Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin as a saviour against a Trump nomination lock?

Huh?

REALLY?

Some of the biggest Republican donors in the country will converge next month at the historic Cavalier Hotel in Virginia Beach for a two-day meeting to rally behind Gov. Glenn Youngkin. The closed gathering, named the “Red Vest Retreat” after the fleece Youngkin wore during his 2021 campaign, will begin Oct. 17 and be focused, officially, on the Republican effort to win full control of the General Assembly in Virginia’s upcoming elections. But unofficially, several donors tell me, it will be an opportunity for them to try to push, if not shove, Youngkin into the Republican presidential race.

Others say they will be busy prodding Youngkin and his allies in phone calls from afar. “He appears to be leaving the door open,” Thomas Peterffy, a billionaire who has already given millions of dollars to Youngkin’s PAC, told me this week. “And if Republicans win in Virginia, maybe we can talk him into it. He obviously wants to see what emerges, what the state of play is….

…

The thirsting for Youngkin is not a well-orchestrated power play. It is the latest slapdash scheme in a long search for a standard-bearer and a portrait of the powerlessness so many Republicans feel as Trump plows ahead, shrugging off criminal indictments and outrage over rhetoric they fear is growing dark and dangerous.

After months of hearing mostly about Democratic concern about President Biden’s poll numbers or his age, it’s evident that a Republican panic is emerging from hibernation….

…

On Tuesday, appearing at the Washington Economic Club, Youngkin was asked about what the host called the “elephant in the room.” He said he was “humbled” by the encouragement for him to run and notably declined to endorse a candidate. “I think voters should choose this,” he said.

That breezy Beltway chat is far different than the campaign grind that would test the smiling, often-red-vested governor. Youngkin’s push to restrict abortion in Virginia after 15 weeks of pregnancy would be under the microscope from rivals who think he doesn’t want to go far enough and from supporters of abortion rights who think he might as well be Trump. Opposition researchers would dig into his record, and Democrats would happily revive the playbook they used against Mitt Romney in 2012, painting him as out of touch, uber-rich former chief executive….

…

….A decision — a final and definitive one, not another “I’m humbled” by the suggestion — will be necessary if the clamor gets louder after the polls close in Virginia in November and Youngkin finds himself facing cameras in Richmond.

In the meantime, Youngkin’s supporters on Wall Street and in Washington will keep trying…..

More…

image…Glenn Youngkin speaks to supporters in Chantilly on Nov. 2, 2021, just days before being elected governor of Virginia….Salwan Georges/The Washington Post….

Comments

jamesb says

September 28, 2023 at 7:32 pm

Nate Silver
@NateSilver538
I don’t understand what parallel universe these guys are living in. Trump has lots of well-credentialed challengers (Haley, DeSantis, Pence). The issue is that the GOP electorate really likes Trump, not that they all just so happen to be the wrong guy/gal.
Quote

Robert Costa
@costareports

SCOOP/NEWS: Push for Youngkin 2024 now taking shape as donors and Rs grow alarmed. “Red Vest Retreat” Oct. 17-18 in VA Beach… Billionaire backer Peterffy assures me “money would be there.” Bill Barr telling him to put his “oar in.”
https://washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023
Ghost of SE says

September 28, 2023 at 7:45 pm

He’ll get no higher than 2% nationally, maybe stall Haley’s “momentum” in NH. That’s it.

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Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin as a saviour against a Trump nomination lock?

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