(Chuck Muth) – As I wrote several weeks ago, if the election for the GOP presidential nominee was held today, I’d cast my ballot for Ron DeSantis. However…
The election is NOT being held today.
Still seven more months to go before the first primary/caucus. As such, I’m trying to keep an open mind. Anything can happen between now and next February…and will.
Also, as I’ve said, if Trump wins the nomination…I’m voting for Trump. If DeSantis wins the nomination…I’m voting for DeSantis. If any of the other candidates win the nomination…that’s who I’m voting for.
The ONLY thing I’m focusing on is…which candidate has the best shot at taking out Biden and Kamala. Our nation won’t survive another four years of Dumb and Dumber.
In my opinion – and feel free to disagree with it – Trump’s created some major problems for himself in that department while DeSantis has, so far, clearly positioned himself as the most dangerous threat to Trump and the nomination.
With that in mind, some observations from the last couple of days…
1.) Donald Trump blew off the Family Leadership Summit of some 2,000 evangelical conservatives in Iowa this weekend, opting instead to speak at the TPUSA conference in Florida, a decision characterized broadly as a “mistake.”
Bob Vander Plaats, president and CEO of the Family Leader, told CBS News that Trump chose not to show up. “I don’t think it is just a smart idea on his part,” he said.
Trump’s support among pro-lifers has softened, especially after he blamed the GOP’s less-than-successful midterm election results last year on pro-life advocates.
2.) Meanwhile, at the TPUSA conference on Saturday, Trump announced that Hillary Clinton is now a friend of his, so he’s dropped the nickname he famously gave her in 2016.
“I took the name ‘Crooked’ away from Hillary and we gave her a new name,” Trump told the crowd. “Beautiful. I call her beautiful. She’s so beautiful.”
That claim needs to be fact-checked.
3.) Trump’s new-found Hillary love stands in stark contrast to his trashing of his former press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, as “milktoast” for getting a polling number wrong and attacking Iowa’s conservative Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds simply for remaining neutral in the primary race.
Also, one of his spokesmen referred to an Iowa state senator and Iraq war Marine Corps veteran as “weak-kneed and lily-livered” after the senator switched his endorsement to DeSantis over the Reynolds flap.
By the way, DeSantis said in Iowa this weekend that the attacks on Reynolds “were totally, totally out of hand and totally unnecessary,” adding that he’d absolutely consider her as his vice president.
4.) Second quarter fundraising figures are in…and the winner is…Ron DeSantis.
In just six weeks since his official announcement, DeSantis hauled in $20.1 million, compared to incumbent Democrat President Joe Biden’s $19.9 million and $17.7 million for Donald Trump over 12 weeks.
In addition, DeSantis’ Nevada Back Down PAC reportedly has raised over $130 million.
No other GOP candidate managed to raise over $6 million, with former Vice President Mike Pence bringing in just $1.2 million.
5.) In an interview on FOX News this weekend, DeSantis said…
“(Trump) promised to drain the swamp. It got worse. He did not drain the swamp. He promised to have Mexico pay for a border wall. They did, like, 50 miles of wall. There’s massive expanses still there. He said he was going to eliminate the national debt. They added almost $8 trillion to the debt in four years and, of course, in 2020 he turned the country over to Dr. Fauci, and those lockdowns and the borrowing and printing really sent us on a bad course.”
Fact Check: TRUE
This is a challenge for Trump. He made a lot of promises and claims in 2016 that he didn’t accomplish in the four years of his administration. And now he’s making the same or additional promises.
For example, back in May he declared that if elected he would issue an executive order ending birthright citizenship for children born on U.S. soil to illegal immigrants.
Great. All for it. But…*if* he can do that by executive order, why didn’t he do it during the four years he was president? Why should we believe he’d be different in a second term?
I know questions like this anger Trump supporters, but they’re legitimate questions. He could still win the nomination without answering them, but I, for one, would like to hear the answer.
Maybe he can change some minds.
All I know is I don’t want to make the same mistake Nevada Republicans made last year when they nominated Jim Marchant for Secretary of State and Sigal Chattah for Attorney General…only to see them both crash and burn like the Hindenburg in the general election.
I love a LOT of what Trump did in office. But that doesn’t mean squat if he can’t beat Biden in 2024.
That’s just the way it is.
7 Worst Habits of Highly Unelectable People
- Picking the wrong race
- Picking the wrong district
- Picking the wrong issues
- Picking the wrong time
- Picking the wrong consultants
- Picking unnecessary fights with the media
- Picking door-knocking over fundraising
FAMOUS LAST WORDS
“I don’t think Donald Trump’s support is nearly as strong as people say it is.” – Iowa GOP activist Alan Ostergren
“I’m tired of the former president making everything about himself and attacking his friends and potential supporters and other Republicans who are doing great conservative things over what seems like a personal vendetta.” – Former Iowa GOP official Cody Hoefert
Mr. Muth is president of Citizen Outreach, publisher of Nevada News & Views, and founder of CampaignDoctor.com. You can sign up for his conservative, Nevada-focused e-newsletter at MuthsTruths.com. His views are his own.
