Two campaigns going in opposite directions .

Haley is surging . DeSantis' campaign is fumbling .

Haley recently got the nod from the powerful Koch brothers 'Americans for Prosperity ' PAC indicating that establishment Repubs have chosen a candidate should Trump stumble.

AFPA-Endorsement-Memo-.pdf (afpaction.com) (https://afpaction.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/AFPA-Endorsement-Memo-.pdf)

Influential Dem ;JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon is urging Dems to support Nikki

Jamie Dimon urges business leaders to help Nikki Haley (cnbc.com) (https://www.cnbc.com/2023/11/29/jamie-dimon-urges-business-leaders-to-help-nikki-haley.html)


In Iowa Nikki is poised to overtake DeSantis according to a Des Moines Register poll. Trump still holds a huge lead ;but the trend shows that Nikki has staying power.


The same cannot be said for DeSantis . Despite his clear whipping of California Guv Newsom in their recent debate ; his campaign is on the ropes. Haley is catching up everywhere . In the weeks before Iowa ;his leading PAC ,'Never Back Dowwn' is in chaos.
It has gone through 3 CEOs in less than 2 weeks .


Never Back Down, the main super PAC backing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign, installed its third chief executive officer in less than two weeks on Friday, according to five people familiar with the latest development in the slow-motion shake-up.
Scott Wagner, a longtime DeSantis loyalist, took over as chairman and CEO of the super PAC. Two of the people familiar with the move said Wagner is serving as CEO in an interim capacity.

Wagner replaced interim CEO Kristin Davison, who was let go, the sources said. Davison, a key strategist for Never Back Down since its inception, lasted nine days in the top job after the original CEO, Chris Jankowski, stepped down from the role late last month.





In latest reset, Ron DeSantis super PAC names third CEO in two weeks (nbcnews.com) (https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/latest-bloodletting-ron-desantis-super-pac-names-third-ceo-two-weeks-rcna127780)

Communications Director Erin Perrine and director of operations Matt Palmisano also left in the shakeup .

Three Officials Have Left a Pro-DeSantis Super PAC in the Group's Latest Shake-Up, AP Sources Say (usnews.com) (https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2023-12-02/three-officials-have-left-a-pro-desantis-super-pac-in-the-groups-latest-shake-up-ap-sources-say)

DeSantis kept his pledge to have events in all 99 counties of Iowa . Almost all of them were arranged by 'Never Back Down'

Trump continues to mock the DeSantis campaign .He has not to date gone after Haley to the same degree . That of course could change with her continued rise as she becomes the GOP 'never Trumpers ' alternative to Trump.

Nikki Haley is consolidating the 2024 ‘Never Trump’ vote - POLITICO (https://www.politico.com/news/2023/11/22/nikki-haley-never-trump-voters-00128398)

I had hoped that the performance of DeSantis against Newsom would have helped him. He sure needs to do well Wednesday to try and gain some momentum. Haley is a legit conservative. I'd prefer DeSantis, but I will work for Haley or, worst case scenario, Trump if it comes down to it. Practically anything beats the current occupant.

Not crystal clear on where NH stands on abortion. I did find this. Can't help but be a little disgusted by NBC's characterization of the issue as "abortion rights" as opposed to the right of the unborn to live. Still, while I appreciate what NH said, her reasoning is pretty weak. "I’m forever blessed for those things in my life," is not a reason for another person to oppose the killing of unborn children.


Haley opposes abortion rights, explaining that her opposition is rooted in her past difficulty conceiving children, as well as the fact that her husband is adopted.

“I’m so blessed to see their faces every day,” Haley said of her family, per the Spartanburg Herald-Journal in 2012 “This is not a partisan thing. It’s not a man or a woman thing. I appreciate life and I’m forever blessed for those things in my life.”


https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/meetthepressblog/nikki-haley-stands-key-issues-rcna70838

If she is firm in her thoughts that internet users cannot be anonymous then I have a fundamental difference with her regarding BASIC liberties .

Of course she walked back her comments in the face of blistering criticism of her comments saying

“I don’t mind anonymous American people having free speech; what I don’t like is anonymous Russians and Chinese and Iranians having free speech.”

How she proposed to differentiate is beyond my comprehension.

Misinformation predates the net by centuries.

I also think she is a bit too hawkish for my liking. I can understand why establishment Repubs would jump on her bandwagon.

It's the "I don't mind" part that bothers me. The exercise of fundamental rights should not be contingent on whether or not the pres "minds" if we exercise them. I'd be much happier if she came out breathing fire on that deal.

DeSantis v Haley in the prelude to the Iowa Caucus...

This one on one debate will happen January 10 in Des Moines Iowa . It will be 1 hour hosted by CNN . ]

Vivek and Christie did not qualify . Trump as usual will be a no show.

Trump will host his own 'Town Hall' event at the same time and Vivek will do a pod cast or something like that . Trump's event will be on FOX hosted by Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum in the Hannity time slot .

The CNN debate will be moderated by Jake Tapper and Dana Bash. Why Repubs allow hostile moderators is beyond me.

I can't imagine why they would allow CNN to host it, but at least it will be a debate with only two participants as opposed to five people all trying to shout each other down.

Meanwhile Vivek's campaign is on it's last legs .

He did not qualify for tomorrow's debate . His top aide defected to Trump's campaign in November . Privately many of his staffers are looking for other work . He sold a ton of stock to keep his campaign afloat.

Ramaswamy rips CNN over ‘shenanigans’ ahead of next debate | The Hill (https://thehill.com/homenews/media/4384809-ramaswamy-rips-cnn-shenanigans-2024-campaign-gop-primary-debate/)

Vivek Ramaswamy's political director leaving to join Trump campaign - CBS News (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/vivek-ramaswamy-political-director-brian-swensen-joining-trump-campaign/)

Ramaswamy Sells $33 Million Worth of Roivant Shares Ahead of Primaries (yahoo.com) (https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ramaswamy-sells-33-million-worth-190035444.html)

My guess is he will drop out soon and endorse Trump

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GDi1-bsacAEQqv0?format=jpg&name=small

The DeSantis v Haley debate summarized

DeSantis ...... She said (fill in the blank)

Haley ,,,,,,,,,, I never said that . He lies .

CNN moderators ....... to clarify (fill in the blank) Trump evil

The DeSantis v Haley debate summarized

DeSantis ...... She said (fill in the blank)

Haley ,,,,,,,,,, I never said that . He lies .

CNN moderators ....... to clarify (fill in the blank) Trump evilThat's really unfortunate. It would be much better if they candidates would say, "This xxx is a problem in our country. This is how I would address it based upon my record of governance in the past." Keep the shots at the opponent to a minimum.

It was bad and it only helped Trump and Clueless Joe's candidacy. They are both quick on their feet But they were misguided in their continuous attacks on each other .

Trump is doing that asinine birther garbage he tried on the emperor on Nikki Haley
Donald Trump shares 'bonkers' birther theory Nikki Haley ineligible to be president (nypost.com) (https://nypost.com/2024/01/10/news/donald-trump-shares-bonkers-birther-theory-nikki-haley-ineligible-to-be-president/)

For the record . She was born in South Carolina. She is by definition a natural born American.

Trump's willingness to allow his mouth to be ungoverned never ceases to amaze me.

Vivek has thrown in the towel. Kind of sad. I enjoyed listening to him. If Trump wins and VR gets a seat on his cabinet, he could be a force to be reckoned with in four more years.

Vivek is 38

The youngest President elected was Teddy Roosevelt at age 42 . Before that he had a lifetime of public service and private accomplishment on his resume. That included a member of the NY Assembly where he campaigned against corruption ;a cattle rancher ;an author; NYC Police commissioner where he reformed it to a professional service (not an easy task in Tammany Hall NYC) ;Assistant Sec Navy; led troops in battle ;Governor of NY ;and Vice President .

Trump had a lifetime of private sector accomplishments building his brand .He frequently commented on public issues and it can be argued that much of his work in NY was in the public interest . There were people encouraging him for years to run before 2016.

Vivek had good rhetoric (nothing very original) when he was not attacking his opponents . But besides being a successful tech entrepreneur and writing some books that no one has read , what do we know about him ?

He now has the name recognition and the time. He can be impactful or he can fade away.

and then there was one .


Ron DeSantis ends 2024 presidential bid and endorses Donald Trump | AP News (https://apnews.com/article/ron-desantis-250c8ed4b49843350e258f0c2754c8ba)

I was a little surprised by this, but I suppose he saw the poling handwriting on the wall. I don't know that Haley will last much longer.

She has the donor base to last . But she may drop out before losing South Carolina . DeSantis is a disappointment. If I were him ,I would have a hard time endorsing Trump after all the personal attacks he made ;and all the lies he said about his record .

Trump said he'll now "retire" his "Ron DeSanctimonious" nickname. Bunch of frauds .

The biggest problem I see about Nikki is that in courting the DC swamp party $ she compromises by taking positions that don't sell to the MAGA base). In doing this she appears to be one of those chameleon politicians without a firm core set of beliefs .

Talking to people here I can say she really made a bone headed move when after DeSantis was going after Disney for their woke agenda Nikki invited them to relocate to SC. They also don't like her support for the open ended commitment to funding Ukraine .

Rather sadly, there is no really good candidate. We are reduced, yet again, to voting for the least offensive, least ineffective candidate. The days of Ronald Reagan are long past. It does at least serve to reinforce the point that we are not following mere men.

I suspect Nikki will drop out to avoid another huge embarrassment in her home state . Retreat to fight again in 4 years .

Worse than you can imagine: Haley loses to 'none of these candidates' in Nevada - POLITICO (https://www.politico.com/news/2024/02/07/haley-wins-nevada-primary-that-nets-no-delegates-00140036)