Thread: 2024 US Presidential election

Originally Posted by pickel

I'm not a fan of DeSantis btw.

Nor am I. Being a registered Republican if he gets in the race Chris Sununu would get my support.

Originally Posted by S Landreth

DeSantis is a fvckin’ loon

Agree he is for now but he has 2 years to unloon himself.

Originally Posted by S Landreth

You might want to stick to Thai politics. You’re good at that.

Ok. Done here. Enjoy your thread.

No credible link to that statement (doesn’t know where he’s at), school girl? Or you just doing your bit as the speakers corner PB? Posting for attention?

Trumps digital trading cards are the game changer...I expect de Santis and even Biden will now be forced to get on board with these.

Originally Posted by Norton

Ok. Done here. Enjoy your thread.

This is not his thread
(would be plastered with copy-paste, if it was)

It's started by BSnoob and I'm sure you are welcome here.

Originally Posted by Norton

Agree he is for now but he has 2 years to unloon himself.

He and his team know how to run a campaign.

Gov. Ron DeSantis's blowout victory was powered by his appeal to demographic groups that typically favor Democrats, such as Hispanic and female voters.

DeSantis won 57% of the Hispanic vote, compared with 42% for Democrat Charlie Crist, according to exit polls by major news organizations. And he won not only the traditionally GOP-leaning Cuban-American vote, but Puerto Ricans, who historically tend to vote Democratic.

That 15-point edge with Hispanics is a huge reversal from President Joe Biden's performance with the group in 2020. Biden won the Hispanic vote in Florida by seven percentage points.

https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/politics/elections/2022/11/09/ron-desantis-better-among-florida-hispanics-than-donald-trump/8316662001/

school girl,...the US isn't Florida and Joe Biden isn't Charlie Crist

• Electoral Count Act set to deliver another blow to Trump

The House isn’t the only congressional chamber taking steps this week to counteract former President Trump, as legislation to overhaul how Congress counts electoral votes is one step closer to becoming law.

Less than a day after a House panel investigating Jan. 6, 2021, issued four criminal referrals for the former president, the Senate unveiled a $1.7 trillion omnibus government funding package that includes the Electoral Count Reform Act (ECRA), marking a second blow in as many days against Trump.

The Electoral Count Reform Act, an update to the Electoral Count Act of 1887, raises the threshold for objections to Electoral College votes from one member in each chamber to one-fifth of members in both chambers. Unlike the House panel’s criminal referral that may or may not go anywhere — the Department of Justice is not obligated to consider congressional referrals — the Senate-negotiated bill marks concrete action against Trump that is set to be signed into law by the end of the week.

“It will arguably save our democracy,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who helped negotiate the proposal, told The Hill. “What we wrote is not foolproof. Malevolent actors could still steal an election, but it makes it a lot harder.”

The effort comes two years after Trump and his allies attempted to use the 135-year-old statute to block the certification of the 2020 presidential election.

In addition to increasing the threshold, the bill clarifies that the role of the vice president in tallying and certifying the Electoral College votes is purely ceremonial and that only a state’s governor or another designated official may submit election results.

And the proposal allows the General Services Administration to release transition funds to both candidates if neither has issued a concession five days after the election. It would, however, nix funds to the losing candidate once the result of the election was determined.

Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) led negotiations on the measure over the summer. The push ramped up prior to the October recess and included winning support from Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), before it was ultimately included in the year-end package.

Of course, the timing of the Electoral Count Reform Act’s passage and the conclusions laid out by the Jan. 6 select committee are largely coincidental. Both had deadlines of the end of the year to get them across the finish line due to the incoming House GOP majority.

However, it did turn into somewhat of a one-two punch. And passage of the Electoral Count Act reform was considered a priority by top lawmakers.

“I think it’s just important to get that done before it becomes a presidential year issue of some kind and needs to be changed. We’ve got broad agreement on changes,” said Sen. Roy Blunt (Mo.), the top Republican on the Senate Rules Committee, told The Hill. “It will be a good thing.”

“It really was never a problem anywhere from 1887 until 2001. Since it became a problem, it’s become a problem about three or four times. It’s just an important time to straighten it out,” Blunt, who is retiring, continued. “People decided no matter what the law says, they want to read it some other way and clarifying this law is a good thing.”

Republicans received a key boost on Tuesday, when Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) tossed his support behind the proposal. Paul argued in an op-ed in The Louisville Courier-Journal that the electoral system needs to be fixed so that the Electoral College writ large is not abolished.

