Cogito Ergo Non Serviam
3 More GOP Candidates Make White House Bid
The last few days have seen no fewer than 3 members of the Republican Party announce that they are running for president. Govenror Doug Burgum of North Dakota, former VP Mike Pence of Indiana and former Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey have all decided to challenge Donald Trump for the Republican nomination. Not one of these three has any hope whatsoever. What will prove interesting, and perhaps entertaining, will be the manner in which each fails.
Governor Burgum is a non-entity in national politics. North Dakota is not terribly important politically. It is a very conservative state with only a few people. While he does have a pot of money made from selling his software company to Microsoft, there is only so much money can do to put his name out there. His best chance is to work Iowa to death. He needs to live there. He needs to build a ground game for caucus night in every county in the state. Then, he needs to finish in the top 3 of the state. Since Mr. Trump will be one of those three, and Mr. DeSantis likely will be another, there is not much room for Mr. Burgum. He will not make it to Super-Tuesday.
Mike Pence should be in with a chance as a former VP of the party, but he may not last any longer than Governor Burgum. He was a unabashed Trumpist lickspittle throughout his term as Veep. While he may have moved away from Mr. Trump a few steps, he has not moved far enough to appeal to the never Trumpers. As for the MAGA crowd, it is hard to believe he think he has a chance with people who shouted "Hang Mike Pence" on January 6, 2021. He will suspend his campaign sometime in May 2024 unless he wises up and quits sooner.
The most interesting campaign of the three just announced is that of Chris Christie. He has come out against Mr. Trump with guns blazing. He has already attacked the record of Mr. Trump in the White House, and he did so without much restraint. His pitch includes the failure of the former president to build his wall, eliminate the deficit (Mr. Christie notes the debt grew $3 trillion in the Trump years) and so on. This attack will not affect the hardcore MAGA voters, but they are not necessarily a majority of GOP primary voters. There are a lot of conservatives who miss the Reagan-esque Republican Party of small government, strong defence and tax cuts (which ballooned the national debt, but they tend to over look that).
Mr. Christie is running a campaign that reminds one of the strategies employed by. Napoleon Bonapart.. The Monster liked to attack the enemies strongest point, arguing if he broke that, the rest would fall in his lap. At Austerlitz and elsewhere, it worked. Mr. Christie knows that if he knocks out Mr. Trump, the others currently in the race will be easier to oust. And if he fails, the others do not matter. Mr. Trump is a good counter-puncher politically, although he is a physical coward. What he has not encountered before is an opponent who can keep up with his lies. Mr. Trump now has a four-year record to defend, and the facts about that administration are known. Mr. Trump has won out in life because no one could keep up with his fabrications and falsehoods, and there was no public data that he could be held to. That is over.
One expects Mr. Christie to either succeed by winning or coming second in New Hampshire (he has more or less ignored Iowa so far). After that, his attacks on the rest should be simple mopping up actions, but the main focus will be debunking the Trump myth. There is little doubt that the people who love Mr. Trump and loathe Mr. Christie (MAGA supporters) will be swayed by this. So, Mr. Christie will not get the nomination. However, he will damage Mr. Trump severely among swing voters. The next president will not be Donald Trump, and that is the main point of the Christie campaign.
© Copyright 2023 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.
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