GOP POTENTIAL CANDIDATES ARE GETTING SERIOUS

 

… Ron DeSantis, governor of Florida, speaks during the Turning Point “Unite & Win” Rally with Republican Senate Candidate JD Vance in Girard, Ohio

 

DeSantis and Cruz  are probably the largest liars of all of the potential GOP presidential candidates.

 

On the same day that former Vice President, Mike Pence, was appearing at the Iowa State Fair, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was in battleground Pennsylvania campaigning for a far-right nominee for governor. DeSantis recounted his battles with “establishment Republicans” and “the corporate media,” as well as the culture wars in which he and the nominee both have eagerly fought.

Just as DeSantis’s event got underway, Donald Trump’s political organization announced his own rally for the “Pennsylvania Trump Ticket” on Labor Day weekend. The nominees he plans to promote are among a slew of polarizing candidates that more broadly includes election deniers and newcomers the former president has helped push through primaries. Some Republicans worry their nominations could cost the GOP crucial seats.

All across the country, potential GOP 2024 presidential candidates are fanning out and stepping up their involvement in the midterms, boosting Republican candidates as they pitch themselves. They are seeking to sharpen their political brand and reach new audiences by helping like-minded candidates — who are also potential future endorsers — and visiting early primary states where advisers know their words will garner extra attention.

Their presence on the trail, together with pitches to donors, expanding staffs and plans to release memoirs, this underscores the widespread interest within the party in running for president, or at least in keeping the option open. Even at a moment when many Republicans say Trump has secured his grip on the GOP and would begin as a heavy favorite for the nomination if he runs, the uncertainty surrounding his legal and political challenges, combined with the full slate of ambitious Republicans, has effectively set off a preliminary campaign for 2024.

“It’s surprisingly business-as-usual,” said Republican strategist Bob Heckman, a veteran of presidential campaigns, noting that Republicans are not “timid” or “frozen” in the face of Trump’s repeated suggestions he might seek a second White House term. There’s good reason to make allies now, Heckman said, they may decide against running down the road, but “if you haven’t done the prep work, you can’t recapture that.”

The busy travels have highlighted potential strengths and challenges for candidates ahead of 2024. Pence, who has faced fierce criticism from the 45th president and his allies for his refusal to overturn Trump’s 2020 election loss, won cheers at the state fair, but also encountered some hostility. “Go home!” one woman yelled as Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and Pence addressed reporters here in Iowa. In interviews, some Iowans insisted Pence could have kept Trump in office.

Much of the Republican primary season has revolved around Trump, who has used the intraparty contests to try to dislodge those he holds grudges against and elevate many inexperienced candidates who have embraced his false claims about the 2020 election being stolen from him. Many races have hinged on which candidate hews mostly closely to the former president’s divisive positions.

The results have been mixed. Trump failed in his bid to unseat Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) for certifying Joe Biden’s 2020 election win, but found success in preventing House Republicans who voted to impeach him last year from returning to Congress. (Only two of 10 who cast that vote are nominees in the general election.)

Trump’s influence will face a new test in the fall, after his endorsements boosted candidates who some Republicans think could complicate the GOP push to win back control of Congress. Among those candidates is Mehmet Oz, the celebrity doctor trailing in the polls in Pennsylvania’s Senate race. Trump will campaign for Oz and GOP gubernatorial nominee Doug Mastriano on Sept. 3. Taylor Budowich, a Trump spokesperson, touted Trump’s midterm endorsements and said in a statement that he “continues to reshape the Republican Party with fighters and champions of his America First agenda.”

The activity in the midterms extends well beyond Trump, DeSantis and Pence. Other potential 2024 hopefuls have also been active on the trail this summer and have been setting up plans for the fall. Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) has starred in ads to support GOP candidates in Iowa and several swing states, all aired by his political action committee. Former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley has endorsed a long list of candidates through her PAC. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) joined a fundraiser for Grassley the day before the Iowan’s fundraiser and state fair visit with Pence.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R), a centrist Trump critic, was at the fair, too, and criticized Del. Dan Cox, the GOP nominee to succeed him, calling the Trump-endorsed candidate a “crazy guy.” Hogan’s visit came right after a trip to neighboring Nebraska to support Rep. Don Bacon (R), who has clashed with Trump.

