The 2024 Presidential Nomination Thread

[RainMaker]

They don't really have anything else to run on. "Hey, we are cutting taxes for billionaires again" isn't riling up the base.

It's been a dying party on a national level for decades now. Barring a huge shift, I don't see that changing.

[RainMaker]

DeSantis campaign seemed really into making 4chan memes. Weirdest campaign I can ever remember.

‘This belongs in the Smithsonian’: Inside the meme video operation that swallowed Ron DeSantis’ campaign | Semafor

[RainMaker]

Meanwhile the king still has it.

Attention Required! | Cloudflare

[BYU 14]

And this, I swear this guy has asperger's

"He can reboot his campaign as many times as he likes but his campaign can't change the fact that he...is a charm-free, charisma-free, humor-free zone, a rigid, unlikable, antisocial automaton of a pres. candidate." @MehdiRHasan and @AymanM roast DeSantis in tonight's #handover. pic.twitter.com/enrK2bxBSb

— The Mehdi Hasan Show (@MehdiHasanShow) July 31, 2023

[albionmoonlight]

Tim Scott, disappointingly, reacts to the Trump J6 indictment with a whataboutHunterBiden

He's the one GOP candidate that was seeming to offer something other than the same old story. But if he's just gonna be another Trump-but-not-actually-Trump candidate, then what's the point?

[Ksyrup]

He's young enough to still want a career in politics as a conservative, so of course that's the route he takes. The ones who speak out are old, retiring, or looking for different jobs that don't require them to bow down to Trump or his followers. That's really the only test I see for who falls into which category.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

Tim Scott, disappointingly, reacts to the Trump J6 indictment with a whataboutHunterBiden

He's the one GOP candidate that was seeming to offer something other than the same old story. But if he's just gonna be another Trump-but-not-actually-Trump candidate, then what's the point?

He is angling to be Trump's VP.

[thesloppy]

I hadn't really considered that with Trump's known aversion to reading/working, let alone these hundreds of charges and his advanced age, that VP role is probably as attractive as it will ever get. It's probably true that these folks have more & better paths to the presidency via kissing ass and hoping to get appointed VP than attempting to beat him in the primary.

[JPhillips]

Ramaswamy is a 9/11 truther.

Great party they got.

[Ryche]

All that sucking up to be vp and he will probably end up choosing RFK Jr

[Edward64]

This should be entertaining.

Gives both a stage that they can/hope to build on; gives Hannity a chance to come back at Fox (?) or at least thumb his nose at them one more time.

Ron DeSantis agrees to debate Gavin Newsom on Fox News - POLITICO

Ron DeSantis agrees to debate Gavin Newsom on Fox News

The California governor has been trying to get his Florida Republican counterpart to engage. On Wednesday, he got it.

Newsom’s office had sent a formal request offer to Fox News last week with proposed debate dates of Nov. 8 or Nov. 10. That request called for Hannity to serve as the sole moderator for a 90-minute forum on Fox News that would not include an in-studio audience and would air live.

“Desantis should put up or shut up. Anything else is just games,” the aide said.

A debate would — to put it mildly — be an unpredicted event in modern presidential politics even in an age of seemingly endless cable news town halls. For DeSantis, it would provide a new venue and opponent to contrast his record in Florida after spending weeks bogged down in process stories about layoffs; tightened campaign budgets, and nervous GOP donors.

Newsom, should a debate happen, would feel the weight of his political party on his shoulders under a national spotlight brighter than he’s experienced before. Like he did opposite Hannity in a recent sitdown interview, he would be forced to defend attacks about the progressive policies in his own state as well as President Joe Biden’s record.

[albionmoonlight]

Originally Posted by Edward64

This should be entertaining.

Gives both a stage that they can/hope to build on; gives Hannity a chance to come back at Fox (?) or at least thumb his nose at them one more time.

Ron DeSantis agrees to debate Gavin Newsom on Fox News - POLITICO

Seems bad for Biden either way.

If Newsom bombs, then Dems look bad generally.

If Newsom does awesome, then the story becomes why can't we have him running instead of Biden.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

Ramaswamy is a 9/11 truther.