“This legislation preserves the Founders’ intent that the laws and election results of the several states are respected,” Paul wrote. “Enacting the Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act into law will help demonstrate, both to our citizens and to the world, that our republican form of government, which respects the laws of the sovereign states and the various perspectives of individuals throughout our common country, will long endure.”

Blunt noted that perhaps the most important item included is a provision that strikes a nearly 200-year-old law that state legislatures could use to nullify the popular vote by declaring a “failed election,” noting that the term has never been specifically defined.

“[It] may in some ways be the provision that most needed clarifying,” Blunt added.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Trump had not referenced the ECRA effort on his Truth Social page since the beginning of the week. By contrast, he dedicated roughly a dozen posts to the Jan. 6 committee’s criminal referral to the Justice Department.

That panel held its final public meeting on Monday, at which it voted on the four criminal referrals, and plans to release the full report from its 18-month investigation on Wednesday.

The Senate-led package was included at the expense of a stricter House bill drawn up by Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), two members of the Jan. 6 committee, that would have required one-third of lawmakers in each chamber to object.

The ECRA blueprint was attached to the omnibus spending bill alongside other items, including funding for Ukraine, a ban on TikTok from being used on government phones and devices, and money for disaster relief.

_______

• Marc E. Elias - BREAKING: The U.S. Senate passes S.4573, a bipartisan bill to reform the antiquated Electoral Count Act, as part of the omnibus spending package to fund the federal government next year. https://twitter.com/marceelias/statu...07128845475841

U.S. Senate Passes Electoral Count Reform Act

On Thursday, Dec. 22, the U.S. Senate passed S.4573, a bipartisan bill to reform the antiquated Electoral Count Act, as part of the omnibus spending package to fund the federal government next year. The omnibus now goes to the House, which must vote to approve the bill by Friday to avoid a government shutdown.

S.4573, the Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act, is designed to reform the process by which Congress counts Electoral College votes to avoid a repeat of the events of Jan. 6, 2021. The bill

• Clarifies that the role of the vice president is purely ceremonial,
• Raises the threshold for members of Congress to initiate objections to electoral results to one-fifth of each chamber,
• Ensures there is one conclusive slate of electors from each state
• And outlines a process for expedited court review of election results.

In September, the Senate Rules Committee additionally amended the bill to

• Make U.S. Supreme Court review of any federal litigation over the certification of state electors discretionary rather than mandatory,
• Ensure the judicial review procedure provided in the act doesn’t exclude litigation in other state and federal courts
• And clarify the language around certification of electors to specify that during the counting of electoral college votes, Congress must treat the electors certified by a state and modified by any state or federal court relief as conclusive.

Read the S.4573 bill text here.

Read the omnibus bill text here.

If he runs, he wins

• Jim Clyburn backs Biden all the way: ‘he’s delivered for this country"

He was described as the most important politician of 2020. James Clyburn’s endorsement performed a political defibrillation on Joe Biden’s flatlining campaign, reversing his fortunes and sending him on his way to the White House.

Midway through Biden’s first term, the South Carolina congressman has no regrets. On the contrary, as America’s first octogenarian president spends the holidays deciding whether to run for re-election in 2024, Clyburn is backing him all the way.

“I’m supporting him and I hope he makes that decision too,” he tells the Guardian by phone. “He’s delivered for this country. He’s put this country back on track towards a more perfect union. If you look at the production of his administration in this Congress he’s had to work with, we’ve been the most productive since 1965.”

Biden’s roll call of legislative achievements includes coronavirus relief, infrastructure investment, historic climate spending, a boost for computer chip manufacturing and scientific research and measures on gun safety and military veterans’ benefits. And like a unicycle juggler on a tightrope, he did it with tenuous majorities in the House and Senate.

Clyburn adds: “Joe Biden has delivered exactly what the country needs and that’s why we were rewarded the way we were on [midterm] election day. There were people predicting there was going be this ‘red wave’ and Democrats were going to lose by 60.”

They lost only by nine, largely due to redistricting in California, Florida and New York

_________

• For Joe Biden, results matter most

Joe Biden’s presidency has been one of results. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the Chips and Science Act, the Inflation Reduction Act, the PACT Act, the first major gun control legislation in 30 years and the Respect for Marriage Act all contain Biden’s distinctive signature on their legislative parchments. Key provisions in these laws will be implemented in the years ahead.

