Global Courant
Recently something unusual happened.
A prominent Republican announced he is not running for president because he does not want to contribute to the growing anti-Trump field — and to secure the former president’s nomination.
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, a moderate conservative, said he wanted to be “more forthright” than he could be as a candidate. He says he wants the GOP to attract more independents and younger voters, “making sure this is about the Republican Party, not just the former president.”
Of course, Sununu could also have looked at the scenery and decided he didn’t stand a chance in hell. Both things can be true.
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New Hampshire Republican Gov. Chris Sununu suggested Friday that recreational marijuana legalization may not be a lost cause in the Granite State, suggesting it may still be possible if regulated like wine and spirits. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack, File)
His impact is negligible as Mike Pence and Chris Christie take the plunge, along with the governor of North Dakota (bonus points for knowing his name).
Pence’s problem is that he has alienated elements from both sides. MAGA Republicans who believe his former boss was robbed resent him for failing to block Electoral College certification on Jan. 6. More moderate voters know that he was Trump’s loyal vice president for four years.
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Christie sees his role as beating Trump on the debate stage (because Trump might skip the early debates and Christie might not meet the RNC’s absurdly high threshold of having 40,000 backers). But the former New Jersey governor will enliven the race by naming Trump, as opposed to this vague “we need to break the culture of losing” where he’s not actually mentioned.
“While the two men have a long-standing personal relationship,” notes the Wall Street Journal, “things deteriorated more rapidly when Christie criticized Trump after he lost the 2020 election and refused to budge.”
“Donald Trump says he will end war in Ukraine in 24 hours tonight on CNN,” Christie recently tweeted. “Despite how ridiculous that is to say, I suspect he would try by extraditing Ukraine to Putin and Russia. #Putin’s Puppet.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses members of the Russian National Guard to congratulate them on their professional holiday, in Moscow on March 27, 2023. (GAVRIIL GRIGOROV/SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images)
Add in Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, and Tim Scott (who was smart enough to go on “The View” and confront his liberal critics), and others, and you’ve got a field approaching the proportions of 2016.
I know it’s early, but right now, DeSantis is the only one who really seems to have a shot at turning Trump upside down.
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On the Democratic side, where polls and focus groups show that even voters who admire the president’s achievements are concerned about his age, no serious challenger has emerged.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who just finished a two-hour Twitter chat with Elon Musk, is an anti-vax crusader who says the Democrats are under the control of the drug industry. But in the Democratic polls, he reached as high as 19%, and a Trafalga Group survey says two-thirds of those with an opinion on the issue attribute it to dissatisfaction with Joe Biden.
Democratic presidential nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr (center), flanked by New Hampshire Senate President Jeb Bradley (left) and Speaker of the State House, Sherman Packard (right), at the Statehouse in Concord, NH on June 1 2023 (NH Senate)
If you do a poll with Biden in the lead, and the only alternatives are Kennedy (and Marianne Williamson), they become vehicles for a protest vote.
Cornel West, the former Harvard professor, is now running for president of the People’s Party, saying, “No political party wants to tell the truth about Wall Street, about Ukraine, about the Pentagon, about big tech.”
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West won’t get very far, but his far-left agenda could attract or prompt some progressive Democrats to stay at home.
So in both parties, most long-term candidates are just that — which is why a Biden-Trump rematch has become the media narrative of choice.
Howard Kurtz is the host of FOX News Channel’s MediaBuzz (Sunday 11am-12pm ET). Based in Washington, DC, he joined the network in July 2013 and makes regular appearances Special report with Bret Baier and other programs.
