Waste of time? Or For a Few, a Preview of 2028
With Trump’s commanding lead in primary polls, you have to wonder why anyone would consider throwing their hat in the ring and run for President in 2024. Makes absolutely no sense, right? Well, at least to the average individual who has no clue about the inner workings of running for elected office. The motivations, the money, the perks and all the work involved when all but one will eventually end their campaigns.
If 2024 were going to be your average election, I could almost understand it. Back in 2015 it seemed as if everyone and their brother was running. And as usual, one by one eventually dropped out and went back to their day jobs (whatever those were.) Or perhaps winning was never their intention in the first place. Could be the primary intent was a job in the winner’s administration. Who knows. That’s the real question when you think about it. What the end-game is for people who run for President when many go into the race knowing they’d have a better chance of being struck by lightning than they would becoming President— let alone winning the nomination.
So, just for shits and grins, let’s take a quick look at the top Republicans vying for the Republican nomination for President in 2024. In no particular order. Before we begin, I should also say that I know none of these people personally. My opinions are solely based on what I’ve seen and read about them— including using gut instincts and common sense.
Asa Hutchinson
Never going to happen. Old school establishment Republican. The left will eat him for lunch. He’ll be out before the end of the year. Makes you wonder how the hell anyone would give a dime to his campaign. Must be other motives behind his attempt.
Chris Christie
This guy is an opportunist if there ever was one. I find it incredible he remains relevant in Republican circles of power. Perhaps they know something the rest of us don’t. While I’d like to say this joke will also drop out before the end of this year, he could be one of those guys who remain on a sinking ship just to do as much damage to Trump as he can. In fact, liberal media might be the ones who will keep him afloat.
Larry Elder
Appears to be a nice guy but he’s just not in the public eye enough to make a difference. He’ll be suspending his campaign any day now.
Ryan Binkley
Ryan who? Nuff said…..
Mike Pence
Outstanding Vice-President to Trump. Why? Because we never heard that much about him in the news. Especially from liberal media. As far as I’m concerned, he was the perfect “yes-man” to Trump and whatever disagreements they may have had, the public wasn’t aware of it. That was until the 2020 election when Pence did what he thought was the right thing to do. History will show (as it’s showing now) that there was absolutely nothing that could have been done by Trump, Pence or anyone for that matter that would have changed the results of the 2020 election. The fix was in and it was flawlessly executed. That being said, Pence will not win the nomination. Evangelicals love him but that’s about it. He’s another establishment “Paul Ryan” Republican who will cave to the demands of the left. He is one of those “go along to get along” politicians except on abortion. Which is kind of comical when you think about it seeing that the only way you can do anything regarding abortion federally is through a constitutional amendment. Why do you think SCOTUS threw it back the the individual states?
Tim Scott
Seems like a great guy with an altruistic heart. I definitely see him as an important member in the President’s cabinet. President? Perhaps in the future but not this time around. I see Tim playing a more focused role than being the leader of the free world.
Perry Johnson
Perhaps an administrative role or cabinet position? Sure. President is and most likely never was in the cards for Perry Johnson.
Vivek Ramaswamy
Smart guy I suppose. Made a whole lot of money for someone so young. But…. President? I don’t know. To listen to him, he comes off as just a little too plastic for me. Like an insurance or timeshare salesperson. Says all the right things that seem perfectly scripted (whether they were or weren’t.) Unfortunately, like other candidates here, he makes promises that he has to know are beyond his ability, even if elected President to keep. Most of the ones he could keep are the same as Trump so nothing new there, others would require a Constitutional Amendment. What I find most interesting is that he touts himself to be Trump 2.0 only younger and without all the baggage. If that’s the case, then he should have been smart enough to have waited until 2028 to campaign for President.
Will Hurd
To say anything about this guy would be a continued waste of breath. He’ll be out before you’re aware he was ever running.
Nikki Haley
Another establishment Republican. And a warmonger to boot! She actually believes the U.S. through it’s proxy war with Russia will allow Ukraine to prevail. She may have been a decent governor, even great at her job in the U.N. but President? No thanks. Women like her who appear to be backed by Permanent Washington scare me. She seeks a generational change in Washington. That may be true but it doesn’t mean her specifically.
Ron DeSantis
Great governor. No one is arguing that point. President? If this were the 2028 election, he’d definitely have my vote. Why Ron DeSantis made the foolish decision to run for President in 2024 is beyond me. He’s taken a huge risk by doing so which may come back to haunt him should he decide to make another run in 2028. Could be he’s simply testing the waters for a 2028 run. I have no idea but I still firmly believe he should have given Trump his full support and waited for 2028 when Trump would have eagerly reciprocated. They say timing is everything and 2024 is definitely not Ron’s time.
Doug Burgum
Like a few other candidates here, Doug may eventually play a role in an administration but that’s the best he can hope for.
