Why the 2024 Race Is Eerily Quiet
Just under a month since Donald Trump announced his third consecutive White House bid...[t]he collective quiet...
I appreciate this article. I have thought it has been quiet since Trumpie announced. He was more active when he was teasing a run, traveling all over the country to endorse one low life after another. Since he announced, silence. Even his announcement was a low-energy dud. But then I thought, "It's two years until the election." And, "If his intent was to clear the field, hasn't that worked?" And, "Did he do it an yet another ill-advised attempt to head off indictment?"
...For all the talk about how Republican politicians are scared of Trump, all but one of the party’s senators are dodging his candidacy while most Democratic lawmakers fall in line behind President Joe Biden’s presumed reelection bid.
To that last point:
Poll December 13. General election: Trump vs Biden USA Today/Suffolk Biden 47 Trump 40
That’s in part because, after the midterms, Trump has the whiff of a loser and Biden is riding high.
However, there’s something bigger at play.
“I’m still not convinced he’s all-in,” Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) told me by way of explaining why Trump’s onetime loyalists, himself included, are on the sidelines. ...
Either am I.
“Losing another election could be very damaging to his pride." (Cramer)
...
Trump is confronting the grimmest of eventualities — indictment. ...
So his one-time allies are unwilling to edge onto the limb of his candidacy. That’s partly because they suspect he entered the race so soon to dare the authorities to prosecute an announced candidate and in part because they’d rather hold back to see if those charges come, how serious they are and whether he goes through with a campaign.
...
In talking to Republicans about Trump, post-midterms, I was struck by
two recurring themes. One, how little he’s doing to lock down support.
Cramer and other loyalists during the former president’s tenure,
including Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida, said Trump had not asked for
their backing.
Just as striking is how openly Republicans are pushing for a robust primary.
“Trump running shouldn’t deter anybody else from running,” said GOP Rep. Dan Crenshaw of Texas.
But he has, Crenshaw! He clearly has! They are scared of him, Politico. Just look at the hatred and bile Trumpie piled on DeSantis right before his announcement. "You go first," that's what the alternative cowardly candidates are saying. The Republicans who are pushing for a robust primary aren't contemplating running! Trumpie has cleared the field--so far--and that is what I and other Party of Godders want! Why would a candidate unopposed for the nomination of his party campaign?