Thoughts on the invisible primary and links to the goings on of the moment as 2024 approaches...
The spotlight may be shining brightly somewhere else and on another well-known 2024 Republican presidential aspirant, but that does not mean that the invisible primary is not developing elsewhere. North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum (R) faced questions from the local press on Tuesday, April 4 and did well to mostly avoid questions about his recent trip to Iowa. That may be an invisible primary marker on its own. But the governor's spokesperson confirmed that the trip was not on the state plane and thus not official state business nor on the state dime. Read what one will into that, but together they are all actions indicative of exploring a run.
...and the governor's evasion was neither Shermanesque nor Sherman-ish.
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The travel primary sees Nikki Haley hold an event back home in the midlands of South Carolina on Thursday. Ron DeSantis heads to (early 2024 state?) Michigan tomorrow as well. And Mike Pompeo attempted to further burnish his foreign policy credibility with a trip to Ukraine on Tuesday.
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Endorsement primary... A Tim Scott run for the Republican presidential nomination may or may not take off before or during 2024, but the junior senator from South Carolina may be a (potential) candidate who can rival Donald Trump in the chase for endorsements in the US Senate. Several of Scott's Republican colleagues have been openly encouraging or have spoken with him about a run for the White House in private. No, that is not an endorsement now, and it may not be in the future, but it is a possible well of support should Scott ultimately throw his hat in the ring. That is an important signal to some within the Republican primary electorate.
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Over at FHQ Plus...
- Well, maybe that effort to bring back the presidential primary in Kansas was not dead after all. The state House returned on Tuesday to reconsider and pass legislation that would resurrect the state-run primary in the Sunflower state. For once, the primary argument won out, but this is a discussion that keeps coming up in Kansas every four years. Why? FHQ Plus looks into that a bit.
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On this date...
...in 1980, President Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan won the Louisiana primary in their respective nomination races.
...in 1988, two other eventual nominees, Michael Dukakis and George H.W. Bush, claimed victory in the Wisconsin primary.
...in 2016, the Wisconsin primary broke against both frontrunners, handing both Bernie Sanders and Ted Cruz mid-primary season wins that temporarily shook up both races.
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