There Can Be Only One
I know what you’re thinking…. who are some of these people pictured above and more perplexing, what in the world are they doing running for President? Personally, I could never understand it. Unless— as I said earlier, there are other motivations behind their actions. But if we set all of that aside we have to be completely honest with ourselves including those twelve pictured behind Trump and come to the (to some) harsh reality that Trump will in fact be the Republican nominee for President in 2024. Full stop, end of story. Why can I make such an emphatically bold statement? Two reasons.
1. He’s earned it. When you consider everything this man has had to put up with since the day he walked down that escalator on June 16th, 2015— constant investigations, constant negative coverage via liberal media, political and legal roadblocks placed in front of just about everything he tried to accomplish and in spite of it all including two impeachments, President Trump was able to get the United States back on track for the first time in decades. And I don’t care what anyone says, I along with millions of conservative voters firmly believe the 2020 election was stolen. History will show we were right but as the old saying goes— that and a dime won’t buy you a cup of coffee. What’s done is done. And yet knowing this, Trump made the decision to run again in 2024. He knew his job was only half completed and had he had another consecutive term in office, the American Public wouldn’t be in the mess we’re in right now but that’s another story.
So yes, in spite of it all, in spite of the fact that he could just as easily gone back to being an extremely wealthy ex President with great accomplishments in just his first term, he wanted to finish what he started. Knowing full well his decision would not bode well with Permanent Washington. He knew they would do everything imaginable to keep him from the White House but he’s running anyways. And what happens next? Four completely bogus indictments in four months. All right in the middle of a Presidential election and by extension, Trumps campaign.
You see, the sad yet comical part in this is the prosecutors in all these indictments don’t care if Trump is convicted or not. That isn’t (and never was) the immediate goal. It’s like prosecutors taking five years to investigate Hunter Biden to the point where most of the statute of limitations run out before he’s charged with a crime. Had it been anyone else? Three month investigation— indicted, charged, convicted then pardoned by Daddy Joe. With Trump it was the complete opposite. Four indictments in record time just to keep Trump constantly in court denying his ability to run his campaign. Hell, they may even convict the guy although most assuredly overturned on appeal. But again, not the goal. The goal is to keep Trump out of the White House. Pure and simple.
All of the above alone should be more than enough to make the statement that Trump has earned the right above anyone else to be the 2024 Republican Nominee for President. But that’s not the only reason. For less sentimental conservatives out there who believe this completely orchestrated baggage Trump now has to endure, there is reason two which I sincerely hope all of you in this category take extremely seriously.
2. Do the math. If it’s anyone but Trump, Republicans lose it all. We will lose the House, the Senate and the Presidency. We lose it all. How do I know this? Simple. Trump has a very solid base of voters who are well aware of what Permanent Washington and a corrupt Biden administration is doing and I guarantee you— if Trump isn’t the nominee, most if not all of that solid Trump base will walk away. Let that sink in for a moment. We’re talking about millions and millions of conservative voters who are so pissed off with the obvious Trump persecution they will walk away. Not just from the 2024 election, but the Republican Party. Some may argue that if they do, they’re just cutting off their nose to spite their face and that may be true. And what’s that old saying again? That and a dime won’t buy you a cup of coffee. In 2024, it’s either Trump or the Republican Party might as well pack up and go home.
A Referendum
Interesting, isn’t it? The way the word “referendum” is used in regard to an election. People will say things like “I didn’t vote for someone, I voted against someone else.” I sometimes think how often that has been used in elections past. The other term we tend to hear equally as often is voting for the lesser of two evils meaning, neither was voted for out of a personal choice, they just weren’t as bad as the other guy. Trump changed that in 2015. The votes he received were out of choice. The American public were sick and tired with the choices they were given for most likely the previous 20 years and this time, it would be different. They voted for Trump because they knew he would keep the promises he made during his campaign.
Liberal media said that Trumps loss in 2020 was a referendum on Trump. It wasn’t that Joe Biden was the better man for President, it was simply Americans hated Trump more. For millions of Americans, that statement couldn’t be further from the truth. How can a rigged election be a referendum on anything? Answer: it can’t.
Will the Presidential election of 2024 be another referendum? Absolutely! But you have to stop and think about what this upcoming election will be a referendum on. Biden? His incompetence? Blatant corruption? Sure, sounds like a wonderful place to start but this time and probably for the first time in American politics— it has to go much deeper than just Biden and the fact that his Presidency has been the worst in history. Equally important should be a referendum on Permanent Washington because it’s not so much Biden who is running for President in 2024, it’s Permanent Washington and it’s continued control over the United States. In fact, knowing what Trump intends to do on day one of his Presidency, Permanent Washington is running for it’s own survival. Think about it, does anyone actually believe Joe Biden is calling the shots in his administration? Nope, not on your life. Permanent Washington has been running the Biden show since day one.
So if you’re looking for a reason to vote for Trump even though you may not personally like the guy— look at it this way.
You’re not voting for Trump, you’re voting against Permanent Washington and the Corrupt Administrative State.
PS: For more on this, I highly recommend you read a few previous articles here on Basket of Fish. First would be my recent article And Then There Was One and secondly— Promises Promises. If you have yet to read them, please take the time.