Starting in January, diabetic seniors will have their insulin costs capped at $35 a month, down from the hundreds of dollars they currently pay. Out-of-pocket prescription drug costs for seniors will be capped at $2,000 per year, regardless of whatever terrible disease the elderly may be fighting. The PACT Act provides medical and psychological support to those who are suffering from the physical and psychological costs from their military service. Shovels will strike the ground building roads, bridges, airports and rail facilities, and getting broadband into hard-to-reach communities. These achievements belie Kennedy’s assertion that it is only “insignificant” legislation that often wins congressional approval. Instead, Biden’s record puts him on a par with the legendary Lyndon B. Johnson, whose Great Society programs stand as monuments to his legislative prowess.

In 2020, it was Joe Biden’s experience that appealed to voters who wanted an end to the four chaotic years of Donald Trump. One oft-remembered moment of Biden’s 2020 campaign came when Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) gave him the penultimate of endorsements, telling his African American constituents: “I know Joe. We know Joe. But, most importantly, Joe knows us.” What is not remembered was Biden’s succinct response: “What the country’s looking for are results.” Biden then ticked off a list of issues he would try to shepherd through Congress: improvements to ObamaCare, banning the sale of assault weapons, free community college and preschool for three-four-and five-year-olds, more federal support for historically black colleges and universities and appointing the first African American woman to the U.S. Supreme Court. Two years later, Biden can point to progress on most of these issues, including the naming of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In 2022, Biden also correctly read the public mood. His legislative accomplishments gave quivering Democrats a platform. And Republicans also gave Biden a powerful assist, thanks to the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade and Donald Trump’s continuing attacks on our democracy and the Constitution. When the ballots were counted, Democrats added one Senate seat and gained three governorships, marking the first time since 1934 that a Democratic president has gained seats for his party in his first midterm contest. Instead of measuring yards of drapery for their new offices, Republicans will remain a minority in the Senate while holding the slimmest of majorities in the House.

Joe Biden has understood that results, not political posturing and bickering, are why a Trump-weary public hired him. At a 2021 Cabinet meeting, Biden told his department heads: “The American people sent us here to deliver. They sent us here to make government work. And they sent us here to make a difference in their lives.”

Today, voters remain focused on results, not the squabbling and showmanship that Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans so clearly enjoy. Despite lackluster polls and Republican expressions of confidence about their future prospects, political prognosticators would be wise to place their 2024 bets on Biden. As Biden himself has said, “We’re just getting started.”

• Biden begins 2023 with a stronger hand to play and an inclination to play it

A year makes a difference after all.

President Joe Biden begins 2023 politically stronger than 12 months ago, bolstered by his party’s surprise midterms success, a robust set of legislative accomplishments and the resilience of the alliance he rallied to support Ukraine after Russia’s invasion. Indeed, as he vacations on St. Croix, the biggest decision he faces is whether to seek reelection to the office he holds.

Biden has not yet fully committed to another term, according to three people with knowledge of the deliberations but not authorized to speak publicly about private conversations. On his island vacation, Biden continued his running conversation with family and a select few friends and allies about a reelection bid.

There are challenges still on the horizon, from an economy threatening to slow down, to the war in Europe, to an incoming Republican House majority threatening gridlock and investigations. But those in the president’s circle believe there is a strong and growing likelihood that he will run again and that an announcement could potentially come earlier than had been expected, possibly as soon as mid-February, around the expected date of the State of the Union, according to those people.

That potentially accelerated time is owed, in part, to a sense inside the White House and among Biden allies, that the new year dawns on a note of revival, one marked by an unlikely comeback that has reassured fellow Democrats.

Revamping the primary calendar to put Biden-friendly South Carolina first was another sign of intention to run again. First Lady Jill Biden has signaled that she is onboard with another bid, even as some close Biden worry about the toll of a campaign on the 80-year-old president. Advisors privately acknowledge that Biden benefitted in 2020 by being spared the full rigors of a campaign due to the pandemic and some close to him harbor anxieties as to how he will handle a punishing, full-blown itinerary this time around.

Though some Democrats still express worry about Biden’s age, their public doubts were largely silenced by the party’s strong November showing, in which Democrats grew their Senate lead and prevented a red wave in the House. There are still worries, chief among them, per White House aides, is the economy.

