WASHINGTON (AP) – Less than three months after former President Donald Trump left the White House, the race to succeed him has already begun.
Trump’s former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, launched an aggressive schedule to visit states that will play a crucial role in the 2024 Republican primary and he signed a contract with Fox News Channel. Mike Pence, Trump’s former vice president, set up a political advocacy group, concluded a book agreement and will give his first speech later this month since leaving office in South Carolina. And Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis gave donors a speech in front of the former president during a GOP fundraising dinner, including in Trump’s backyard. this month in Mar-a-Lago, the Florida resort where Trump now lives.
Trump ended his presidency with such a firm grip on Republican voters that party leaders feared he would freeze the field potential 2024 candidates, delaying preparations because he teased another run. Instead, many Republicans with national ambitions openly lay the groundwork for campaigns while Trump still devises his own plans.
They raise money, rent hire and work to strengthen their name recognition. The moves reflect both the zeal in the party to regain the White House and the reality that a modern presidential campaign is a year-long effort.
“You build the bow before it rains,” said Michael Steel, a Republican strategist who worked for Jeb Bush’s 2016 presidential campaign, among others. “They will do the things they have to do if he decides not to run.”
Trump is giving them at least enough space for now, convinced that they pose little threat to his own ambitions.
“It’s a free country. “People can do what they want,” Trump adviser Jason Miller said in response to the move. “But,” he added, “if current Trump does decide to run in 2024, the nomination will be his if you pay attention to public polls among Republican voters.”
Voting indeed shows that Trump remains an important figure among GOP voters, despite his loss to Democrat Joe Biden in November. Republican leaders, including those who may be hoping to succeed him one day, were careful to look at his ego and make it clear that they do not intend to challenge his position.
Senator Rick Scott, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, last weekend awarded Trump a new “Freedom Award Champion,” which the group published – complete with a photo of a smiling, golf-wearing Trump wearing a small, shiny cup – even after former president behind Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky in a libel-laden speech.
A day later, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who is considered by many to be a 2024 candidate, told The Associated Press that she would postpone the race if Trump ran again.
“I would not run if President Trump ran, and I would talk to him about it,” she said in Orangeburg, South Carolina. “This is something we will talk about at some point if the decision has to be made.”
The reverence is in part a recognition of Trump’s continued power. Even out of office and without his Twitter megaphone, Trump remains very popular under the IDP base and is bolstered by a $ 85 million war chest that can be shared with endorsed candidates, spent on advertising and used to fund travel and pay for votes and consultants.
Trump plans to increase his visibility soon, with aides discussing options to hold rallies so late in the spring or summer. “There’s a pretty strong demand out there to get President Trump on track,” Miller said.
Many Republicans acknowledge that Trump would jump to the front of the pack if he decided to make an effort to become the sole president outside of Grover Cleveland. to serve two non-consecutive terms. Yet there is deep skepticism in many corners of the party that Trump will rule again.
While people close to him insist he is serious, many people view Trump’s continued flirtations as a way to maintain relevance as he has settled into a comfortable life after the White House. In Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, he is greeted by candidates and greeted by applause and standing ovations as he enters the dining room.
In the meantime, other candidates are on the move, though many of their assistants insist they focus on next year’s congressional elections and on helping Republicans regain control of the House and Senate.
Jeff Kaufmann, chairman of the Republican Iowa Party, said activity in his state began even earlier this year than in the past two election cycles, with every candidate on his potential 2024 list already visiting or thinking about the first state to visit on the IDP nomination calendar.
“I know of no one – honestly no one ‘who hesitates to come out,'” he said. ‘Now some are a little more subtle than others, but that’s not necessarily linked to Donald Trump. It might just be paired in their campaign style and not want to put their skis too far ahead until they see if they have any traction at all. “
Pompeo, arguably the most aggressive to date, is among those who have already spent time in Iowa, as well as New Hampshire, and this week he addressed Rabbi Shmuley Boteach’s World Values Network in New York, where he spoke through a video was suggested by the Republican. megadonor Miriam Adelson. And on Saturday, he hosted the Palm Beach County Republican Party’s annual Lincoln Day dinner in Mar-a-Lago with Scott and DeSantis.
DeSantis, who is up for re-election next year, recently appointed a top Republican strategist to serve as executive director of the Republican Governors Association. DeSantis is also using the race to build a deep fundraising network that can support him if he chooses to host nationally.
The party, which for some time appeared to be paralyzed by divisions, became more united in its opposition to Biden, even though Trump still spat with McConnell and worked to defeat the incumbents who voted for his accusation. Republicans in Congress have found general considerations against Biden’s border policy, voted against their COVID-19 bill and called for new restrictions on voting, while opposing corporate interference in the debate on the right to vote.
“I think you will find a broad agreement in our party that we should have the debate on policy,” Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyoming, the Republican of the House no. 3, who is still facing a huge setback after voting for Trump’s vote. accusation. “We need to talk about policy,” she said as she spoke to Georgetown University’s Institute for Politics and Public Service last week.
Regardless of Trump’s final decision, his critics and acolytes say they depend on the party’s future for the maintenance of their Trump voters, while at the same time winning back the suburban voters they let down last year.
‘I think everyone is trying to find the magical combination of’ Trump-plus’ to continue to appeal to the new voters that President Trump brought to the Republican coalition, while also appealing to some of the educational suburban people who the university was pushed back, bring back. its antics, ”Steel said.
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Associated Press author Meg Kinnard in Orangeburg, South Carolina, contributed to this report.