A recent article by campaign tagalong Adam Wren, writing for Politico, seemed to lament Pence’s poor showing in the polls. The article spent less space explaining why he should be the nominee than it spent sadly reporting how badly Pence has wanted to be president. Contrary to popular belief, he didn’t decide to run for president earlier this year in response to the prospects of his former boss getting the nomination again. He’s been dreaming of the Oval Office for decades.
But it ain’t gonna happen. Even while giving a stark but woeful walkthrough of his efforts in Iowa the author made it clear that he, Pence’s supporters, and even Pence’s staff have no real hope at all. According to the article:
It’s difficult to find a political prognosticator who is not on his payroll who gives Pence any plausible shot at winning the nomination, a reality he acknowledged on the trail earlier this month. “The media has already decided how all this is going to end,” he told just 13 people at a Pizza Ranch in Red Oak. “But as you all know, I think Iowa has a unique opportunity to give our party, give our country a fresh start.” He encouraged them to “keep an open mind.”
Pence, who evinces a just-happy-to-be-here vibe, is still hoping, pinning those dreams on evangelical-rich Iowa. So deep is his hope that he gave $150,000 of his own money to his campaign in the weeks before his dismal fundraising report. (A large sum for Pence, about two-thirds of his approximately $230,000 salary as VP, during which he often joked he came from “the Joseph A. Bank wing of the West Wing.”) And that verse about faith from the Apostle Paul’s epistle to the Hebrews has been on the former vice president’s mind. He posted it to X (the platform formerly known as Twitter) a few weeks ago on Sept.10. He posted it again on Sept. 24.
“Mike Pence’s greatest strengths are his doggedness and his belief that God has a plan for him,” his longtime friend Mike Murphy, a former Republican member of the Indiana House of Representatives, told me. “But he’s going to have to be open to discerning the difference between his plan and God’s plan.”
It’s difficult to imagine that Pence’s ambition is the only thing driving him. He’s pacing to be lucky to place 4th in any of the early states and his campaign is broke. He might not make it to the debate stage next month if he can’t get more people to donate, and who’s going to donate to someone polling as low as he is?
Is Mike Pence another Chris Christie, a plant by the UniParty Swamp to cast aspersions at Donald Trump to draw fire? If so, it hasn’t been working for a while. Trump has focused almost solely on Ron DeSantis and occasionally Nikki Haley.
It seems most likely that he’s simply delusional. He has ambitions that are hard to let go and he’s willing to take abuse all the way to the bitter end. Whatever his reason for staying in, he won’t last for long after the Iowa caucus. With 13 people showing up at his events, he might not even make it to the first battle.
Leave your thoughts about Mike Pence or the election at The Liberty Daily’s Substack.
]]>(Article cross-posted from Natural News)
The demotion of Iowa and New Hampshire from their traditional early-voting status, a long-standing tradition in the presidential primary process, did not sit well with some Democrats and boosted RFK Jr.’s chances.
Some Democrats believe the new calendar does not reflect the diversity of the nation and the Democratic Party, despite the elevation of South Carolina, Nevada, Georgia and Michigan. The new calendar could create challenges for the party in projecting unity ahead of the 2024 election and could spell trouble for 2028 when it revisits its primary calendar anew.
A group of disgruntled Democrats, including former New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch, warned President Joe Biden the new calendar could affect his reelection campaign. Former Democratic New Hampshire Speaker Steve Shurtleff went further by saying he would look for another candidate to support if the state lost its first-place spot.
Latest surveys show RFK Jr. is reducing Biden’s lead.
While the Democratic National Committee (DNC) abandons the state and Biden is nowhere to be found, RFK Jr. has surged to 31 percent of likely primary voters in New Hampshire, according to a poll by John Zogby Strategies.
The poll was commissioned by American Values 2024 (AV2024), a SuperPac supporting RFK Jr.
“The corrupt DNC has used everything in its toolkit to destroy Kennedy, but the strategy is clearly failing,” said Tony Lyons, co-chair of AV2024 and National Coalition Against Censorship board member.
Biden could go down in history as the first incumbent to lose in the primary
In a three-way fight, Biden leads 46 percent to Kennedy’s 31 percent, with Marianne Williamson taking seven percent and the rest undecided. The poll then tested two head-to-head matchups between Biden and RFK Jr.
In the first, Biden’s lead was narrowed to eight percentage points, 49 percent for the incumbent president and 41 percent for the challenger. In the second, after highlighting RFK Jr.’s support for keeping the New Hampshire primary first-in-the-nation among his other challenges to the DNC establishment, the race became too close to call, although Biden’s 43 percent is still ahead of RFK Jr.’s 42 percent.