Though inflation has somewhat cooled, it remains high in most sectors and there are fears that gas prices could rise again next year. Moreover, there is a quiet concern in the West Wing that the nation’s economy will slow for at least the first quarter of 2023, according to administration officials, even if the United States manages to technically avoid a recession.

Europe, meanwhile, seems poised for a possibly significant setback, having been battered by inflation and an energy crisis exacerbated by the war in Ukraine. That could cause residual effects in the U.S. as could a lingering Covid crisis in China, which has sparked worries in Washington about supply line challenges as well as the possible birth of a new virus variant that could spread throughout the globe.

China looms as another concern for other reasons. Though Biden’s November summit with Xi Jinping in Bali helped cool some tensions between the two superpowers, Beijing has continued to send menacing signals toward Taiwan and has not fully abandoned its Russian allies. And while Kyiv has shown remarkable resilience in repelling Russia’s forces, Moscow has shown no signs of abandoning its invasion and has resorted to terror strikes against Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure to plunge much of the nation into darkness during a cold winter.

Closer to home, while the Republicans’ majority in the House will be slim and unruly, the newly empowered GOP lawmakers will be able to exact a price on the West Wing. After two years of unified Democratic control, Biden will now see much of his agenda stall. And armed with the power of subpoena, Republicans are vowing to open a slew of investigations into the president’s policies and family. Already, there are frictions between the two sides over document production and records requests.

But the Biden White House points to its success in 2022 as proof that its strategy has been working. Rewarded by voters, the West Wing sees no reason to change course.

The president’s aides believe that the Republican agenda on many issues — from entitlements to abortion — is out of step with a majority of the public. Biden took office promising an alternative to the extremist elements in the Republican Party and pledged to work across the aisle. He managed to achieve some bipartisan victories in 2022, including on a semiconductor chips bill and a modest gun control package.

“The American people were clear in the best midterms for a new President in 60 years that they want leaders to focus on improving their lives — not partisan divisiveness — and President Biden’s hand is outstretched to his Republican colleagues in an offer to make bipartisan progress for the country,” said White House spokesperson Andrew Bates.

Yada, yada, yada. Right wing crazies

The war has become a vital test of Biden’s governing principle: that this century would be a battle between democracies and autocracies and the free world would win if it proved it could deliver for its people. So far, Biden believes it has.

“The American people know that if we stand by in the face of such blatant attacks on liberty and democracy and the core principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity, the world would surely face worse consequences,” said Biden as he stood alongside Ukraine’s president at the White House. “American people are prepared to have us stand up to bullies, stand up for freedom. That’s who we are as Americans. And that’s exactly what we’ve done.”

Another wonderful Sunday morning.

If he runs, he wins. And he’s running

• Biden readies ’24 campaign launch

President Biden’s reelection campaign is preparing to launch.

After months of “will he or won’t he,” Biden and his senior aides are readying the details around his 2024 campaign.

Multiple sources tell The Hill the president is planning to make his intentions to run for a second White House term public in the coming weeks, likely in February, around the State of the Union.

One source close to Biden’s 2020 campaign with knowledge of the president’s plans said a more formal announcement is expected to come in April.

Behind the scenes, his advisers are meeting with key allies and are putting together an expansive and revamped digital presence.

Biden is moving closer to the official reelection announcement after spending time with his family in St. Croix over the holidays discussing his next steps for another bid, said the source familiar.

The intention to mount another presidential campaign began to crystallize even as some Democrats continue to question whether Biden will run again, mainly because of his advanced age. He turned 80 in November.

“I think it’s all about timing at this point,” said one Biden ally. “It seems like he’s all in. It’s not really ‘if’ he runs anymore.”

The State of the Union is typically held in late January or early February, but the president has to be invited by the Speaker of the House to address the Congress and the chaos surrounding the Speakership this week has inevitably delayed the address.

In recent months, as Biden has mulled his next steps together with first lady Jill Biden, he has been getting briefed by advisers on what a potential campaign would look like.

Last month, a group of Biden’s top advisers met with key allies and constituency groups to talk about the president’s agenda. But one attendee told NBC News it had the feel of a “strategy session ahead of a campaign launch.”

And as Biden tried to make a decision about his political future, his aides were quietly building the infrastructure needed for a new campaign. The Washington Post reported last month that aides were working to expand their digital footprint on platforms such as TikTok and WhatsApp, where political advertising is prohibited.

