I guess I don’t understand why people who have no lane to win are running in the Republican primary.
Yes, theoretically, anyone could win. But the bottom line is that some of these folks may not even get the numbers they need to qualify for the debate, which would pretty much be their only chance to break out. So why are they running?
When you hear that you may have people like Asa Hutchinson or North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum running, you might just say, “Who?” They don’t have any kind of constituency for a national run or name recognition. Plus, they’re up against former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who have some strong constituencies.
So what’s the point? Money? National recognition? If they run now and lose, maybe people notice them this time for the next election. They’re hoping for positions in a GOP cabinet? Or just a lot of ego, thinking they can somehow break through?
But I guess the person I truly don’t understand is former vice president Mike Pence. Pence had a CNN town hall on Wednesday night, as we reported, and he covered a variety of topics. Again he’s one of these folks I struggle to think what’s going on in his mind. Where’s his constituency? Who is truly jazzed for a Mike Pence run? He’s at 4 percent in a lot of the polls. How does 4 percent get past Trump’s over 50 percent or over DeSantis’ 20 percent? What exactly is he running on?
Not with announcements like this.
I’m having flashbacks to George W. Bush and his mannerisms, and that’s not a good thing, in this case. It also sounds like he’s trying to reach for something like Ronald Reagan’s “Morning in America” and just not getting there are all. It sounds practiced. Maybe he thinks his lane is with evangelicals. But I’m thinking most of those folks are still going to be with Trump.
The response to that video also had many Republicans accusing him of betraying Trump, which is another reason he doesn’t stand much of a chance. Pence spoke about not pardoning January 6 people and that was also not received well by some.
Here’s a simple announcement that hits what people are concerned about that doesn’t sound canned from another candidate in the race, Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC).
That’s talking about what people care about in a straightforward way.
Mike Pence also said something else during the town hall that truly may have finished him off, assuming he ever had any kind of a chance, to begin with. Pence criticized Joe Biden for being “slow” with providing resources to Ukraine.
Trying to argue that Joe Biden isn’t funneling enough aid fast enough to Ukraine is a quick way to do in your candidacy with the Republican base, most of whom believe that money is being funneled out without any real check and without any end in sight to a country that has a history of corruption. Saying Biden isn’t going far enough will have people running in the other direction, away from Pence, believing this confirms again his neo-con status. This is a remarkable misread of the Republican base. This just shows again why he truly has no chance.