If there’s one thing the past 10 years have shown me, it’s that voters really do not care about military service. ESPECIALLY Republican voters. The Republican primary that Trump ultimately won had 16-odd candidates, and not a single veteran among them.
Once Trump became the nominee, an endless stream of military officers derided him as incompetent; Trump’s supporters called them cucks. When John McCain died, I saw Trumpists calling him “John McCuck” and celebrating over his death. James Mattis - “Mad Dog” “Chaos” “Generation Kill” Mattis - the George Patton of our time - criticized Trump. Trump supporters: “he’s a cuck.”
I suspect that Haley has been planning a run for president for a while now. She’s certainly at the right age to run and checks several key demographic boxes. And she went from governor of a state to her position with the UN. So, she’s developed experience that shores up her executive experience and foreign policy credentials
Deciding to run now makes a lot of sense for several reasons:
Obviously, the primary reason is that she believes that she could get the nomination. Seeking it out in 2024 makes a lot of sense, since there’s no obvious Republican front runner, like an incumbent president. Yes, DeSantis and Trump appear to be at the lead of the party, but history shows that the people who start out in front don’t necessarily end up with the nomination.
Secondly, getting in early gets her name amongst the possibilities for vice president. Just look at Harris. She started out as a candidate for the presidency , and that exposure lead her to become the vice president. If Haley can develop a block of supporters, they’ll give her clout when seeking future political roles.
But even if her plans are not successful, Haley succeeds in getting her name back into the news, and probably gets her face all over the TV. After the election cycle, that makes for a nice natural lead in to becoming one of the Talking Heads , I imagine that can be pretty lucrative. Additionally, getting this type of exposure can lead to book deals. I mean, at some point, she’s going to need to support the lifestyle of a famous face.
The only way that works is if there’s a secret pact for her to resign as President shortly after her inauguration, making him instant President. Which then gives him not quite four years to parlay that into El Presidente For Life.
And the only way Trump would take the veep nomination was if his presidential primary campaign was still falling as flat as it has so far, AND the prosecutors were circling enough he was getting scared that he needed a Get Out Of Jail Free card from somewhere. Him instead retiring to Russia is not nearly as attractive since Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
PJ said this about H Clinton vs trump- “I am endorsing Hillary, and all her lies and all her empty promises,” O’Rourke continued. “It’s the second-worst thing that can happen to this country, but she’s way behind in second place. She’s wrong about absolutely everything, but she’s wrong within normal parameters.”
No way. She’s happily a part of the modern Republican party, which means she’s a Trumpist. Unless and until she totally repudiates Trump and his party’s anti-democracy actions and advocacy, she’s not “wrong within normal parameters” – she’s a dangerous extremist. That’s what the Republican party is now, with only a very few notable exceptions (Cheney, Romney, and a very few others).
Trump isn’t normal, and his party isn’t normal. This is very, very abnormal, and it’s important for this to be reinforced again and again.
I find this article relatively interesting. I found it when looking into whether Haley is an active or passive supporter in The Big Lie:
Spoiler alert: she’s using her well-honed diplomatic chops to try to straddle all sides of that issue. I have to doubt that will be enough for the MAGA folk, but it could still be enough for TFG to put her on the ticket should it head that way.
I also agree that her being in the race helps Trump, but not is anything like a secret agreement. IMHO the simplest explanation is that Trump’s path to the nomination is the same as it was in 2016. Get the 30 to 40 percent or so solid MAGA vote and have 10 to 15 or so other candidates split the anti-Trump vote. In that scenario the non-Trump candidates don’t benefit from attacking Trump, since Trump’s supporters aren’t winnable in the primary, except maybe by DeSantis. Trump also won’t benefit from attacking her at this point, because if the attacks succeed then Haley won’t be taking votes from the the other candidates (Pompeo, Hogan, Pence, whoever else runs - the more the merrier as far as Trump is concerned).
I would like to hear more why you think so. The guy comes across as a clod when he speaks, and his special brand of MAGA dirty tricks (sending immigrants to random places under false pretenses, etc.) won’t play with “independents.”
Trump always had the lizard-brain cunning and the ability to channel the dissatisfaction of the masses. DeSantis just doesn’t have that evil charisma. He’s weak sauce on cold toast.
That is true, as far as it goes. But in 2016 the not-trumps, as they individually dropped out, lined up behind trump. I suspect that in 2024 the story might just be different.
I can’t tell if she’s trolling or if this was a Freudian slip, bolding mine. Either way, she’s as classy as always. By which I mean a bottom dwelling piece of filth.
Coulter also called Haley a “bimbo” and a “preposterous creature,” criticizing her for having advocated removing the Confederate flag from the grounds of the South Carolina Statehouse in the wake of the 2015 shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston.
“This is my country, lady," she said. "I’m not an American Indian, and I don’t like them taking down all the monuments.”
I think–and I think it’s fairly obvious–that Trump would gladly have become dictator had he had the chance (and I think most of the GOP would have supported him). I’m not actually sure that DeSantis or many other Republicans would do so.
Why the difference? Trump is truly unprincipled. He doesn’t believe in anything. He doesn’t believe in the US and its history, traditions, rules, etc., if he even knows about them in the first place. He is guided wholly by his narcissistic ego, and he has genuine talent in getting others to embrace his evil schemes (in this, he is very similar to Hitler).
In contrast, I think most individual GOP politicians to a palpable extent believe in the indoctrination we all got as kids and follow along with the basic rules of the country. That 1/6 got as far as it did I attribute to Trump’s evil charisma and influencing ability.
I don’t think DeSantis has the talent or the will to be dictator. In that sense, I don’t think he’s as dangerous as Trump. If DeSantis were president, I think he would just be a dickhead who huffs and puffs a bit but doesn’t get much done.