Politico is running a story about Maryland Republican Governor Larry Hogan….
A guy who has managed to keep winning while turning his back on his national parties leader, one Donald Trump….
The piece speculates that Hogan could just be setting a run at Trump by gathering together those in the Grand Ole’ Party who have had enough of the President ….(There are feelers out for other possible people to mount a challenge against Trump who might not even be in office by election day 2020)
Hmmmm?
The popular feeling among Republican lawmakers in Congress is do NOT mess with Trump, who has polling numbers dropping on the whole , but still hold’s high support numbers among most Republicans…
Stay tuned…
With Trump?
This could get nasty….
Republican Gov. Larry Hogan is acting a lot like a guy who wants to run against Donald Trump in 2020 — and the president’s reelection team is taking notice.
The second-term Maryland governor has been implicitly going after Trump in speeches, meeting with Never Trump Republicans, and planning a March trip to Iowa as vice chair of the National Governors Association.
It’s all fueling speculation that Hogan, a 62-year-old cancer survivor who coasted to reelection in liberal Maryland and remains one of the most popular governors in the country, is open to the prospect of a long-shot primary challenge to the incumbent president. His flirtation comes at a time when Trump is facing increasing blowback over his handling of the protracted government shutdown and bracing for a potentially devastating report by special counsel Robert Mueller.
Hogan used his inaugural address on Wednesday to repudiate the “debilitating politics” of Washington — and to raise the specter of impeachment. He recalled how his father, former Rep. Lawrence Hogan, was the first Republican congressman to support the removal of Richard Nixon.
The governor didn’t utter Trump’s name, but the implication was clear.
“Despite tremendous political pressure, he put aside partisanship and answered the demands of his conscience to do what he thought was the right thing for the nation that he loved,” Hogan said of his late father.
The White House is paying close attention. The president’s political aides have been monitoring the Maryland governor for months, and several said they regarded the inauguration speech as an unmistakable act of aggression. They noted that Trump 2016 primary rival Jeb Bush was a featured speaker at the ceremony, and that Mark Salter, a longtime Republican speechwriter and a fierce Trump critic, helped craft Hogan’s address….
Update….
The NY Times also does a piece on a possible Gov. Hogan run at Trump in 2020….
…Larry Hogan, the recently re-elected centrist Republican governor of Maryland, isn’t about to announce — but neither will he rule out a run. “I’m very frustrated and concerned about the direction of the Republican Party and the country,” he tells me in a phone interview on Friday….
image….TheHill
Does Larry Hogan Have A Shot Against Trump In A 2020 GOP Primary?
…All in all, it would be tough sledding for Hogan to defeat Trump in the 2020 GOP presidential primary. Nonetheless, he’s a popular governor who would present a clear-cut alternative to the president. So perhaps Hogan could make a splash and win over a substantial chunk of the Republican electorate. That alone would be significant: The past three presidents to endure a notable primary challenge — Gerald Ford in 1976, Jimmy Carter in 1980 and George H.W. Bush in 1992 — all went on to lose in the general election….
More…
The Maryland GOP Governor is no longer an unknown for 2020….
In the wake of a shutdown defeat and the indictment of yet another associate — both of which have underscored a months-long losing streak for the president — some prominent Republicans are urging the party to ditch Trump ahead of the 2020 primary, the New York Times reports.
The big picture: Most Republicans are of the opinion that Trump is “unassailable” in a GOP primary, but some are anxious enough about his vulnerabilities that they’re looking at Larry Hogan, the popular centrist governor of Maryland, as a possible alternative. Hogan’s inauguration speech after winning reelection in November was viewed as “an unmistakable act of aggression” by the White House, and his planned trip to Iowa in March and meetings with “Never Trump Republicans” are fueling speculation that he may step into the ring, per Politico….
Axios…