My Personal Side
By Craig Hastings
While it isn’t official, it appears likely Donald Trump will run for President in 2024. The Conservative Political Action Conference was held in Texas this past week and in a straw poll Trump collected 70% of the vote with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis the rest. I’m actually a little surprised with the margin between the two unofficial candidates. Does this mean that Trump will ask DeSantis to be his running mate should Trump announce as a candidate? Would DeSantis even accept the invitation after the fallout between Trump and Vice President Trump? Maybe DeSantis runs in a primary against Trump. I question if Trump is the right candidate at this time. As long as he continues to push the stolen election narrative I’m not so sure he can beat a Democrat in 2024. Yes I do think there were illegal voting practices that occurred in 2020 but I also think it’s time to move past 2020. Nothing can be changed now even if there was some foul play. Move on or risk defeat Mr. Trump.
I think the Republicans are in an extremely strong position to retake the White House if they run a straight up and clean campaign. By this I mean stop the personal attacks and drop whatever they think went awry in 2020. The Democrats and the Biden Administration as a whole have given the Republicans all the ammunition they need to win based simply on the non accomplishments of the Biden Administration. How this current administration can continue to botch every single issue of concern that comes before them is beyond me.
The way this November election cycle is shaping up it appears that Republicans will once again gain the majority in The House and possibly in the Senate too. Should that happen Biden’s hands will be tied to accomplish almost anything other than by executive orders. Personally I think the whole practice of executive orders needs to be pulled back. The last three Presidents have used executive orders to pretty much make their own law at will. There doesn’t seem to be any checks and balances over this action other than an appeal to the Supreme Court which can take anywhere from six months to two years to be heard. By then any damage these orders might cause has already been done. If you need an example just take a look at the southern border debacle President biden has caused by eliminating the Trump Administration’s regulations they had in place to curb the illegal alien border crossings.
Time will tell whether Trump will even be able to run in 2024. The Democrats are doing their very best to have the former President charged with a crime thus preventing him from running in 2024. Now, should the Republicans retake the House and Senate in November this year would they be able to reverse any of this? Maybe. It seems like Washington DC operates within their very own unique laws and practices. The rest of us sit on the outside looking in and are nothing more than the audience to the greatest show on earth.
I think if I’m Ron DeSantis I would just stay satisfied for now being the governor of Florida. Trump can make you or break you simply by his own actions without saying a word. DeSantis is a young man. He has plenty of time to gear up and do great things before the 2028 election cycle. This will leave the Vice President nominee a person of interest for sure. Whoever that might be will be in a good position in 2028 if Trump does well should he win in 2024. Maybe this is something DeSantis is considering too. One thing is for sure, it will be an exciting next two years if you’re at all interested in politics. What about the Democrat candidate? Hillary Clinton or Michelle Obama? I don’t even want to think about it.
(The views and opinions expressed in the submitted columns are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of The Journal.)