This development comes on the heels of a previous Zogby poll, which showed Kennedy gaining rapidly in the Biden campaign’s flagship state of South Carolina.
In a previous nationwide poll conducted by Harvard University’s Center for American Political Studies and Harris Insights and Analytics from July 19 to 20, RFK Jr. bested Biden with a net approval rating of 21 points as opposed to the president’s -14 points.
Still, Kennedy faces an uphill battle to beat Biden.
Since the advent of the modern primary election system in 1972, an incumbent president has never been defeated by a primary challenger. But due to age and poor performance, Biden could go down in history as the first incumbent to lose in the primary.
RFK Jr.’s no non-sense attitude is also a breath of fresh air in the toxic political environment. In one of his campaign speeches, RFK Jr. pledged to end foreign wars and bring home the troops, using the resources to revitalize America. (Related: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. angers military-industrial complex with call to ditch ‘forever war,’ de-escalate with Russia.)
He vowed to clean up the government as he criticized the ties between government and corporate power and emphasized the importance of reducing corruption. RFK Jr. also said he is committed to restoring civil liberties and respecting the rights and dignity of all citizens.
As healing president, he pledged to focus his campaign on the values Americans hold in common and lead the country toward an ethos of respectful dialog and reconciliation across races, parties and divisions.
VoteDemocrat.news has more stories about RFK Jr.’s presidential run.
Watch this video about Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his mission.
This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com.
More related stories:
- RFK Jr. likes his chances against Biden in 2024 presidential primaries.
- RFK Jr. claims he can beat Joe Biden in 2024 primary.
- RFK Jr. blasts media as PROPAGANDA ORGANS for government agencies.
Sources include:
]]>But money still plays a major role, which is why a lot of attention is being paid to the amounts raised by Republicans running for president. Here’s an article by Mary Lou Masters at Daily Caller News Foundation with the details followed by my commentary about the three things that surprised me…
Here’s How Much Campaign Cash 2024 GOP Candidates Have Going Into The Next Fundraising Quarter
- Presidential candidates filed their second quarter fundraising totals with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) Saturday, providing a glimpse into the financial strength of the Republican 2024 hopefuls.
- While Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis reported more total receipts than former President Donald Trump, the former president ended Q2 with more cash on hand, followed by South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, according to the FEC filings.
- “The most important number is cash on hand, minus debt,” Mike Murphy, a GOP strategist, previously told The New York Times. “You see how much financial firepower they actually have.”
Presidential candidates filed their second quarter totals on Saturday, which provided a glimpse into how much hard cash the 2024 GOP hopefuls have heading into the third fundraising period.
Candidates had until the end of day Saturday to file their Q2 totals with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former President Donald Trump reporting the highest receipts among the crowded field of GOP contenders. The cash on hand totals provided a clearer picture as to how many hard dollars the respective campaigns have going into the fall, and indicated South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott sits just behind the former president, according to the FEC filings.
“The most important number is cash on hand, minus debt,” Mike Murphy, a GOP strategist, previously told The New York Times. “You see how much financial firepower they actually have.”
The former president’s campaign previously announced a total of $35 million combined with his joint fundraising committee, Save America PAC. Trump’s campaign raised $17.7 million during his campaign’s third fundraising quarter, but reported over $22 million cash on hand, according to the FEC filing.
The candidates’ second quarter fundraising totals aren’t fully known, as super PACs aligned with the presidential candidates have until the end of the month to report their Q2 totals. The total of individual contributors are also not included in the candidates’ second quarter filings, which is a crucial factor in making the debate stage in August by meeting the Republican National Committee’s 40,000 unique donor threshold.
Scott’s campaign brought in nearly $6 million in his first quarter as a presidential candidate and followed Trump’s haul with over $21 million cash on hand, according to the FEC filing. The senator’s campaign, combined with Trust In The Mission PAC, previously reported raising approximately $25.4 million during Q2.
DeSantis’ campaign raked in over $20 million since his late May campaign launch and ended the second quarter with $12.2 million cash on hand, according to the FEC filing. Super PAC Never Back Down previously announced that, combined with the campaign, the governor had mounted $150 million.
Conservative businessman Vivek Ramaswamy raised $7.7 million and ended his second quarter as a presidential candidate with $9 million cash on hand, according to the FEC filing.
Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley brought in $5.3 million during the second quarter of her campaign and will enter the third quarter with nearly $7 million cash on hand, according to the FEC filing. Haley’s campaign, combined with aligned super PAC SFA Fund Inc., previously announced they raised $26 million during Q2.
