By Michael Brendan Dougherty
Monday, January 30, 2023
I found Matt Continetti’s recent column about Donald Trump’s
ever-improving chances for 2024 persuasive, particularly his assertion that a
kind of complacency was settling over both parties even as the same dynamics
that helped Trump win the nomination last time reasserted themselves. Last Friday,
Continetti wrote:
At this writing, DeSantis presents
the biggest obstacle for Trump. He sits atop the field in state-level polls
of New Hampshire and South Carolina. He’s a proven winner and fundraiser who
knows when to pick high-profile cultural battles that endear him to
conservatives and the MAGA crew. His crusade against wokeness is a way to unify
the party behind a tough and competent executive who hasn’t alienated suburban
independents in his home state. If nominated, he’d represent a rising
generation for change against an 81-year-old incumbent who has been in politics
for half a century.
Naturally, other Republicans have
begun to attack DeSantis. That’s to be expected. No one is entitled to a
party’s nomination, politics ain’t beanbag, and running for president ought to
be, and is, an arduous task. Potential GOP candidates are probing for weaknesses
in DeSantis’s stance on abortion, his hardball tactics with big business, his
national appeal, and his personal demeanor. Notice, though, whom these
Republicans are not criticizing. His initials are DJT.
Things changed fast over the weekend. Chris Christie, who
has been making the rounds in Republican circles that you’d make if you were
planning a presidential run, took to This Week on Sunday and began
making a forceful argument against Donald Trump.
This is the kind of comment that can draw Trump’s attention
and fire.
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