After three rounds of bitter and, often acrimonious, TV debates between the front-runners for the Republican Party nomination for the 2024 US President’s elections, only one thing is clear. Despite staying away from all the three debates, former US President Donald Trump continues to be the frontrunner, ahead of the other candidates by a mile.
In the meantime, several of the candidates, including former Vice President Mike Pence, have dropped out of the race. While the sharply polarising Republican Governor of Florida Ron DeSantis, once seen as a shoe-in, is not even being viewed as a serious challenger to Trump, the others are too afraid of taking on Trump, even when is not in the same room as them. They are afraid of his vast multitude of vocal supporters, afraid they may be railroaded by them in their own areas of influence.
The notable exception is the former governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie, who has been the fiercest critic of Trump, even referring to him as “Donald Duck” for skipping the debates.
Despite his little support, Christie looks the most Presidential among the candidates yet. During Wednesday’s TV debate, Christie offered moderate views on abortion, supported raising the retirement age and offered complete support for Israel and Ukraine both.
But, the story of the fight so far has been manner in which DeSantis’s campaign has floundered.
While, till about a year ago, he had done a lot of things the same way Trump would have done, which has only improved his chances of being acceptable to the conservative base of the Republican Party, he is now a pale shadow of himself.
Remember how he sent two plane-full of allegedly illegal immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts, a political stunt that would have made Trump proud.
It was clearly taken from the Trump playbook. In sending the two planes to Martha’s Vineyard, DeSantis was only strengthening his anti-migration credentials amid suggestions that he was positioning himself for a presidential bid in 2024, a battle which he is now nowhere even close to winning.
However, in the months that followed, his poor messaging ensured that the earlier view that he would receive the support of the old guard of the Republican Party, which is hugely insecure of Trump, was incorrect.
Two other candidates – both with roots in India – the former Governor of South Carolina, Nikki Haley, who has served as ambassador to the United Nations in the Trump administration, and Tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy – are also nowhere near Trump in polls.
While Haley has seen her campaign getting a major boost due to her stellar performance in the three debates, Ramaswamy is now not being taken seriously.
Their final goal, many feel, could be to get on the Trump ticket as his Vice President pick.
As for Trump, despite the several cases against him, he is well on the road to being nominated again for 2024. He continues to be hugely popular among the conservative supporters of the Republican Party.
