Since Desantis imploded eyes are elsewhere. Ramaswamy stands out because he is well-spoken.
Might make a good running mate for Trump time will tell.
Agreed, DeSantis was their guy until they discovered what an unlikable guy he is and that he was a total stiff as a candidate. So, they went searching for someone else. I think the wing of the Republican party that wants to be rid of Trump really wanted that to be Tim Scott but he can barely muster 1% of the vote...hence why Trump endorsed him.
No it would be a wasted vote. I was going to vote for Desantis but he needs to learn how to run a campaign first.
I don't think DeSantis can learn how to be a better candidate. He hates people, all people, that comes through when people meet him and in his body language. He's worse than Hillary and Kamala at being able to appeal to the masses. That's why Republicans took an interest in Vivek, not really because he is a great candidate, but he has a personality that jumps off the screen at you and is very comfortable spewing nonsense so he makes you feel he really means it. Nothing that comes out of Ron's mouth sounds remotely like he means it. He's horrible in front of people, particularly when they get up close with him.
No doubt but he won't get within 30 points of Trump.
This is the issue. None of them can at this point. Trump destroys all of his Republican opponents and loses to Biden by an ever-widening margin. If the Democrats ran RFK Jr., he absolutely annihilates Trump and any other Republican candidate in polling. A good portion of the Democratic party hates Bobby though, so they will never back him. Mistake on their part but the kind of mistake they love to make.
The Republicans that want to be rid of Trump, they are the smart ones, have a strategy, which is to figure out which one of those eight we saw in the debate to back...then have the rest of them step out of the race. They feel if they can get it down to one of them versus Trump, that candidate can then beat Trump in the primaries. Why? Because Trump does not get 50% of the Republican vote in any of the key states. He gets around 30 to 40 percent max. Which means they think if they get the race down to just Trump and one of these other Republicans, that Republican has a chance to overtake Trump and get some primary victories. That Republican, whomever it is, has to be able to challenge Trump and point out how weak a candidate Trump is...which means they are probably looking at Christie (believe it or not), Haley, Pence, or Vivek (even though he is a Trump bum kisser). I have a hard time believing in any of them to beat Trump, but I will give it to Haley that she punched pretty well in the debate when she wanted to. Took down Vivek pretty well and landed some good shots on Trump and Trump supporting Republicans. She might be the one even though her campaign so far has been pathetic.
Smart play.
Just keep in mind these "smart plays" are magnificent for the Democrats. Trump is the best thing for the Democrats. If Trump manages to destroy all of his Republican opponents, the Democrats have an outstanding path to winning not just the White House, but more seats across the board. Trump is helping himself to beat his Republican opponents, but Trump is the absolute best friend of the Democrats as he does this stuff. He is killing the Republican party which, yeah, is great for Democrats. They must stand up and cheer when Trump pulls these stunts. I would call them selfish plays on Trump's part because while he helps himself against Republican opponents, he hurts the Republican party overall. Trump's main weakness, is he only speaks to the crazies in the Republican party, he ignores the rest of the population. To win in a general election, you have to have across the board appeal...you need to appeal to Republicans, Independents, and Democrats. Trump won in 2016 because Obama voters and independents voted for him. He's now lost those voters and lost many Republican voters...so his base is now a small portion of the population. The nuts that think the election was stolen and the people that attacked the capitol are heroes. That's a group that can help him win primaries but will absolutely cause him to lose if he is the Republican candidate.
Christie will be weeded out soon. A true non-factor
Yeah, I mean I always just thought of him as the guy the smart Republicans sent to speak the truth about Trump to basically help one of the other candidates rise to the top. He was getting some applause by the end of the debate the other night though. Do I see him beating Trump, no, but oddly I think Christie maybe would make things pretty close if he was running against Biden...closer than Trump could anyway.
