Thoughts on the invisible primary and links to the goings on of the moment as 2024 approaches...
Robert Kennedy Jr., who has for some time signaled that a nomination bid was possible, made it official on Wednesday, April 5. Like Marianne Williamson, Kennedy is likely to run a New Hampshire-or-bust strategy in his push for the Democratic presidential nomination. That is sure to add some additional asterisks to the New Hampshire primary. The Granite state is one of the few places that President Biden is extremely unlikely -- although Democrats in the state still harbor hope that he will change his mind -- to be on the ballot. But Kennedy may face an uphill climb even in a state where an unorganized write-in campaign for the president is the main opposition. Independents will be drawn into the much more competitive Republican race in the Granite state and the Democrats remaining may stay home (or cast their lot with Williamson) rather than pull the lever for someone who has taken stances against vaccines and who was encouraged to run by Steve Bannon. That is not a combination that is likely to be successful among Democratic primary voters nationally or even in a state where Biden is uniquely unpopular because of his calendar shuffle.
...
All had been quiet on the fundraising front from former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley since she entered the Republican nomination race. But the dawning of a new fundraising quarter brought news of what she had raised during a truncated first quarter in which Haley had announced. The data? $11 million from 70,000 donors across all 50 states, 67,000 of whom had given less than $200. That is not a bad dispersion and hints at some grassroots support to start for the former South Carolina governor. However, never to be outdone in the money primary, the Trump campaign announced that it had pulled in over $12 million in the time since the news of the Manhattan indictment broke late last week. So much for the Haley campaign having raised more in its first six weeks in the race than Trump had in the first month and a half after his announcement in November. The second quarter numbers may be a truer barometer of Haley's staying power than this first hint. With other indictments looming, Trump may be able to continue to circle the fundraising wagons. ...and even chase DeSantis donors.
...
In the endorsement primary, Ron DeSantis claimed his second congressional endorsement. This time from Thomas Massie (R-KY). The two more or less came into the House together after the 2012 elections, although Massie got a bit of a head start, assuming office at the end of 2012 to complete the tail end of his predecessor's term. Massie joins Texas Republican, Chip Roy, as the two House members who have lined up behind DeSantis so far. ... Vivek Ramaswamy scored a coup in winning the support of former Trump state co-chair and state Rep. Fred Doucette in New Hampshire. Look, Trump is the former president and counts the former state party chair as his point man in the Granite state, but this sort of jump to another candidate, especially from someone who had been along for the Trump ride as a leader in both 2016 and 2020, is noteworthy.
...
Over at FHQ Plus...
- Hawaii appears poised to become the last state with unified Democratic control to establish a presidential primary election. Hurdles remain, but the last active 2023 bill to bring a primary to the Aloha state passed another test yesterday.
If you haven't checked out FHQ Plus yet, then what are you waiting for? Subscribe below.
...
On this date...
...in 1976, President Gerald Ford swept the Republican primaries in both New York and Wisconsin. On the Democratic side, the results were more mixed. Scoop Jackson won the last of his four 1976 victories in New York while Jimmy Carter took the Wisconsin primary, narrowly squeaking by Mo Udall in a Dewey Defeats Truman moment.
--
Recent posts:
