Commentary
I’ve collected an assortment of articles about the candidates for the presidency in 2024, and thought I would share them with you along with my comments. They appear in no special order.
Sen. Tim Scott
In “Could Tim Scott Pull an Upset?,” an opinion piece by Wall Street Journal columnist William A. Galston, he reminds readers of the fresh face Gary Hart presented to New Hampshire in 1984 with wins over Walter Mondale and John Glenn.
“Can anyone pull off a New Hampshire surprise in 2024?” Galson asks, “My money is on South Carolina’s junior senator Tim Scott. His affable presence makes him likable on the stump, he has avoided serious mistakes and has a compelling life story as an African-American who rose from humble beginnings.
Galston suggests that Scott can push back on the charge that the Republican Party is racist. Further, he states that Scott “can distinguish himself from Mr. Trump without having to challenge the former president on his character or record.”
I have previously written that I am impressed with Scott.
Vivek Ramaswamy
Forty-two percent of voters have a favorable impression of Ramaswamy, according to Rasmussen Reports, however, only 22 percent believe he is likely to end up being the Republican nominee.
Interestingly, he has slightly higher approval than candidate Nikki Haley and has a significantly higher favorability than Chris Christie.
I have seen Ramaswamy in a number of TV appearances and have a favorable impression, but I cannot see him winning the nomination.
Chris Christie
The way I see Christie is if you cannot stand Donald Trump, how in hell could you ever support Christie. He’s making his hate of Trump the theme of his campaign as a bully.
Despite what we have learned since Liz Cheney’s partisan show trial for the Democrats on the January 6, breach of the Capitol, Christie insists that Trump “incited” the right.
During his appearance at the Faith and Freedom Coalition conference, he claimed he was running because Trump “let us down.” “You can boo all you want,” he told the audience, but the jeers only grew louder. He refuses to give Trump any credit for his accomplishments in office while being constantly attacked by the left.
He claims he will always tell us the truth. In my opinion, I think Trump nearly always told us what was on his mind.
In a late June poll by RealClear Politics, support for Christie was at just two percent compared to 52 percent for Trump.
Donald Trump
The editorial board of the Wall Street Journal continues to offer commentary that Trump is his own worst enemy in its recent opinion piece, “The Self-Destructive Donald Trump,” and predicts that “If Mr. Trump is the GOP nominee, he is unlikely to defeat Joe Biden.”
I have long been a reader of columns by the WSJ editorial board, including the individual columns by Paul Gigot, James Freeman, Dan Henninger, Jason Riley, Kim Strassel and Bill McGurn. I have long lost faith in the objectiveness of Peggy Noonan. Do they really believe Trump would lose to Biden? They must.
Joe Biden
While “old Washington” chatter reveals that the left is serious about replacing Biden or at least Harris on the ballot, the latest I&I/TIPP poll reports that 56 percent of those polled called Biden bribery charges “likely,” and 34 percent “very likely.”
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
RFK Jr., as he is known, has been making numerous appearances on right-leaning cable news programs, but he is a real long shot against Biden. Chances are good that he could win in Iowa and New Hampshire providing an embarrassment to the incumbent president, who cannot appear anywhere without falling or doing something else cringe-worthy.
May God continue to bless the United States of America as it strives to survive the Biden-Harris administration.
