Tim Scott

First Republican Presidential Debate On Wednesday August 23 In Milwaukee

The first Republican Presidential debate is set for Wednesday August 23 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where the Republican National Convention will be held from July 15-18, 2024.

Wisconsin was the birthplace of the Republican Party in 1854 at Ripon, and the 170th anniversary of the party’s founding will be a moment of decision as to the future of the party that once had such luminaries as Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Ronald Reagan as its standard-bearers.

Whether Donald Trump will continue to dominate the Republican Party will determine if the party is on its last legs, meaning doomed to distinction.

Can Tim Scott, Chris Christie, or Chris Sununu save the party and its future, as they seem to be the “best” of a bad lot of potential nominees, but if they and others must follow through on a loyalty oath to back whoever the party nominee is, then the party is doomed!

The Republican Presidential Race Is About To “Explode” With Ronald Reagan Comparisons, Which Will Not Succeed!

The Republican Presidential race for 2024 is about to “explode”, with at least three, and possibly more, contenders about to announce by Memorial Day, and with the first Republican Presidential Contenders debate scheduled for sometime in August.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis; South Carolina Senator Tim Scott; and former Vice President Mike Pence (Indiana) are about to announce, and others–including former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie; New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu; Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin; and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem seem likely to join in the fray.

They will join former President Donald Trump; former South Carolina Governor and United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley; former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson; and former biotech executive Vivek Ramaswamy (an arrogant extreme right wing multimillionaire 37 years old without any government experience) in the race.

Many of the soon to be contenders are invoking the name and image of former President Ronald Reagan, failing to understand that none of them are really at all like Reagan.

But also, the Ronald Reagan “bandwagon” fails to realize the great damage that the 40th President did to America in so many ways, but at the same time his open mindedness on some issues, such as immigration reform, which is one of the horrendous sins of the present day Republican Party, the depth and extent of their nativism and racism!

Ten States Refuse To Expand Medicaid, No Concern About Health Care For Millions!

North Carolina just became, finally, the 40th state to expand Medicaid for its poorer, less fortunate citizens!

It is mind boggling that TEN states, mostly Southern, refuse to care about health care for millions of their populations combined.

These states are:

Florida
Texas
South Carolina
Georgia
Tennessee
Alabama
Mississippi
Wisconsin
Kansas
Wyoming

This needs to be emphasized for those states that are likely to have Republican Presidential contenders, including Florida (Ron DeSantis), Texas (Greg Abbott and Ted Cruz), and South Carolina (Nikki Haley, Tim Scott).

It is unconscionable that Republicans who are supposedly “pro life” on abortion have no concern about the lives of their poor constituents!

It is a crime against humanity, and should be rectified!

The South Dominates In Potential Republican Presidential Contenders!

The American South was the area that revolted against the federal government, and seceded from the Union in 1860-1861, culminating in the American Civil War (1861-1865), with the Republican Party representing the Union cause, and the Democratic Party being dominant in the South.

The South remained strongly Democratic until the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed under Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson.

Since then, most of the South has become strongly Republican, and promoters of white supremacy and Christian Nationalism, to the point that most of the potential Republican Presidential contenders in 2024 derive from the South!

These include the following:

Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, Marco Rubio, and Rick Scott of Florida
Ted Cruz and Greg Abbott of Texas
Asa Hutchinson and Tom Cotton of Arkansas
Nikki Haley and Tim Scott of South Carolina
Glenn Youngkin of Virginia

These eleven Republicans are not all sure bets to run, but all have been rumored, although some seem to be backing away from doing so.

Other potential contenders come from the Northeast area of the US, including

Chris Sununu of New Hampshire
Chris Christie of New Jersey
Larry Hogan of Maryland

And finally, from the Midwest area of the US, we have such potential contenders as

Mike Pence of Indiana
Mike Pompeo of Kansas
Josh Hawley of Missouri
Kristi Noem of South Dakota
Adam Kinzinger of Illinois

And finally, we have Liz Cheney of Wyoming

The Presidential Election Campaign Of 2024 Has Begun!

With the new year 2023 upon us, the Presidential Election campaign of 2024 has begun!

It actually began when former President Donald Trump declared his candidacy on November 15, 2022, but with the last seven weeks having been a total disaster for any Presidential plans.

This is not just what the January 6 House Committee investigating the US Capitol Insurrection has recommended, criminal charge against Donald Trump.

It is much more than that, including even that his own daughter, Ivanka Trump, has made clear that she has no interest in being engaged in his campaign, as she was in 2016 and 2020!

The public support for Donald Trump has been deteriorating dramatically, and the odds are good that a multitude of Republican potential Presidential candidates will start announcing their campaigns soon.

Among them are likely the following:

Former Vice President Mike Pence
Former Secretary of State and CIA head Mike Pompeo
Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis
Texas Governor Greg Abbott
South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem
South Carolina Senator Tim Scott
Texas Senator Ted Cruz
Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin
New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu
Former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson
Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie
Former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan

And the two Republicans on the January 6 House Committee might also announce their candidacies:

Former Wyoming Congresswoman Liz Cheney
Former Illinois Congressman Adam Kinzinger

In the mind of this author and blogger, while he would not vote for any of these in November 2024, the following would be seen at this point as “tolerable”, including if they actually won the White House, no special order:

South Carolina Senator Tim Scott
New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu
Former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan
Former Wyoming Congresswoman Liz Cheney
Former Illinois Congressman Adam Kinzinger

The most intriguing of this list of five would be, in the mind of this author and blogger, if either Larry Hogan or Adam Kinzinger ended up as the nominee!

The Republican “Donnybrook” Begins At Republican Jewish Coalition Gathering!

