticisms of their support. Of subtle signs of view.
Alex Conant, Republican strategist and veteran of Florida Senator Marco Rubio’s 2016 presidential campaign, said: Most 2024 primary voters have yet to adjust, Conant said, and Trump is soaking up relatively scant media attention about the campaign.
Trump’s lesser-known rival will use the next few months to introduce himself to voters and make a favorable first impression before he risks alienating Republican voters by challenging the still-popular ex-president. He added that there is a need.
“To beat Trump, you either have to be a very good counterpuncher or you have to ride the bubble well, neither of which is easy,” Conant said. “No one has proven to be a good match for Trump, and only Biden has actually ridden the bubble.”
Unlike 2015 or 2016, when he was a political obscurity, Trump now has a long track record available to his opponents. His unsuccessful efforts to challenge the results of the 2020 election. His supporters’ attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. and rising legal troubles, including his indictment in New York City over the hush-money system and other pressing issues.
Yet, by citing the Republican congressional majority lost under his watch, his defeat in 2020, or the election veto movement that caused deadly riots in the Capitol and a harvest of the unelected, he There were few attempts to use his record against , 2022 extremist candidate.
Leading Republicans speculate almost unanimously that there is no way to resolve these events against Trump in the primary.
“2016 is all over again,” said Jason Law, Michigan Republican Party strategist and former state GOP executive director. “I can breathe all the oxygen, and I’m doing it earlier in the cycle than I did eight years ago, and the number of candidates buzzing about their candidacy is very similar to 2016,” Trump said. Stated.
In the early stages of the campaign, Mr. Trump’s rivals have often tried to execute bespoke campaign strategies under the former president’s highly sensitive radar.
Roe said it might be wise to wait for prospective candidates in 2024, like Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, to join the race, ideally limiting their exposure and keeping Trump safe. is “starting to look responsible with a few more issues”.
But while Trump’s cratering seemed inevitable, it was what his 2016 rivals were waiting for – and it never came.
Now a former president, Trump may face different challenges this time around, but his appeal remains unique. Few candidates see their funding totals skyrocket after indictment, as he did this month. And this year’s rivals are hesitant to leave the trenches, as there is no example of a rival who has profited from launching an all-out assault on him.
hold their fire
Another Republican strategist who worked in the rival campaign in 2016 and spoke with others this year agreed it was wise for the candidate to delay confronting Trump, but that it would be outdated when the time came. warned against relying on the practice of
The strategist told CNN, “Candidates must understand that it’s going up against Donald Trump.” The times are not going well for Mr Trump, who is going through it every day whether he wants to make the news or someone else wants to make the news about him. It happens all the time, and the only way to get attention in a voter’s mind is to fight him for that space.
Considered President Trump’s biggest competitor, DeSantis is at the forefront among high-profile Republicans in an attempt to persuade conservatives outraged by progressive cultural and business trends. He routinely denounces his DEI (“Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion”) programs at universities and businesses to appeal to the right-wing Republicans who have previously endorsed Trump.
DeSantis also pricked the former president just before Trump’s indictment by New York City prosecutors over hush money payments to a porn actress, telling reporters in Florida: Some suspected incident — but I can’t talk about it.
But DeSantis, like many others during or considering a primary, has effectively defended Trump by attacking Democratic prosecutors and has repeatedly accused Trump of witchcrafting the case. regarded as hunting.
“Weaponizing the legal system to advance the political agenda upends the rule of law. It is un-American,” DeSantis tweeted.
Another potential running mate, former Vice President Mike Pence, has gone further than anyone else in condemning Trump’s actions before and during the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol. is. Pence, whose life was threatened by a violent Trump supporter after refusing to prove the results of the 2020 presidential election last month at an event in Washington, D.C. He expressed the most severe criticism.
“What happened[on January 6th]is a disgrace, and to portray it any other way is a mockery of decency. ‘President Trump was wrong,'” Pence said.
But Pence’s harsh words usually stop there. Just weeks after making those statements, he became one of those who defended Trump as he was indicted. Pence described the decision as “angry,” and argued that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg was politically motivated.
Pence doubled down after CNN’s Wolf Blitzer pointed out that a grand jury voted to indict Trump.
“If New York Attorney General, Manhattan Attorney General, were to target certain Americans in their campaigns, I think it would hurt the vast majority of Americans who believe in fairness and equal treatment before trial. It’s the law,” Pence said.
New Fields, Old Tactics
David Kochel, a veteran Republican strategist in Iowa, cautioned against evaluating the 2024 campaign, expressing optimism that the past is not destined to repeat itself.
“I think it’s going to be a much smaller field than 2016. And I think maybe some campaigns will be announced sooner. Someone as well-known with a fixed base as Trump,” he said.
Potential candidates such as former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan have recently been ruled out, but the field is still expected to grow. Scott, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy are already on board. New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu is also weighing his options.
DeSantis is widely considered the best bet in that group to outlast Trump in one-on-one competition. However, as the tradition of 2016 repeats, the title made him a target of attack from others and lowered his perceived pecking order. Christie, Sununu, and Hutchinson all accused DeSantis of feuding with Disney, claiming it was undermining the Republican and conservative message.
“I don’t think that’s a conservative position. I think he’s wrong, and I think it’s fair that a lot of people question his judgment and maturity,” he said at a 2016 debate. Christie, who famously criticized Rubio, said. In a recent interview with Semafor.
Trump joined the attack on DeSantis, saying on his social media website Truth Social that the governor of Florida was “totally destroyed” by Disney. DeSantis has been at odds with Disney since last year the state passed a new law limiting sexual orientation and gender identity instruction in classrooms, and Disney opposed the bill.
“His original PR plan fell through, so he went back to a new plan to save face,” Trump told Truth Social. It will be an announcement that they will no longer invest any more money in – in fact they could even announce a slow exit or sale of certain assets or the whole thing. In the meantime, this is totally unnecessary, it’s a political stunt! Ron has to deal with the squatter chaos!”
The Republican establishment is wary of Trump’s viability in the general election, if not his politics, but another old and failed attempt to keep the ex-president on his side. It is reviving the old tactic, the Pledge of Allegiance. The issue has been a lingering battle in 2016, and parties are now, as they were then, trying to get a promise from the first candidate to support the final candidate, whoever it is. .
Trump signed the oath in September 2015, but denied it the following spring as the 2016 contest entered its final stages.
At the CNN Town Hall that March, Anderson Cooper asked Trump if he would keep his promises.
“No, I won’t do it again,” Trump said. “No, we’ll see who it is.”
Flash forward to 2023 and a similar dynamic appears to be unfolding. In February, Republican National Committee Chairman Ronna McDaniel told CNN’s Dana Bash that she thought admission to the debate stage was “easy” by using a signed Pledge of Allegiance. .
In response, a spokesperson for the Trump campaign told CNN, “President Trump will support the Republican nominee because he is.”
A few weeks ago, when asked by conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt if he would consider endorsing anyone other than himself in the presidential race, President Trump said, “It depends on who is nominated. I would,” he objected.
Hutchinson questioned this idea in an interview with Bash after McDaniel made the pledge, stating, “The motive[behind the pledge]is to keep Donald Trump, even if he doesn’t win the primary. I pointed out that it is clear to everyone that this is the case, from running for the third candidate.”
He then explains, perhaps inadvertently, why the 2024 version of the pledge is doomed from the start.
“We took an oath of allegiance in 2016, but it was ineffective and unenforceable,” Hutchinson said. “A candidate who participated in the debate did not endorse the party’s candidate afterwards.”
That candidate, of course, was Trump.
[ad_2]
Source link