Hogan plans to campaign for Christine Drazan, the Republican gubernatorial candidate in an unusually competitive race in liberal-leaning Oregon, according to advisers to both of them. Hogan has also been boosting other Republicans targeted by Trump, including moderate Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Kemp.

Invitations to travel have been pouring in for another GOP governor, Virginia’s Glenn Youngkin, whose upset victory last year made him a rising star in the party. Youngkin has said he is “humbled” by people’s interest in a potential presidential run but has not “even begun to undertake” that decision.

“Our first invites started coming in the week after he won last year,” said one Youngkin adviser, who like others interviewed for this story spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private discussions. “We had invites to former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.”  Who spoke at a campaign rally for Rep. Nancy Mace ahead of South Carolina's GOP primary elections on June 12, 2022, in Summerville, S.C.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) has been reaching out “immediately” to newly nominated GOP congressional candidates to volunteer his advice and offer to hit the trail — including in Iowa, according to an aide. Cotton’s pitch to donors has emphasized that strong showings in the early nominating states of Iowa and New Hampshire can be more predictive of success than early name recognition.

Cotton and others scoping out a potential 2024 bid have been stumping for candidates up and down the ballot in both places, even joining candidates for sheriff and state senator. The aide to Cotton said the main goal is “party building” at every level but acknowledged the “added benefit” of groundwork for 2024.

Strategists agreed building a reputation in Iowa and New Hampshire is especially important for the many lower-polling candidates eyeing a run. National polling has shown Trump dominating a hypothetical GOP vote, with DeSantis in second place and others well behind.

But some Republicans have said they are skeptical that anyone can successfully challenge Trump, no matter the work they put in this year. GOP strategist John Thomas, who had been building a political action committee to support a possible DeSantis bid, said those plans are on pause as it appears increasingly likely the former president will run.

GOP pollster Whit Ayres said he groups Republican voters into three categories: about 10 percent who are appalled by Trump, about 40 percent who would “walk through a wall of flame for him” and another 50 percent who are supportive of Trump — and defensive when he’s attacked — but open to other candidates.

This dynamic has put a spotlight on one potential candidate who some in the party say see as a potential future leader of the movement Trump has built: DeSantis. Strategists and donors said DeSantis is in high demand on the campaign trail this year. The governor gained national prominence while denouncing coronavirus restrictions and vaccine mandates and embracing fights over social issues that animate the Republican base, such as the way schools teach children about gender and sexual orientation.

DeSantis has been hitting the trail for GOP nominees closely aligned with Trump — a pattern that highlights his competing claim to the former president’s voters. Recently, DeSantis has rallied with Trump-endorsed candidates in New Mexico, Arizona, Pennsylvania and Ohio, including some of the GOP’s furthest-right nominees, who have baselessly called to overturn or decertify Trump’s 2020 election defeat.

While DeSantis has steered clear of Trump’s false claims the election was rigged, he has taken up the resulting GOP push for more voting restrictions and this month announced the first arrests by a new election police force in his state.

Stumping Friday in Pennsylvania for Mastriano, who played a prominent role in efforts to try to throw out the swing state’s 2020 election results and who would have significant power over the 2024 election if he wins, DeSantis did not mention Trump. Hundreds packed into a Pittsburgh hotel ballroom as DeSantis touted his nearly four years of conservative wins in Florida, from a surge in GOP voter registration to legislation that prohibited vaccine mandates.

For 43 minutes, DeSantis recapped his battles against “prosecutors who refuse to enforce the law” and “woke” corporations such as Disney. He mocked negative media coverage and “fake polls.” He received his loudest applause, a standing ovation, with a riff that was borrowed from Winston Churchill.

“We must fight the woke in our schools. We must fight the woke in our businesses. We must fight the woke in government agencies,” DeSantis said. “We can never, ever surrender to woke ideology.”  (Please note: DeSAntis has never said what his interpretation of “woke” is!)

A spokeswoman for the governor’s campaign declined to comment on DeSantis’s efforts to boost others in the midterms or the possibility of a presidential run. DeSantis is favored to win reelection this fall and, ahead of this week’s Florida primary, has endorsed a slew of candidates for school board positions in the state.

It amazing how Governor DeSantis has lied to his supporters, and yet they still praise his ridiculous statements.

Copyright G. Ater 2022