Politico Magazine give’s a possible blueprint for the other sweeptakes contestestiants who ARE getting ready to go for the prize if and when Donald Trump would fail getting the nomination….
From the INSIDE….
Based on Foreign Affairs and American Democracy that seems to have escaped Republicans afraid to cross Trump’s voter support….
Almost without exception, the potential Republican candidates for the party’s presidential nomination in 2024 are showing conspicuous deference to Donald Trump, bordering on fear. Their reticence is understandable with the party still largely in his grip, but it’s hardly a way of persuading voters they are presidential timber, even at this early stage. Their theory of victory appears to hinge almost entirely on the possibility that Trump will be sidetracked or disqualified from running in 2024 or that primary voters will simply tire of his ceaseless chaos. They secretly hope the former president slips on a legal banana peel while professing to abhor any such thing.
This is plainly a strategy for losing, an approach that paves Trump’s way to the Republican nomination once again in the likely event he enters the race. But for GOP candidates who actually aspire to defeat Trump in the political arena, there are ways to take him down, particularly by focusing on his disastrous foreign policy record….
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The fact is, Donald Trump is beatable. I have seen his type around the world; he is a would-be autocrat who lacks the vision, discipline and basic competence to achieve anything of enduring significance — a piker compared to world historical demagogues of the recent past, or even our home-grown variety like Huey Long. Nonetheless, Trump does possess one trait that is critical in politics: a killer instinct. Armed with a talent for ridicule, he has an ability to sense his opponents’ weaknesses and to exploit them ruthlessly. And yet Trump is himself an extremely fat target for ridicule, with massive liabilities as a candidate for reelection.
For Republican White House hopefuls who are ready to exploit Trump’s vulnerabilities and explode the myths covering up his lies, here are the lines of attack….
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The 2024 election is unfolding at a pivotal moment in world history. Sensing a fundamental shift in the global balance of power, China and Russia have forged an alliance and all but declared war against the United States, pledging mutual support toward the goal of supplanting U.S. power in Europe and Asia. Putin’s invasion of Ukraine was but the opening phase in this blueprint; indeed, the U.S.-led security system in Asia likely could not survive the collapse of America’s position in Europe. If voters want the United States to remain the leader of the Western democracies and to maintain its preeminent position in the world, they need an American president committed to that cause. Trump has proved he is not that president.
Giving Trump the GOP nomination would bring to the doorstep of the presidency a pro-Russian isolationist who would dismantle the global alliance system on which U.S. security depends. Alternatively, the party can choose to serve as the nation’s first line of defense.
Republican leaders with conservative credentials have the credibility to expose Trump as the threat to national security that he is. The truth is so compelling, in fact, that the ultimate prize could very well go to a truly tough-minded candidate who dares to make the case. What does he — or she — have to lose?