Trump 2024?

[Alan]

Hmm.. so who is the most cheerful candidate so far? Hard to tell.

So far? I think Tim Scott.

[jp1]

The local NBC News affiliate here in Vermont interviewed George Will, who was speaking at the Ethan Allen Institute. When the interviewer asked what people want in a leader, Will said that he thinks they want someone "cheerful." People are sick of division, negativity, and politicking when all they are trying to do is pay bills, mow the lawn, and raise their kids. His comment reminded me of Anna Quindlen's hypothesis that when presidents exude joie de vivre, it's infectious and the whole country does better.

Hmm.. so who is the most cheerful candidate so far? Hard to tell.

George seems to be ignoring all of the maga voters. They don’t seem to be interested in a ‘cheerful’ candidate. They seem to want a bully who hates the same people they hate. Trump exuded that hate in spades in 2016 and to a slightly lesser extent in 2020. Now he just hates all the people trying to hold him accountable which is probably not going to inspire much of anyone beyond his hard core base to vote for him.

[LDAHL]

So far? I think Tim Scott.

I’d agree with that. He’s strikes me as a bit Reaganish in that respect.

[jp1]

I’d agree with that. He’s strikes me as a bit Reaganish in that respect.

If we could time travel back to the 80's he might vaguely have a chance. Today, not so much. There are probably plenty of independents or undecideds who would find "happy" appealing but those people will never make it out of the republican primaries.

[catherine]

I also agree that Tim Scott seems like a fun kind of guy.

On another note, I heard that Cornel West is running on the People's Party ticket. Not a bad follow-up to Bernie. I like him.

[bae]

If we could time travel back to the 80's he might vaguely have a chance. Today, not so much. There are probably plenty of independents or undecideds who would find "happy" appealing but those people will never make it out of the republican primaries.

I don't think there's much of a chance of an old-school Republican making it through the GOP primaries.

[bae]

So as of today, we have:

Former President Trump
Former Vice President Mike Pence
Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie
Current North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum
Former South Carolina Governor / UN Ambassador Nikki Haley
South Carolina senator Tim Scott
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis
Former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson
Ryan Binkley
Larry Elder
Vivek Ramaswamy

And probably a couple I missed

[jp1]

So as of today, we have:

Former President Trump
Former Vice President Mike Pence
Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie
Current North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum
Former South Carolina Governor / UN Ambassador Nikki Haley
South Carolina senator Tim Scott
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis
Former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson
Ryan Binkley
Larry Elder
Vivek Ramaswamy

And probably a couple I missed

I can't imagine how this will result in the head of the republican party winning the nomination despite his likely indictments for numerous things.

[catherine]

I can't wait for the debates! Should be very interesting.

[LDAHL]

The Trump campaign has indicated they may skip the primary debates, as has the Biden campaign.