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum raised $11.7 million since his early June presidential launch and ended the second quarter with approximately $3.7 million cash on hand, according to the FEC filing. The governor gave his own campaign approximately $10.2 million and raised $1.5 million from outside contributors.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie brought in $1.65 million since his early June campaign launch and has $1.59 million cash on hand, according to the FEC filing.
Former Vice President Mike Pence garnered nearly $1.2 million since launching his campaign in early June and he ended the second fundraising quarter with nearly $1.1 million cash on hand, according to the FEC filing. Pence and super PAC Committed to America previously reported to raise a combined $3.85 million during his first fundraising quarter.
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez raised just under $1 million since his mid-June presidential launch and reported $898,850 cash on hand, according to the FEC filing. Suarez previously announced that his campaign and aligned super PACs garnered $13.6 million in the second quarter.
Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson raised just $582,521 since his early April campaign launch and has $378,677 cash on hand, according to the FEC filing. Former Texas Rep. Will Hurd garnered $273,512 during the first few weeks of his presidential campaign and ended the second quarter with $245,118 cash on hand, the filing showed.
Conservative radio personality Larry Elder brought in $15,603 since his late April presidential announcement and reported $9,171 cash on hand, according to his filing.
President Joe Biden raked in approximately $19.87 million during the first quarter of his reelection campaign and ended it with $20 million cash on hand, according to the FEC filing. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. raised nearly $6.4 million and Marianne Williamson raised just under $1 million, and their campaigns reported $4.5 million and $104,990 cash on hand, respectively, the documents show.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact [email protected].
Three Surprises
There isn’t a lot to question here. Most of what we’re seeing is pretty predictable. Donald Trump’s supporters love him enough to donate. Asa Hutchinson doesn’t have the name recognition to get enough money to be taken seriously. Joe Biden is using the left’s donation-filtering-scam to fill his coffers. All expected.
Here’s what I didn’t expect…
- Mike Pence Is Barely Ahead of Miami Mayor Francis Suarez: It’s no secret that I don’t like Mike Pence and I’m glad to see him having troubles, but I had no idea how many other people agree with me. $1.2 million is pitiful, and while some may point out he declared late, so did Francis Suarez who’s barely behind him.
- Ron DeSantis Is PAC Driven: This shouldn’t have been a surprise to me if I had been paying closer attention. It was announced that he had raised $150 million and sadly I didn’t pay attention to the story. Now that I see only $20 million came to his campaign directly, it’s far less impressive that he raised so much from mega-donors to his PAC. Don’t get me wrong. $20 million is still very impressive, but it’s not like he’s blowing away the competition with small donors. He’s being propped up heavily by his PAC, which isn’t a good sign for his prospects.
- Vivek Ramaswamy Is the Dark Horse: I would argue that there’s Donald Trump, and then there are the “backup” candidates in case Democrats and the Deep State can somehow get Trump out of the race. What surprises me is that Ramaswamy is raising so much money… and eyebrows. And he’s doing it without attacking Trump. Considering two years ago Republicans hadn’t heard of him, it’s amazing that he’s doing better than known players like Nikki Haley, Chris Christie, and the aforementioned Pence.
The nomination seems to be Trump’s unless he’s artificially knocked out. There’s still a lot of time for things to change but it appears the rest of the candidates are either vying for a cabinet position or hoping that legal manipulation by Democrats can compel Trump to leave the race.
What do you think? Sound off on my Substack.
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Former President Donald Trump continues to dominate the crowded Republican primary field as he makes his third bid for the White House.Former President Donald Trump continues to dominate the early primary season in an unprecedented third bid for the White House, polling experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
This Republican primary cycle is like none other as the frontrunner is a former president, has a massive lead in the polls, his former vice president is running against him and Trump has two federal indictments under his belt. Polling analysts stressed to the DCNF the stark difference between this GOP primary season and previous cycles, arguing that it’s difficult to draw comparisons in modern history.
“This GOP primary is truly unprecedented, because Trump is not technically an incumbent, but Republican voters seem to be treating him as at least a quasi-incumbent,” Kyle Kondik, a nonpartisan polling analyst and managing editor for Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, told the DCNF. “This primary is similar to 2016 in the sense that the field is large, meaning that it’ll be hard for a non-Trump to consolidate the non-Trump supporters.”
Kondik also noted that the former president’s legal troubles pose another “unique” angle to the primary, which the analyst argued makes it difficult to draw similarities between this election and previous cycles. Trump’s two indictments could cause “fatigue” among the GOP, leading to a drop in the polls, but Kondik doesn’t see signs of his support currently lagging.
