It would appear so ….
Are they hedging their bets against others by starting almost 5 years early ?
Maybe…or?….
What if Donald Trump loses this November?
This isn’t just about helping Donald Trump with ads featuring Trump AND THEM……..
This IS looking at a post-Trump Republican Party….
Arkansas Republican Tom Cotton, a freshman senator up for reelection in November, launched a highly unusual new TV ad this week.
The content was standard, pro-Trump, anti-Democrat fare. What was very atypical was that it aired hundreds of miles from his home state, in Ohio.
As it turns out, the ad had nothing to do with Cotton’s current campaign, and everything to do with the one he’s eyeing four years from now — for the White House. He and Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) are running commercials aimed at raising their profiles in key electoral battlegrounds and — perhaps more important — ingratiating themselves with President Donald Trump and his supporters, who could prove critical in any future Republican presidential primary contest.
The twin offensives underscore how the 2024 Republican presidential primary is already underway even as Trump is battling for a second term. Republicans with future national aspirations are hitting early primary states, jockeying to win the favor of major donors, and auditioning before conservative activists.
Cotton has started running a hard-hitting spot in Ohio targeting Joe Biden over his policies toward China. He is expected to ramp it up even further with a forthcoming commercial assailing the former vice president for his criticism of Trump’s response to the coronavirus, which is widely thought to have originated in the country. Scott has run a pair of commercials, one in Iowa going after Biden on his family’s ties to Ukraine and the other in his home state, savaging Bernie Sanders for his past praise of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.
Aside from getting Trump’s back, Cotton and Scott are using the spots to introduce themselves to voters. Both appear prominently: While Scott is face-to-camera, Cotton’s features a side-by-side shot of him with the president. Cotton, an Iraq War veteran, is seen wearing combat uniform with a machine gun strapped to his chest.
In separate interviews, neither Scott nor Cotton explicitly denied interest in running for president in four years. They deflected questions about whether their efforts could help position them for presidential runs down the line, saying they were just interested in bolstering Trump….
image…Cottom (L)…en.wikipedia.org
image…Scott (R)…en.wikipedia.org
But ,butI thought that as soon as Trump exits the scene the Republican Party will say good riddance and return to where it was when Mitt Romney was the standard bearer?
Instead we have candidates trying to attach themselves ever more closely to Trump?
Which is it?
They will attach as long as Trump is running the show…
Both mentioned in the piece are serving lawmakers in Congress…
Shouldn’t expect anything else….
Haley same….
Keep kissing the ring but carve ur own path ready for the King’s fall
Tell me the exact difference between Rick Scott or Tom Cotton and Donald Trump.
Be specific.
Hyperthical responses In ain’t make…
Again?
With Trump off the stage?
I’d think there WOULD be a political fight developed….
These guys ARE getting ready…
Yes you “think” lots of things.
When Trump leaves I think most Republicans will try to run as his successor and will be angling first his support.
Just what I said ….