The potential expansion is the result of an extensive research effort paid for by the Democratic National Committee to lay the groundwork for Biden’s expected launch.

Those around Biden maintain he has time on his side, particularly amid the GOP disharmony in the Speakership vote this week.

Some influential members of Biden’s inner circle, including one member of Congress, were hesitant to weigh in on the president’s next steps until the Speaker race concluded, signaling the delicate nature of the ongoing preparations, one source close to the lawmaker said.

The hush-hush nature has punctuated much of the Biden era, and the weeks leading up to a potential announcement were no different, including on Capitol Hill.

For the most part, as Republicans scrambled, Democrats focused their attention elsewhere.

As Biden’s senior aides, including Mike Donilon and Bruce Reed, toiled on a State of the Union speech, which they have been trying to perfect for weeks, the president spent time touting legislative projects, including his infrastructure package.

On Wednesday, the president traveled to Kentucky, where money from the bipartisan infrastructure bill will be used to reconstruct a bridge between Kentucky and Ohio. Alongside Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Biden was able to telegraph that he had kept one of his campaign promises — bringing the parties together — as Republicans battled on the House floor.

One Democratic operative said it was the perfect backdrop to what a campaign kickoff might look like.

“The bipartisan infrastructure event this week is a good soft campaign launch for the president,” said the Democratic strategist.

“It positions Biden’s accomplishments, shows him as a unifier and contrasts him with Republicans who are cannibalizing each other during this messy Speaker fight.”

Biden has not been shy about his desire to seek reelection, especially if it turns into a rematch against former President Trump, with his aides and allies often echoing his eagerness around the matter.

But even the loquacious president dodged questions about a hypothetical campaign-in-the-waiting in recent days.

“There’s an election coming up?” Biden quipped after reporters pressed him about a decision to run again. “2023 is going to be a good year,” he added.

John Bolton is having a go

Will represent the US well as president



He's nuts

• Biden’s ‘24 pivot
  

President Biden is quietly pivoting to the middle as he prepares for a 2024 run.

What’s happening: His early ‘23 moves — Sunday’s visit to the U.S.-Mexico border and his appearance with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to promote the infrastructure law — gave a crystal-clear contrast with the GOP’s chaotic speaker fight.

Why it matters: Voters sent a clear message in the midterms that they value bipartisanship, rejecting extreme candidates. Republicans accommodated the far right, with often disastrous results.

• Biden began his administration pandering to progressives. But he ended ‘22 with his party cutting deals with some Republicans on small-scale gun regulations — and a big infrastructure package.

Zoom in: Sunday’s trip to El Paso, Texas, the first time Biden has visited the U.S.-Mexico border as president, will showcase law enforcement — taking a possible Democratic vulnerability head-on.

• “This feels like the Joe Biden of 2020,” said Jim Kessler, executive vice president for policy at the centrist Democratic think tank Third Way. “This trip to the border is what the doctor ordered.”

Reality check: Even as Biden shores up his center flank, he’ll still need to balance the priorities between the party’s ascendant progressive wing and majority-making moderates.

• On immigration, party activists are already crying foul in anticipation of tougher enforcement measures at the border — even as such moves are a political necessity not just for Biden but the several red-state Senate Democrats up for re-election in 2024.
• But unlike in the last two years when Democrats held unified power, Biden now has a useful foil in House Republicans, who have showcased their fractiousness in the speaker fight.

What to watch: This year’s State of the Union address (no date yet) will help solidify Biden’s positioning.

• Don’t expect an ideological 180 — like President Clinton’s “the era of big government is over” SOTU in 1996. After all, Biden outperformed expectations in the midterms without explicitly rejecting left-wingers.

• But look for some Clintonesque triangulation, proposing bipartisan deals for passage in the Senate while fully expecting to see them rejected in the Republican-held House.

One idea, referenced in a column by The Atlantic’s Ron Brownstein: Placing an emphasis “on improving conditions for workers in jobs that don’t require advanced credentials,” in a push to make inroads with blue-collar voters who have deserted the Democratic Party.

What we’re hearing: The White House is asking agencies and departments to share their top priorities for the year, as officials craft a SOTU message that addresses progressive priorities without alienating independent voters, Axios’ Hans Nichols reports.

• Chief of staff Ron Klain has developed a finely tuned antenna to detect any disappointment by progressives, and he keeps an open door to hear their concerns.