In late March, the former president was indicted by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg for allegedly falsifying business records when paying back former attorney Michael Cohen for giving porn star actress Stormy Daniels $130,000 in hush money to keep quiet about an alleged affair with Trump. In early June, Trump was indicted by a federal judge in Miami, Florida, for alleged violation of the Espionage Act, along with several other charges like obstruction and making false statements, related to Special Counsel Jack Smith’s probe into the alleged mishandling of classified documents.
Jon McHenry, a GOP polling analyst and vice president at North Star Opinion Research, also stressed how unprecedented this Republican primary is and argued Trump’s reshaping of the party, paired with his indictment by the Manhattan district attorney, have helped the former president dominate the polls.
“This really is a unique cycle, at least since we’ve used primaries and caucuses as the primary vehicle to nominate our presidential candidates. In that time, we haven’t had an incumbent president lose a reelection and run again, much less lead in the polls,” McHenry told the DCNF. “President Trump’s lead right now is in part a testament to the extent to which he reshaped the party from a conservative party to a populist party.”
McHenry acknowledged how Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was polling well against the former president prior to the first indictment, and noted Trump’s spike in support ever since.
“With the New York charges in particular being seen as politically motivated and questionable legally — with a very different context than holding top secret documents in an unsecure location — the Republicans who might have been ready to move on to a fresh face have at least for now rallied back to the former president,” McHenry said.
Trump maintains a strong lead in key early primary state polls among a crowded field of Republican presidential contenders, according to FiveThirtyEight. The former president is currently ahead in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina by 23 points, 28 points, 30 points and 23 points, respectively.
The RealClearPolitics (RCP) average for the 2024 national Republican primary, based on polls conducted between June 10 and June 26, indicate Trump is leading the GOP field by over 30 points, with only one other candidate, DeSantis, consistently polling in the double digits at 20.9%. Former Vice President Mike Pence has a RCP average of 6.1% support.
The current polling data illustrates the stark differences between this cycle and the two previous crowded GOP primary fields, as there wasn’t as clear of a frontrunner in the summers preceding the election years.
In 2015, just ahead of the Republican primary debates’ kickoff, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush was in the lead with only 19% support, according to a late June CNN/ORC International poll, compared to Trump’s current RCP average of 53%. Bush was leading a similarly crowded field of GOP candidates by 7 points, followed by then-candidate Trump, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul at 12%, 8%, 7% and 7%, respectively.
In 2011, a Republican primary survey from late June indicated that the top four contenders for the 2012 election held double digit support, with the eventual nominee, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, inching out ahead of the crowded field by 6 points, followed by former New York City Mayor Rudi Giuliani, then-Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin with 13%, 13% and 11%, respectively, according to a McClatchy-Marist poll.
“Is there a comparable election? Nope. And that’s fine,” Nathan Klein, pollster for OnMessage Inc., told the DCNF. “The one thing Americans, and especially the GOP primary electorate, don’t want is to do things the way they have been done.”
2024 GOP Primary Polling Trends among likely voters by Echelon Insights (A/B)
January
Trump — 36% (+2)
DeSantis — 34%Feb.
Trump — 46% (+15)
DeSantis — 31%March
Trump — 49% (+23)
DeSantis — 26%May
Trump — 49% (+30)
DeSantis — 19%JUNE
Trump — 49% (+33)
DeSantis — 16% pic.twitter.com/Ve9hn4RWgs— InteractivePolls (@IAPolls2022) July 4, 2023
John McLaughlin, CEO and partner of McLaughlin & Associates, a polling firm that works closely with the former president’s campaign, told the DCNF that Trump’s massive lead in the polls is attributable to President Joe Biden’s administration indicting the former president and argued it’s also “historic” that Trump is leading Biden in general election matchups.
The RCP average for a 2024 head-to-head rematch between Trump and Biden, based on polls conducted between June 8 and June 27, indicates the former president is leading by 0.6 points.
“Compared to Trump’s success — on the economy, on national security, on the border and other issues — Biden’s failures are glaring, and there’s really a lot of buyer’s remorse. President Trump is leading in the national popular vote, and Republicans have not seen that since 2004,” McLaughlin said. “This is historic in multiple ways, but I think the epitome of it is that Joe Biden has indicted his political opponent, his leading political opponent — that’s never happened in American history. That’s what happens in communist countries.”
“President Trump continues to dominate in poll after poll — both nationally and statewide,” Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung told the DCNF. “He is the only person who is beating Joe Biden by significant margins because voters know President Trump’s return to the White House means a strong economy, a secure border, and a safer America.”
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact [email protected].
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