And gather IOU’s for 2024…..
Thus diluting Don and Trump’s influence?
And being ready if Trump doesn’t or can’t run….
(Lots of Republicans do NOT want him to with the results of 2020 fresh in their minds)
It’s the latest chapter in a slow-building 2024 shadow primary. By throwing themselves into House races, potential candidates are currying goodwill with lawmakers and activists, testing out campaign themes and introducing themselves to voters around the country who will eventually determine the party’s next presidential nominee.
And there is another reason why House races are an attractive playground for those looking to run: It’s a way to put themselves out there without poking the eye of former President Donald Trump, who has made clear that he’s interested in a comeback bid.
“They’re trying to figure out, how do you lay the groundwork without being seen as maybe trying to push the president out of the way?” said former Oregon Rep. Greg Walden, a past NRCC chair, who noted that several of the potential candidates previously served in Trump’s administration. “Until President Trump decides what he’s going to do, I think they can be helpful in House races in their own ways and keep focused on that and not run afoul of the big elephant in the room.”
Likely 2024 candidates are interested in more than just House races. As the midterm election nears, would-be contenders are certain to engage in Senate and gubernatorial contests, too. Glenn Youngkin, the GOP nominee in this year’s race for Virginia governor, has received support from Cruz, Haley and others.
But the stakes are particularly high in the closely divided House, with Republicans appearing to be early favorites to win the speaker’s gavel given their broad control of redistricting and the historical tendency for the party out of power to gain seats in a president’s first midterm election….
…
Much of the focus is on House races taking place in states key to the presidential nominating process. A plethora of prospective candidates rallied behind Iowa Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks while House Democrats weighed whether to overturn her razor-thin, six-vote win in the 2020 election. (The challenge was ultimately dropped in March.) While Cotton raised money for Miller-Meeks’ legal fund, Pompeo used an Iowa trip to accuse Democrats of trying to “steal the seat.”….
Except for Liz Cheney and Larry Hogan, neither of whom has a ghost of a chance of being the nominee,the rest of these “contenders “are nothing but MAGA red hat wearing bootlickers.
One of there “contenders” is Florida Governor Ron DeSantis,a particular favotite of Trump who has suggested him as a VP candidate on a Trump led ticket.
This Trumpite has vigorously opposed “vaccine passports” yet has been demanding that cruise ships,a major economic force in Florida, be allowed to sail again.
Now DeSantis is actually on a collision course with the cruise lines who rightfully realize that identifying the virus spreaders(non vaccinated) is crucial to returning to some normalcy in the business.
So DeSantis is going to have to navigate between a major contributor to his states economy and his Republican “base” who wants to be allowed to continue to infect people with Covid.
I suspect that Ron DeSantis and the international cruise lines are both trying to appeal to roughly the same demographic classes (who ride neither yachts nor buses).
“Sorry, ma’am, you can’t take that long-delayed cruise to Jamaica, because Jamaica needs proof of vaccination.”
On the contrary,the cruise lines are trying to appeal to common sense,unlike DeSantis whose appeal is mostly to Right Wing ideologues.
It’s the cruise lines themselves who want the ability to reject passengers who are unvaccinated,realizing, rightly in my view,,that there are more potential vaccinated customers who are unlikely to want to cruise with virus spreaders.
I certainly would not get on another cruise ship unless they required all passengers to show proof if vaccination.
Guess that means I won’t be cruising out of a Florida port.
Cruise lines HAVE TO worry about the Fed health people
DeSantis does not….
They get breakouts and they get shut down
I see DeSantis as the TOP EARLY choice for GOPer’s for 2024 right now…
He certainly should be.
He’s the closest thing to Trump out there.
There’s little difference between them.
They are both POSs.
DeSantis IS a politician….
He is decades younger…
He is riding Trumpism…..
Well uh all these people running for President are “politicians.”
“Riding Trumpism?“
Yes Trumpism is the predominant strain in the Republican Party.So I guess they’re all “riding Trumpism.”
Does POS stand for piece of Manure – or something else?
Sometimes – Point of Sale
Michael Flynn ,who briefly served as National Security Advisor in the Republican Administration of Donald Trump,and avoided possible imprisonment via a Trump pardon, is now advocating a military coup against the government of the United States.
As a former military officer this traitor receives pension from the United States government.
… uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic…
Or that’s what he pledged when he joined the armed forces of the United States.
At the 2016 Republican convention Flynn led the Trump “Patriots” in a chant of “Lock Her Up” in reference to Hillary Clinton.
“The GOP’s Future Looks Bright”
says Rich Lowry, the non-Trumpist editor of National Review:
… All indications are that GOP voters are united and energized, and the party is doing what’s necessary to make Kevin McCarthy the next speaker, which would instantly squash the never-very-plausible talk of Joe Biden being the next FDR.
The foundation of the GOP’s unity, of course, is that Donald Trump effortlessly maintained his control of the GOP. The anticipated civil war came and went with barely a shot fired.
But the party will pay no electoral price for the drama over [Liz Cheney’s] leadership role or, likely, for its continued loyalty to Trump.
Despite Trump’s grip, he’s not front and center for average voters. He isn’t president, and he isn’t on the ballot. The focus inevitably will be on Biden and his agenda, which will loom larger than anything the former president can do from Mar-a-Lago.
The Democratic polling outfit Democracy Corps just did a battleground survey that confirmed this picture. As Stanley Greenberg writes in a memo about the poll, among Republicans: “The percent scoring 10, the highest level of interest in the election, has fallen from 84-68%. But Democrats’ engagement fell from 85-57%.”
Greenberg calls the GOP base “uniquely unified and engaged.”
More evidence is the boffo fundraising by the National Republican Congressional Committee so far. Meanwhile, GOP candidate recruitment is ahead of the pace of prior midterm cycles, whereas Democrats are seeing worrisome retirements.
It’s not as though there’s a high bar for the GOP. Republicans will need to flip about half a dozen seats in the House, when in the post–World War II era the president’s party has lost on average 27 seats in midterms.
On top of this, the playing field is tilting the GOP’s way. Reapportionment gave more seats to Republican states, and based on its strength in state legislatures, the GOP also has the upper hand in redistricting.
The Biden theory is that $6 trillion in spending will deliver a roaring economy that diminishes any midterm losses. But the latest jobs and inflation numbers show that it might not be so simple, and there is considerable doubt whether Biden can get his spending….
https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/05/the-gop-future-is-bright/
Joe Biden’s numbers are around 60% in approval……
On this rare occasion, Rick Lowry’s words are worth repeating:
“The anticipated civil war came and went with barely a shot fired.
…the party will pay no electoral price fo the drama over Liz Cheney’s leadership role or likely for its continued loyalty to Trump.”
In other words ,pretty much what all of us,save the usual suspect,have been saying for a long time now.
I agree, Trump won his Civil War, not so sure he’ll help his Party with the main event. Although they are doing their best to PRE-steal the next election.
Not sure I agree with some of the other assumptions. Both Parties are doing great with fundraising and I am at a loss to think of who those worrisome Democrats are that are retiring.
Yes, yes, conventional thinking tells us that the “out party” does better in an off year. But everyone said that about the Georgia runoffs.
The Democrats are coming up with some impressive challengers. I get fundraising requests daily.
People tend to forget that the House is currently gerrymandered in favor of the Republicans. Yet it has a slim Democratic majority. Not sure the Republicans, even in an off year, can stretch those fat assed white folks any further.
The two times since 1900 that the President’s party gained seats in both chambers in his first midterm elections were 1934 (FDR) and 2002 (GWB).
While obviously we have to win back some of those 18 seats that flipped from R to D in 2018 and then back to R last year, it’s not clear to me what persuasive message the GOP will have next year.
On the other hand we have Republican legislatures drawing district lines as they make voting as difficult as possible and the wild card of Donald Trump. For example, will he go all out (from personal pique as much as anything else) to nominate unelectable fanatics in swing districts?