Chris Christie gets it. The MAGA base is never going to support anyone but DJT. Unless those are your intials, it does no good to try to cater to them. Most of those candidates are doing their damnedest to show how much fealty they can show Dear Leader but what good will that do them?
I won’t watch tonight, but I expect the highlights to be all about the gorilla not in the room.
One wishes one could get to sit down and ask one of the Republican office holders who do not have to really fear for their personal post, “c’mon, not one other soul will know, level with me, what is it you fear so much about taking another 4 or 8 years to come back to what you all used to be?”
I think some of them are betting on Trump dropping out or not being allowed to run and they hope in that case, they’ll get some MAGA supporters support.
Christie is the best of the lot and I actually did vote for him for Governor for his second term. But no way in hell would I vote for him for President. The goodwill he built up in his first 4 years in office, he undid in his last 2 years or so in office .
Watching the angry mob vowing to kill the sitting Vice-President (they even mocked up a gallows) had to leave a mark on the psyche of any Republican considering a run for the Presidency or a future in politics.
It’s not so much that they need the support of the Trump voter. It’s more that they don’t want a Trump voter to assassinate them.
Meaning: I think those in the Republican primary contest are trying to serve two masters – garner support from the sane-ER (assuming, arguendo, such a thing exists) Trump supporter while trying to avoid the ire and peril that the unhinged MAGA types truly do represent.
TL;DR - Mob rule. Lovely. And not a single person has to speculate about how we got to this place.
Maybe a subject for a new thread. Please no one expand on this in this thread. It would be off-topic.
(You did nothing wrong, just cutting off another hijack before it starts)
I’m pretty sure the word “leaning” was chosen by the article’s writer or editor. Without a crystal ball, we don’t know for sure what they would do.
Yeah, they have to balance the whole “don’t upset Dear Leader’s followers, in case they can be garnered for my campaign” with “hey, that sweet, sweet VP spot would be cool, so don’t upset Dear Leader himself.” That means all the candidates have to combat with one another, in a race to the bottom of “I can out-wacko you!”
Agree with this.
It’d be great if more of them would follow Christie’s lead, grasp the nettle and, for the good of American democracy and to be true to the oath each hopes to swear on Jan. 20, 2025 to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States,” criticize Trump and promise not to pardon him. If more did it, at least there would be some safety in numbers. But none of them seem to have that kind of courage.
But Trump won’t be around forever. Some of the competition might be to command at least a portion of said base when the time comes.
That base might have a hatred of actual education, but they do not lack a long memory. They will never forgive those who went against their dearly departed annointed one when it comes to that.