Asa Hutchinson

The Republican Presidential Race Is About To “Explode” With Ronald Reagan Comparisons, Which Will Not Succeed!

The Republican Presidential race for 2024 is about to “explode”, with at least three, and possibly more, contenders about to announce by Memorial Day, and with the first Republican Presidential Contenders debate scheduled for sometime in August.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis; South Carolina Senator Tim Scott; and former Vice President Mike Pence (Indiana) are about to announce, and others–including former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie; New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu; Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin; and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem seem likely to join in the fray.

They will join former President Donald Trump; former South Carolina Governor and United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley; former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson; and former biotech executive Vivek Ramaswamy (an arrogant extreme right wing multimillionaire 37 years old without any government experience) in the race.

Many of the soon to be contenders are invoking the name and image of former President Ronald Reagan, failing to understand that none of them are really at all like Reagan.

But also, the Ronald Reagan “bandwagon” fails to realize the great damage that the 40th President did to America in so many ways, but at the same time his open mindedness on some issues, such as immigration reform, which is one of the horrendous sins of the present day Republican Party, the depth and extent of their nativism and racism!

The South Dominates In Potential Republican Presidential Contenders!

The American South was the area that revolted against the federal government, and seceded from the Union in 1860-1861, culminating in the American Civil War (1861-1865), with the Republican Party representing the Union cause, and the Democratic Party being dominant in the South.

The South remained strongly Democratic until the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed under Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson.

Since then, most of the South has become strongly Republican, and promoters of white supremacy and Christian Nationalism, to the point that most of the potential Republican Presidential contenders in 2024 derive from the South!

These include the following:

Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, Marco Rubio, and Rick Scott of Florida
Ted Cruz and Greg Abbott of Texas
Asa Hutchinson and Tom Cotton of Arkansas
Nikki Haley and Tim Scott of South Carolina
Glenn Youngkin of Virginia

These eleven Republicans are not all sure bets to run, but all have been rumored, although some seem to be backing away from doing so.

Other potential contenders come from the Northeast area of the US, including

Chris Sununu of New Hampshire
Chris Christie of New Jersey
Larry Hogan of Maryland

And finally, from the Midwest area of the US, we have such potential contenders as

Mike Pence of Indiana
Mike Pompeo of Kansas
Josh Hawley of Missouri
Kristi Noem of South Dakota
Adam Kinzinger of Illinois

And finally, we have Liz Cheney of Wyoming

The Presidential Election Campaign Of 2024 Has Begun!

With the new year 2023 upon us, the Presidential Election campaign of 2024 has begun!

It actually began when former President Donald Trump declared his candidacy on November 15, 2022, but with the last seven weeks having been a total disaster for any Presidential plans.

This is not just what the January 6 House Committee investigating the US Capitol Insurrection has recommended, criminal charge against Donald Trump.

It is much more than that, including even that his own daughter, Ivanka Trump, has made clear that she has no interest in being engaged in his campaign, as she was in 2016 and 2020!

The public support for Donald Trump has been deteriorating dramatically, and the odds are good that a multitude of Republican potential Presidential candidates will start announcing their campaigns soon.

Among them are likely the following:

Former Vice President Mike Pence
Former Secretary of State and CIA head Mike Pompeo
Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis
Texas Governor Greg Abbott
South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem
South Carolina Senator Tim Scott
Texas Senator Ted Cruz
Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin
New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu
Former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson
Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie
Former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan

And the two Republicans on the January 6 House Committee might also announce their candidacies:

Former Wyoming Congresswoman Liz Cheney
Former Illinois Congressman Adam Kinzinger

In the mind of this author and blogger, while he would not vote for any of these in November 2024, the following would be seen at this point as “tolerable”, including if they actually won the White House, no special order:

South Carolina Senator Tim Scott
New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu
Former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan
Former Wyoming Congresswoman Liz Cheney
Former Illinois Congressman Adam Kinzinger

The most intriguing of this list of five would be, in the mind of this author and blogger, if either Larry Hogan or Adam Kinzinger ended up as the nominee!

Republicans Very Slow To Condemn Donald Trump Over Dinner With Nick Fuentes!

The Republican Party has been very slow to condemn Donald Trump over the dinner he hosted at Mar a Lago with supremacist, anti Semitic, and Holocaust Denier Nick Fuentes, as well as the looney Kanye West.

Former Vice President Mike Pence said Trump should apologize.

Mitch McConnell, Senate Minority Leader, said that the behavior was reprehensible.

Others made it clear they were uncomfortable, but would not say they thought an apology by Trump was required, including Senator Lindsey Graham, Senator Tommy Tuberville, Senator Joni Ernst, and Senator Roy Blunt.

Former Governor Chris Christie, Governor Asa Hutchinson, Senator Mitt Romney, and Senator Bill Cassidy were stronger, but also did not insist on an apology.

Future likely Speaker Kevin McCarthy tried to defend Trump, while saying Fuentes and West should not have been invited to dinner at the White House.

Clearly, the Republican leadership lacks guts and principle, and continues to bow to the Fascist authoritarian Donald Trump!

The Republican “Donnybrook” Begins At Republican Jewish Coalition Gathering!

The Republican Presidential race has begun, with Donald Trump declaring his candidacy last week in a very uninspiring manner, and a whole slew of potential candidates showing up to display their “virtues” at the Republican Jewish Coalition gathering this past weekend in Las Vegas.

At least 21 potential Republican candidates are in the mix for 2024 at this point!

The potential candidates include those who worked for Trump, and those who looked the other way with his reckless, lawless behavior in office. It also included some who were neither category, but seem unlikely to make much traction!

Among those who worked for Donald Trump are former Vice President Mike Pence; former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo; and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley.

Among those who looked the other way are Texas Senator Ted Cruz; Missouri Senator Josh Hawley; Florida Senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott; Kentucky Senator Rand Paul; and a number of Governors, including Ron DeSantis of Florida; Greg Abbott of Texas; Glenn Youngkin of Virginia; and Kristi Noem of South Dakota.

A third category are those who avoided embracing Trump, including former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie; outgoing Maryland Governor Larry Hogan and Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson; and New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu.

Also, former Republican 2012 Presidential nominee and Utah Senator Mitt Romney; and Wyoming Congresswoman Liz Cheney and Illinois Congressman Adam Kinzinger are truly anti Trump, and the latter two, of course, have served on the January 6 House Committee investigating the US Capitol Insurrection.

And an intriguing possility is African American Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina!

Ten Alternatives To Donald Trump Begin To Emerge In Republican Party

It is now clear that Donald Trump will have challengers emerging in the Republican Party, those who have broken with him and are not afraid to challenge him for the Presidential nomination of the party in 2024.

These include the following ten individuals:

Former Vice President Mike Pence of Indiana
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan
Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie
Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse
Utah Senator Mitt Romney
Illinois Congressman Adam Kinzinger
Wyoming Congresswoman Liz Cheney
Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley of South Carolina
Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson
New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu