August 23, 2023. That's the day the Republican presidential primaries ended.
Let's review: Former Vice President Mike Pence officially down It will be released on October 28. South Carolina Senator Tim Scott would follow on November 13. North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum He left on December 4. Chris Christie, former governor of New Jersey he retired January 13 Following by former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson on January 16. Vivek Ramaswamy abandoned last week after his poor performance in the Iowa caucuses, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis He backed out of Sunday's race.
Nikki Haley is still standing for now. But her eventual departure, like that of the rest of the Republican candidate pack, could have been predicted on August 23. That was the night of the first Republican primary debate, which Donald Trump dismissed as completely inconsequential. Of course, he was right.
That night, the eight candidates on stage were asked a very simple asks: “If former President Trump is found guilty in a court of law, would you still support him as your party's candidate? Please raise your hand if he wants.” Haley, Scott, Burgum, Ramaswamy, DeSantis and Pence all raised their hands. Only the unlikely Hutchinson and Christie kept their hands down.
From that day on, it was obvious that the “Trump No Baggage” wannabes were effectively defrauding their supporters and donors, asking them for money and support when it was clear that they were not willing to dethrone Trump.
Not only did they lack the strength to defeat him, but they weren't even going to try. Week after week they surrounded Trump on tiptoe, contorting themselves in every way to avoid dealing him real blows, fearing his wrath and the wrath of his supporters. They knew they couldn't exist politically in the Republican Party without Trump; he would always be the foundation of it. So they tried not to antagonize him and fought with one hand tied behind their backs. In fact, they spent a lot of time defending it.
If being convicted of committing a federal crime is not disqualifying, then what possible reasoning would any of these contenders have to convince Republican primary voters to vote for someone else?
From that moment on, these campaigns were nothing more than a giant scam. At best, they were a ridiculous sham designed to compete for a spot in Trump's cabinet. At worst, they were an exercise in vanity, a last-ditch effort to cling to one last morsel of relevance before exiting the stage and disappearing into obscurity, never to be heard from again, I hope.
Frankly, every person who was asked to contribute money to candidates who had no intention of winning the nomination should demand a refund. One wonders what his big fundraising meetings and speeches were really like. Ask yourself: If a candidate approached you and made this proposal, would you be willing to write a check?
“I am running for the Republican nomination for president and would like your financial support. I want you to know from the beginning that I have no intention of going on the offensive and contrasting myself with the favorite. In fact, I'll do everything I can to avoid even saying his name. I'll let him mock me and shoot me, but I won't really fight back. I will ignore the fact that he has been accused 91 times and will actually come to his defense when asked about his legal difficulties. I will parrot his attacks on President Biden and do everything I can to please his core audience. But I will not speak ill of him, and if I do, it will be at the last second, when there is no longer any hope of real victory. Now could you give me your money?
In a nutshell, that was the Republican presidential primary. No one running in the 2024 cycle appears to have heeded any of the lessons of the 2016 primary. Is it any wonder the outcome was the same?
The simple truth is that Donald Trump dominated a field that had no real desire to keep him out of the presidency. Trump was able to dismantle all of his followers-rivals without having to leave the courthouse.
Kurt Bardella is a contributing writer for Opinion. He is a Democratic strategist and former top adviser to Republicans on the House Oversight Committee. @KurtBardella