Great party they got.

Rest of the story.

Ramaswamy: I ‘don’t believe’ the 9/11 Commission report - POLITICO

In an interview Tuesday night on the conservative Blaze TV, host Alex Stein asked the Republican presidential candidate if he believes 9/11 was an “inside job” or “exactly like the government tells us.”

“I don’t believe the government has told us the truth,” Ramaswamy said. “I’m driven by evidence and data. What I’ve seen in the last several years is we have to be skeptical of what the government does tell us.

“I haven’t seen evidence to the contrary, but do I believe everything the government told us about it? Absolutely not. Do I believe the 9/11 Commission? Absolutely not.”

The 37-year-old Ohio-based biotech entrepreneur did not suggest the United States was complicit in or responsible for the attacks, the underlying argument at the heart of the “9/11 Truther” movement. And after a clip of the encounter was shared online by Blaze TV, Ramaswamy moved swiftly to insist he was referring to the Saudi Arabia government’s explanation of the attack.

“Al-Qaeda clearly planned and executed the attacks, but we have never fully addressed who knew what in the Saudi government about it,” Ramaswamy wrote. “We *can* handle the TRUTH.”

I don't think its unreasonable to question SA involvement. Very easy to believe we covered up "some/tangential" Princeling/senior officials involvement because we're beholden to their oil. The 911 findings below.

The 9/11 Commission's final report, the 9/11 Commission Report, published in July 2004 at the request of Bush administration and the U.S Congress, concluded that there was "no evidence" linking Saudi Arabian government or its senior officials to the September 11 attacks.

[Ksyrup]

This is the game these kinds of people play knowing how many people get information only from their specific silos. To a true conspiracy theorist, he said just enough on freaking Blaze TV to appeal to them. Do many of those same people care about other news sources where he cleans this up for the rest of us? Probably not. So he's effectively given 2 different answers that can co-exist to appease 2 totally different types of people. I have a hard time not believing that isn't done purposefully. It's like an art form these days.

[Lathum]

I don't get why Newsome would do this unless he is testing the waters for a presidential run. Everyone on the right will say he was destroyed by DeSantis. Everyone on the left, if they watch, will say he killed it. Not one person will be swayed either way. DeSantis isn't going to win the nomination. I honestly think even if Trump bows out he may not win. So if Newsomes goal is just to make him malfunction in front of his supporters, cool I guess, but otherwise it seems odd.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by Lathum

I don't get why Newsome would do this unless he is testing the waters for a presidential run. Everyone on the right will say he was destroyed by DeSantis. Everyone on the left, if they watch, will say he killed it. Not one person will be swayed either way. DeSantis isn't going to win the nomination. I honestly think even if Trump bows out he may not win. So if Newsomes goal is just to make him malfunction in front of his supporters, cool I guess, but otherwise it seems odd.

I think he might be trying to be "forced" to run. Get enough exposure and popularity that he can pretend he was drafted by the overwhelming support of the people.

[Ksyrup]

And if he objectively does well, maybe the donors/DNC make a push to force Biden aside if they feel like he's a viable candidate.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

And if he objectively does well, maybe the donors/DNC make a push to force Biden aside if they feel like he's a viable candidate.

I wouldn't cry about it, but he would not be my first choice.

[PilotMan]

Speaking of how the "next" ejecting is always the most important in the history of the world. Far right personalities are now equating the j6 indictments as "assassination" and are suggesting that perhaps in kind action is the only action that will win the 2024 election

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

Speaking of how the "next" ejecting is always the most important in the history of the world. Far right personalities are now equating the j6 indictments as "assassination" and are suggesting that perhaps in kind action is the only action that will win the 2024 election

I imagine the next ejecting would be the most important one for any pilot.

[Ksyrup]

Leave the man alone. He may have been trying to land a plane when he was typing that!

[PilotMan]

No comment

[Ksyrup]

I imagine other planes pulling up next to you, seeing you glancing down to your phone and typing, giving the "tsk tsk" shake of the head, and flying off.

[albionmoonlight]

"Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your pilot speaking. We are about to encounter some turbulence, so I've put the fasten seat belt sign back on. More importantly, my Instagram is blowing up this afternoon thanks to some pics I have up from the Taylor Swift concert. So things are pretty freaking sweet right now."

[flere-imsaho]

"Ladies, we were about to take off, but I need to pause for a moment because someone is very wrong on the internet."

[Ghost Econ]

He meant to type "'next' erection is always the most important in the history of the world..." but a boy came into the cockpit and he go distracted by gladiator talk.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by Ghost Econ

He meant to type "'next' erection is always the most important in the history of the world..." but a boy came into the cockpit and he go distracted by gladiator talk.

[Edward64]

Nice first step. Wonder if he'll repeat this out loud in his future rallies vs just reporters. I'm sure they'll be asked "the" 2020 election question in GOP debates.

DeSantis: Trump's 2020 election fraud theories were 'unsubstantiated' | CNN Politics

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Friday that the “theories” put out by former President Donald Trump and his associates following the 2020 election were “unsubstantiated” and “did not prove to be true.”

“I’ve said many times, the election is what it is. All those theories that were put out, did not prove to be true,” DeSantis, a Republican presidential candidate, told reporters traveling on his Never Back Down bus tour in Iowa. “What I’ve also said is the way you conduct a good election that people have confidence in, you don’t change the rules in the middle of the game.”

“It was not an election that was conducted the way I think we want to, but that’s different than saying, like, ‘Maduro stolen votes’ or something like that,” he added, in reference to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. “I think those theories, you know, proved to be unsubstantiated.”

[Qwikshot]

Originally Posted by Edward64

Nice first step. Wonder if he'll repeat this out loud in his future rallies vs just reporters. I'm sure they'll be asked "the" 2020 election question in GOP debates.

DeSantis: Trump's 2020 election fraud theories were 'unsubstantiated' | CNN Politics

This is probably why he pivoted. He's still a shitbag.

DeSantis’s biggest donor cuts off funds, demands moderate shift | The Hill

DeSantis’s biggest donor cuts off funds, demands moderate shift

[GrantDawg]

He still trying to ride the surf board. "It wasn't the way I want an election to run, but it was by the rules." It is an excuse for more voter suppression laws targeting minorities and major populated areas. If you can't win over the majority, then disenfranchise the majority.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by Edward64

Nice first step. Wonder if he'll repeat this out loud in his future rallies vs just reporters. I'm sure they'll be asked "the" 2020 election question in GOP debates.

Looks like his committed to (re)stating this. He does need to do something to shake it up some.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/07/ron-...on-claims.html

DeSantis continued to discuss all the ways he believed the previous presidential election was not perfect. But pressed further, he clearly stated that Trump lost.

“But respectfully, you did not clearly answer that question,” Burns said. “And if you can’t give a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ on whether or not he lost —”

“No, of course he lost,” DeSantis said, adding, “Joe Biden’s the president.
:
And at a campaign stop in Iowa on Friday, DeSantis also strongly dismissed theories that the election was stolen, saying they “did not prove to be true.””

Smart of him to add below. He'll lose the true believers but maybe he'll get the more "moderate" Republicans.

Still, DeSantis made sure to point out in Sunday’s interview that he saw a number of problems with the 2020 election, including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s grants for election administration, the widespread availability of mail-in ballots, state laws that allow third parties to collect and return voters’ ballots, and how social media outlets de-emphasized a story about the laptop of President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden.

“I think what people in the media and elsewhere, they want to act like somehow this was just like the perfect election. ... I don’t think it was a good-run election,” DeSantis said. “But I also think Republicans didn’t fight back. You’ve got to fight back when that is happening.”

[HerRealName]

Supporting or voting for an extremist like DeSantis means that you aren't a moderate.

[Galaril]

Originally Posted by HerRealName

Supporting or voting for an extremist like DeSantis means that you aren't a moderate.

Agree. In fact I am not sure his stuff isn’t more extreme then Trumps shit.

[Edward64]

Pence has qualified for the GOP debates.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/08/mike...-desantis.html

Pence joins other qualifiers including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

Good move for Trump to avoid the debates (or at least the first/early one). He doesn't need the debate, if I was him I would plan an event/rally during the first debate.

