Why?
It’s beginning to look a lot like 2015. The Republican presidential primary field grew again today. Former congressman and CIA intelligence officer Will Hurd of Texas announced his candidacy on CBS’s morning show.
BREAKING: Former Texas Rep. @WillHurd announces he’s running for president on CBS Mornings, joining 11 other GOP primary candidates. https://t.co/pk05n5ceEv pic.twitter.com/mLrebFY5hf
CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) June 22, 2023
Then there were 12. Donald Trump is a happy man right now. An ever-expanding Republican field benefits his chances of winning the Republican nomination. Have Republicans learned nothing since 2015? The Republican bench is wide and very talented but some of the latest entries have to realize that they are going nowhere fast. Why not push their egos aside and let those with stronger possibilities of getting the nomination move forward?
The first Republican debate will be on Fox on August 23. Does Hurd have the ability to raise 40,000 unique national donations by the RNC’s deadline? How about the requirement that a candidate receive above 1% in three national polls or two national polls and a state poll. And the final requirement is to receive donations with at least 200 unique donors per state or territory in 20+ states and/or territories. Can someone with little name recognition outside of Texas do that in two month’s time? Others with names known to most Republican households are struggling to meet the basic requirements, like Chris Christie.
The lane he hopes to dominate is the moderate lane. That’s Christie’s territory or Asa Hutchinson’s territory and we see the kind of slog it is for them. Are Republican primary voters, dominated by the base of the party, in the mood for a moderate candidate? So far I haven’t seen any indication of that. The base is rallying around Trump over the partisan persecution by DOJ or are moving toward DeSantis as he becomes more well-known around the country. Trump still holds a solid lead in the polls but it’s nowhere near time to write-off DeSantis or maybe one of the others. It will be hard for DeSantis to catch-up unless the indictments and court time Trump faces start to cause enough voters to look for an alternative.
