Chris Christie, Mike Pence and Doug Burgum are three more names joining seven others in the Republican primary to pick the candidate to battle the Democratic field in the 2024 election. The former New Jersey governor is announcing his candidacy today while formal communications from the former Vice President and Governor of North Dakota are scheduled for tomorrow. With the number of candidacies increasing, analysts think Donald Trump will be the biggest beneficiary. The former president is leading the polls by a wide margin and could repeat the victorious strategy in the 2016 primary.
Chris Christie will officially announce his candidacy today during a meeting with supporters at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics. Between 2002 and 2008, the candidate served as New Jersey’s attorney and for the next eight years as governor of the same state. In 2016, he tried his luck in the presidential race, but withdrew at the end of the second primary after immediately endorsing Donald Trump. Years later, that support translated into advice and preparation for the then-president’s debates with Joe Biden.
On Trump’s side, and contrary to what Christie would have aspired to, the invitation to become his number two or attorney general never arrived. Already as a political commentator for the ABC station, he did not forgive the New York businessman for not acknowledging the 2020 election defeat and instigating the mob to invade the Capitol. Behind was a two-decade friendship.
The former governor of New Jersey confronts Trump. Within days, Christie accused him of being a “Putin puppet” and afraid of debates.
Mike Pence, Trump’s most staunch deputy, has also clashed with him since the invasion of the Capitol, when extremists clamored for his hanging for refusing to undermine constitutional order by certifying the electoral college votes that gave victory to the Democrats awarded. candidate. . Unlike Christie, Pence opted for months of silence. Only more recently did he hold Trump accountable for “the irresponsible actions” that endangered him and his family and said “history will hold Trump accountable.”
But if Christie is going to transfer his belligerent style to the campaign — he was responsible for the end of Marco Rubio’s candidacy in a 2016 debate — Pence can’t be expected to make Trump’s critique the core of the campaign. It will present itself as the continuity solution for the Trump-Pence team without the fats of Trumpist extremism. The man who describes himself as “Christian, conservative, and Republican, in that order” will launch the campaign on his 64th birthday with a video, a meeting with supporters in Des Moines, Iowa, and a CNN interview with audience participation .
Finally, on the same day, but in Fargo, in his home state, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum enters the race, far from being a national figure, but with an attractive curriculum. He became a vice president of Microsoft after selling a small software company (which he turned into a large company) to Bill Gates’ giant.
After other successful investments as a businessman, now as governor he is proud to have a state with the best economic statistics. Low profile, won’t clash with opponents, but try to bring some ideas into the debate. One is to export its approach to energy policy to the rest of the country. Your state’s goal is to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030, not by switching from fossil fuels to renewable energy – it is the third largest oil producer after Texas and New Mexico – but by investing in accelerating the technology for capturing carbon emissions in the soil.
So far, Donald Trump and his team have had to take these steps lightly. In 2016, the Republican primary was the most open and competitive ever, with 17 announced and 12 confirmed candidates. And while Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush and John Kasich spent airtime and millions together, Trump presented himself as the only candidate against the system. He started at the bottom of the polls and finished as the leader. A divide-and-conquer scenario that, with the necessary adjustments, could be repeated.
According to place FiveThirtyEight, the polls average attributes 53.9% to the hotel and golf course entrepreneur, the huge distance from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (21.1%) and even greater from Mike Pence (5.4%), Nikki Haley (4.5%) or Vivek Ramaswamy (3.5%).
For both Trump and DeSantis advisers, the more populated the field, the greater the difficulties for those left behind. “Whatever percentage they get, it’s hard for the runner-up to win because there are no votes available,” Republican strategist Dave Carney told the New York Times. The same newspaper revealed that DeSantis adviser Ryan Tyson told donors that the Republican electorate is divided into three: “Trump only” voters are worth 35%, “Trump never” voters are worth 20%, and the rest are 45%, the space DeSantis strives for it.
Invited to attend a trade show in Des Moines, the eight candidates and pre-candidates present — Trump declined — did not name his main opponent. If Chris Christie were present it would be out of place. In recent days, he has said Trump is afraid of debates and called him “Putin’s puppet”. A few days ago, he gave the recipe for what he’s going to do: “Do you want to beat someone in American politics? You have to face him.”
Mike Pence
He wants to lead the candidacy of the conservative and religious field, where he will have to compete with DeSantis. But he contrasts with the Florida governor and Trump by supporting Ukraine and cutting social support.
Doug Burgum
The man who made his fortune software presents itself with its own resources to defend the energy, economic and fiscal policies it applies at the state level as a model for the whole country.
Source: DN