But Trump has repeatedly signaled he is leaning against it. “Why would you let somebody that’s at zero, or one or two or three [in the polls] be popping you with questions?” Trump said in a recent interview.

Political strategists have said it makes little sense for Trump to expose himself to all manner of attacks from his challengers on his policy record, his myriad controversies and his numerous pending criminal matters.

The absence of Trump, a media magnet and ratings booster, could also undermine other candidates’ efforts to make an impact on the Republican primary electorate.

[Lathum]

Of course the same people agreeing Trump shouldn't debate are the ones yelling because Biden won't debate RFK. The hypocrisy never ends.

[Edward64]

Looks like Ron is going to change things up. I do wonder if former campaign manager is just a convenient scapegoat

Ron DeSantis has replaced his campaign manager Generra Peck, in what is the third major reshuffling of his operations, a campaign spokesperson and a person familiar with the move confirmed to POLITICO.

Peck will be shifted to a role of chief strategist as part of the new order. Taking her place atop the campaign will be James Uthmeier, who has served as chief of staff in DeSantis’ governor’s office. In a text message, Uthmeier said the change was happening “ASAP.”

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by Edward64

Looks like Ron is going to change things up. I do wonder if former campaign manager is just a convenient scapegoat

So far he's tried fighting culture wars, tried taking trump on indirectly by creating ads that his campaign would "leak" online to desantis supporters with large twitter followings, and refused to shift in any meaningful way as donations have dried up.

Then you have the motorcade accident that showed he was using state resources (the car and florida police) to campaign out of state.

[Atocep]

DeSantis held a weird press conference today where he announced the suspension of another elected state attorney. Two sheriffs from counties that don't overlap in any way with her district spoke at the press conference to bash her and shared one shared a weird printed meme.

Spoiler alert: the state attorney is a black democrat

DeSantis suspends another elected prosecutor in move derided as ‘politically motivated’ - POLITICO

[JPhillips]

Trump refusing to sign a pledge saying he'd support the nominee while the other candidates pledge to support Trump is just a perfect representation of the whole GOP primary.

[JPhillips]

dola

Ramaswamy's rise as he's gotten progressively crazier is a bad sign for the future GOP.

[Lathum]

I saw a thing the other day where someone was calling him the GOP version of Obama and almost puked.

[RainMaker]

Ron DeSantis Says He Has “Moved On” And Disney Should Drop Lawsuit – Deadline

[Ksyrup]

If that's not code for "I'm gonna lose so I'm gonna play it off like I don't want to keep fighting" I don't know what does. Maybe Elon making excuses about needing surgery instead of fighting Zuckerberg. Two peas in a pod.

[Lathum]

What a shitshow of a disaster this guy is.

Ron DeSantis campaign suffers another blow after debate memos published | Ron DeSantis | The Guardian

[JPhillips]

I can't believe they are running the 2016 strategy of hoping to be the one that gets all of Trump's supporters when he drops out.

The sooner DeSantis drops out the more likely his chances of retaining some sort of national political future. He's going to be the target for everyone at each debate until he's humiliated enough to shrink into nothingness.

[NobodyHere]

If Trump can run for President then he's getting the nomination. Really the best any other Republican candidate can hope for is that Trump is unable/unwilling to run and then try to scoop up Trump's base.

[JPhillips]

Taxes are too low if rich people are willing to throw away a billion dollars on the chance that their guy might still be standing when Trump drops out.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

If Trump can run for President then he's getting the nomination. Really the best any other Republican candidate can hope for is that Trump is unable/unwilling to run and then try to scoop up Trump's base.

They are all hoping he isn't eligible and they get the nomination. Even if that happened I don't think DeSantis would get it. My money is on Vivek.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

I can't believe they are running the 2016 strategy of hoping to be the one that gets all of Trump's supporters when he drops out.

The sooner DeSantis drops out the more likely his chances of retaining some sort of national political future. He's going to be the target for everyone at each debate until he's humiliated enough to shrink into nothingness.

I suspect Christie will bury him next week.

[JPhillips]

Christie does have a history of throat-punching FL lightweights.