Willie R. Tubbs, FISM News
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A trio of Republican candidates currently represents the entirety of presidential hopefuls on the right, but all signs point to voters eventually having quite the spread of choices.
Taken in the order that they declared, the 2024 hopefuls are former President Donald Trump, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
If nothing else, the field thus far is diverse (both Haley and Ramaswany are of Indian descent).
Yet, even before the field grows more crowded, each presidential hopeful faces the challenge of differentiating himself or herself from peers who largely share the same beliefs.
SAME SONG, SAME VERSE, DIFFERENT YEAR
Trump is the overwhelming favorite to emerge from this group and will be highly favored to come out of any group. He has a following, history, and notoriety that neither of his opponents possesses.
Perhaps the biggest threat to Trump — beyond the challengers who might yet declare — is fighting a bevy of legal battles. His business is already facing civil penalties in New York, and now both the state of Georgia and federal prosecutors are mulling criminal charges against him.
“Crooked Democrat Prosecutors, many of them Racists in Reverse, are trying to steal a second Presidential Election,” Trump posted on Truth Social Sunday night. “They did it in 2020, and we’re not going to let them do it again in 2024. MAGA!!!”
It’s appropriate that Trump mentioned 2020 in that message as, for all his passion, the former president does not offer a platform based on newness, and this is by design.
Trump’s primary message for 2024 has been to point to his belief that America and Americans were better off from 2017-2021 than they have been since President Joe Biden took office.
“This is the most dangerous time in the history of our Country,” Trump posted last week on Truth Social. “World War III is looming, like never before, in the very dark and murky background. “Leadership” is solely responsible for this unprecedented danger to the USA, and likewise, the World. HOPELESS JOE BIDEN IS LEADING US INTO OBLIVION!!!”
This is a calculated gamble for Trump, who is banking that positive thoughts about the pre-pandemic economy and a far-less-active Russia will resonate more with conservative voters than the sting of a worse-than-expected showing in the midterm or the normal tendency of Americans to look for the next big thing.
SIMILAR SONG, DIFFERENT SINGER
Haley is campaigning on the concept of conservatives turning the page. She is neither pro- nor anti-Trump. She is, at least in her rhetoric, Trump-indifferent and has taken great pain to avoid direct confrontation with him.
During a recent appearance on Fox News, Haley urged voters to “leave the status quo of the past” as they look to 2024.
.@NikkiHaley urges Americans to 'leave the status quo of the past' in 2024 election: 'No shortage of issues' https://t.co/TlnekvGUcG
— Fox News (@FoxNews) February 26, 2023
In her own calculated risk, Haley is banking that the underlying desire for the nation’s top leaders to represent a new generation will give her some momentum.
Some of Haley’s big-ticket stances are that the United States dial back its acquiescence to the United Nations and to revoke foreign aid to nations who treat the U.S. as an enemy.
“As president, I’ll make sure not one cent of American taxpayer dollars go to enemies who hate America and actively work to hurt and kill us,” Haley tweeted Sunday.
As president, I'll make sure not one cent of American taxpayer dollars go to enemies who hate America and actively work to hurt and kill us. pic.twitter.com/dLy61iH1Q0
— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) February 26, 2023
She’s also tweeted, “You chant ‘Death to America,’ you get no aid,” and listed Belarus, Zimbabwe, and Pakistan as nations she would cut off.
CALLING ON A CLASSIC
Ramaswamy might be the youngest candidate in the field, but he’s running on the fact that he has an old soul.
If Trump wants to take America to 2016 and Haley would have us focus on the future, Ramaswamy wants to take America back, spiritually speaking, to the founding of the nation.
For Ramaswamy, diversity is not the nation’s strength, it’s the shared values diverse people hold within a country that make it strong.
“We’ve celebrated our ‘diversity’ so much that we forgot all the ways we’re really the same as Americans, bound by ideals that united a divided, headstrong group of people 250 years ago,” Ramaswamy tweeted last week. “I believe deep in my bones those ideals still exist. I’m running for President to revive them.”
We’ve celebrated our “diversity” so much that we forgot all the ways we’re really the same as Americans, bound by ideals that united a divided, headstrong group of people 250 years ago. I believe deep in my bones those ideals still exist. I’m running for President to revive them. pic.twitter.com/bz5Qtt4tmm
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) February 22, 2023
While not an isolationist, Ramaswamy is certainly not a fan of the United States overexerting itself in foreign affairs.
A key plank of his platform is refocusing the American military on the task of protecting the homefront. For Ramaswamy, that means using defense assets to secure the southern border.
“The #1 purpose of the U.S. military is to protect our own soil here at home,” Ramaswamy tweeted. “We should be prepared to use our military to secure our border & to decimate the Mexican drug cartels. 100K Americans are dying each year due to the fentanyl crisis.”
At present, no one has officially declared himself or herself a candidate for the Democratic nomination, although Biden is expected to make this announcement soon.
The three Republican candidates can count on getting more company in the coming weeks. As many as 11 still-undeclared individuals have expressed some interest in pursuing the Republican nomination.
Key among those names are Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and recently ousted Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney.