Progress is not change, but the ability to remember. Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it, argued George Santayana.
The famous philosopher’s words appear to have been penned for the 2023 Republican Party.
Already too many candidates
I still remember my amused reaction when Donald Trump descended the escalator in Trump Tower to announce his candidacy for the 2016 election. He gave up racing to get back to what he does best: putting on a show.
I was right about the show, but nothing prepared us for the consequences of a completely insane race where we would find up to 17 contestants!
You know the rest of the story. Disbelieving the zeal of Trump’s die-hard supporters, ill-advised or overly proud, too many candidates unreasonably persevered, splitting the vote and allowing the future 45th President to amass victories in the primary.
The Republican Party and its strategists know they must avoid that scenario, and yet the number of nominations will increase by two this week. Last Friday, Senator Tim Scott formalized his attendance and Ron DeSantis is expected to do the same in the coming days.
To these two new players must be added the names of Nikki Haley, Ryan Binkley, Larry Elder, Asa Hutchinson, Perry Johnson, Vivek Ramaswamy and of course Trump.
Nine nominations already and Mike Pence is expected to jump into the fray as well-known figures such as Greg Abbott, Chris Sununu, Glenn Youngkin and Kristi Noem are considered. It’s definitely too much.
Trump can’t win anymore
On Sunday, Republican Senator from Louisiana Bill Cassidy dared to say what more and more Republicans are thinking without publicly acknowledging it. When asked by Jake Tapper on the State of the Union program, he replied, “I don’t think Trump can win the general election.” The former president would lose to Biden.
Despite the loyalty of his base, Donald Trump is no longer able to undermine the votes of other voters. Too many voters are tired of the perpetual circus and have no intention of rewarding it for a record number of serious or very serious lawsuits.
The primaries are a few months away, but party strategists need to act quickly to figure out who should be favored over Trump and hope the others relent.
The Republican lineup is not short of candidates who could replace Biden. The DeSantis, Haley and especially Tim Scott could do serious damage to the incumbent, but they must first avoid playing Donald Trump’s game.