The bottom line: The emerging Biden bet is that he can reprise his winning 2020 campaign theme — winning re-election as a center-left incumbent who looks better than the radical alternatives.

____________

Just for fun.

Let’s see if there’s any significant difference a month from now, 3 months from now and even further down the line. Because some believe.......

Originally Posted by Buckaroo Banzai

Not at all, in fact I said : "If that is true and it seems like it is, then his 2024 bid is effectively over."

Where things stand today.

recent polling dates……

Time to dust off the likes of old farts like Ron Paul and Ralph Nader.

Originally Posted by HuangLao

Time to dust off the likes of old farts like Ron Paul and Ralph Nader.

Are they still alive?

Originally Posted by helge

John Bolton is having a go

Will represent the US well as president

You as usual are completely clueless, he is a bureaucrat not a politician. He will get crushed. 0% chance.

Originally Posted by helge

He's nuts

Well the two of you have something in common then.

Please, please enter the race DeSantis. Voters outside of Florida want to hear you.

The GOP's 2024 freeze

Questions about Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' political resilience — and fears of going toe-to-toe with former President Trump — have all but frozen the 2024 Republican field, delaying most of the leading prospects' timelines for entering the race.

Why it matters: Despite dominating polling among Republicans looking for a Trump alternative, DeSantis hasn't been tested in the klieg lights of a presidential election. His Republican detractors see him as a paper tiger who lacks the charisma necessary for a national campaign.

• "Everyone not named DeSantis is having a hard time figuring out their way around him. So they are waiting for him to screw up or fade," said Republican strategist Scott Jennings. "So far, he's doing neither."
• "No one wants to take slings and arrows from Trump," said another adviser to a top 2024 contender. "Whether they get in early or late isn't going to matter if they have a built-in network of donors."

State of play: DeSantis himself is unlikely to make a final decision about running for president until at least May, after Florida's legislative session ends.

• Former Vice President Mike Pence, who spent the holidays with family discussing his future political plans, isn't planning to make any presidential announcement soon. "It's in his interest to wait longer. He's always available as an option later," one top Pence adviser told Axios, calling him "a known commodity."
• Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin is at the start of a critical legislative session that will determine whether he can secure conservative policy victories with a divided legislature. Any Youngkin presidential decision would come later in the process.
• Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley will be one of the first Republicans out of the gate. She's already staffing up her future presidential operation, with top advisers making plans to move to her home base of South Carolina.
• Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's book comes out on Jan. 24, and he's heading on a nationwide tour to promote it over the next couple of months. Any presidential announcement wouldn't come until May at the earliest, according to those familiar with his thinking.

Between the lines: DeSantis is already taking some hits on his right flank from South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem over abortion. Florida currently has a 15-week abortion ban in place, but pro-life activists have been advocating for stricter limits.

• At the same time, DeSantis has offered more red meat for the MAGA movement lately — including calling for COVID-19 vaccine makers to be investigated for potential wrongdoing.
• By trying to maneuver to Trump's right, DeSantis could be opening up space for a more pragmatic conservative to gain momentum.

Reality check: Even with a lackluster start to his campaign, Trump is still the Republican front-runner in primary polls.

• A Morning Consult presidential primary tracking poll found Trump's support declining only four points — from 50% to 46% — since his announcement in November.
• He's planning to hold his first campaign event of the year in South Carolina this month — encroaching on Haley's home turf. (South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott is also considered a possible presidential candidate.)

The bottom line: We're likely to see a historically slow start to a presidential campaign, with many "known unknowns" about the size and nature of the field.

• The first Republican primary debate for the 2016 presidential election was held in August 2015. Former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker dropped out that September.
• By January 2019, nine Democratic presidential candidates had already declared campaigns against Trump.

Originally Posted by bsnub

You as usual are completely clueless, he is a bureaucrat not a politician. He will get crushed. 0% chance.

Have I posted that he has a chance ?

All in your head

Originally Posted by helge

John Bolton is having a go

Will represent the US well as president



He's nuts

....and goodly reflective of the greater population in general.

wrong again Fvck off Jeff

What an unholy mess it has all become! No one dares to be first, because everyone has skeletons in the cupboard.

Originally Posted by Switch

What an unholy mess it has all become! No one dares to be first, because everyone has skeletons in the cupboard.

It's quite a mess simply because the system is corrupt and suppressed by it's very oligarchical nature......and accepted, without too much questioning or challenging, by the population.