The Republican Presidential race has begun, with Donald Trump declaring his candidacy last week in a very uninspiring manner, and a whole slew of potential candidates showing up to display their “virtues” at the Republican Jewish Coalition gathering this past weekend in Las Vegas.

At least 21 potential Republican candidates are in the mix for 2024 at this point!

The potential candidates include those who worked for Trump, and those who looked the other way with his reckless, lawless behavior in office. It also included some who were neither category, but seem unlikely to make much traction!

Among those who worked for Donald Trump are former Vice President Mike Pence; former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo; and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley.

Among those who looked the other way are Texas Senator Ted Cruz; Missouri Senator Josh Hawley; Florida Senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott; Kentucky Senator Rand Paul; and a number of Governors, including Ron DeSantis of Florida; Greg Abbott of Texas; Glenn Youngkin of Virginia; and Kristi Noem of South Dakota.

A third category are those who avoided embracing Trump, including former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie; outgoing Maryland Governor Larry Hogan and Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson; and New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu.

Also, former Republican 2012 Presidential nominee and Utah Senator Mitt Romney; and Wyoming Congresswoman Liz Cheney and Illinois Congressman Adam Kinzinger are truly anti Trump, and the latter two, of course, have served on the January 6 House Committee investigating the US Capitol Insurrection.

And an intriguing possility is African American Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina!

Potential For Four New African American Senators

There have been 11 African American Senators in the 234 years of US Senate history.

Presently, there are three—Republican Tim Scott of South Carolina; and Democrats Cory Booker of New Jersey and Raphael Warnock of Georgia.

Prominent earlier African American Senators included Democrats Carol Moseley Braun and Barack Obama of Illinois; Democrat Kamala Harris of California; and Republican Edward Brooke of Massachusetts.

Now, there is the possibility of four additional African American Senators, if fortune works out.

They include: Mandela Barnes in Wisconsin; Cheri Beasley in North Carolina; Charles Booker in Kentucky; and Val Demings of Florida.

Barnes is competing against Ron Johnson in Wisconsin; Beasley againast Ted Budd in North Carolina; Booker against Rand Paul in Kentucky; and Demings against Marco Rubio in Florida.

All of these races are tight in polls, except Booker against Paul in Kentucky, where Booker is at a major disadvantage.

Also, Warnock is in a tight race against Republican Herschel Walker in Georgia, with both being African Americans.

Joe Biden And “Reasonable Republicans”: Do They Exist?

President Joe Biden has said that he believes “Reasonable Republicans” can come up with a package of gun control reforms after the Uvalde Massacre in Texas a week ago.

Skeptics wonder who are “Reasonable Republicans” in the US Senate.

Supposedly, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is on to the idea of some kind of reform, but it seems hard to believe that anyone could call him in his approach to the needs of the nation to be “Reasonable”.

Supposedly, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Texas Senator John Cornyn are also working on gun control legislation.

And one would assume that Mitt Romney of Utah, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Ben Sasse of Nebraska would cooperate as well.

Also, Rick Scott of Florida, based on some gun reforms after the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Massacre in 2018 when he was Governor, might assist, and also Roy Blunt of Missouri, Rob Portman of Ohio, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, John Thune of South Dakota, and Tim Scott of South Carolina. Blunt, Portman, and Toomey are retiring from the Senate, so might feel more free to support gun control legislation, but who knows?

But there is no assurance that any real gun control reform will actually occur!

The Long List Of Tragically Flawed, Unpatriotic Republicans Who Might Run For President In 2024!

Already, just six months since the January 6 US Capitol Insurrection and early successes of President Joe Biden, we are witnessing early hints of the large group of potential Republican candidates for President in 2024, who have demonstrated they are tragically flawed and unpatriotic, and would seem to be unable to be seen as legitimate alternatives for the White House. These Republicans continue to back Donald Trump, and promote the “Big Lie”!

The list is so long, but here is a list of such disgraces who think they are entitled to be President, despite their sedition and treason six months ago. Also, there are many others who through their continued support of the authoritarian Fascist Donald Trump, complicates any of these characters deciding to run whether or not Trump decides to try again for President, and in so doing, is promoting white supremacy, violence and bloodshed!

How does one list a group of 16 individuals who are the absolute worst Republicans in any sense of order? But here goes:

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis
Texas Senator Ted Cruz
Missouri Senator Josh Hawley
Florida Senator Rick Scott
Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley
South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie
Texas Governor Greg Abbott
Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton
Florida Senator Marco Rubio
Utah Senator Mike Lee
Kentucky Senator Rand Paul
South Carolina Senator Tim Scott
Former Vice President Mike Pence
Fox News Channel Host Tucker Carlson

And here is a list of 6 less objectionable and more reasonable potential candidates in no special order:

Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan
Utah Senator Mitt Romney
Former Ohio Governor John Kasich
Wyoming Congresswoman Liz Cheney
Illinois Congressman Adam Kinzinger

Possible Infrastructure Deal With Enough Republican Senators, But Will It Be Acceptable To Democrats?

A possible compromise infrastructure deal is in the works, as eleven Republican Senators seem to be on board.

This includes the following Senators:

Richard Burr of North Carolina
Bill Cassidy of Louisiana
Susan Collins of Maine
Lindsey Graham of South Carolina
Jerry Moran of Kansas
Lisa Murkowski of Alaska
Rob Portman of Ohio
Mitt Romney of Utah
Mike Rounds of South Dakota
Thom Tillis of North Carolina
Todd Young of Indiana

Some of this group also seem willing to work on a voting rights bill, along with Ben Sasse of Nebraska, Tim Scott of South Carolina, and Dan Sullivan of Alasks.

While this is encouraging, the question is whether all Democrats will be willing to work on compromise legislation on both bills, and that seems a quandary without easy solution.