It's widely believed that Donald Trump will officially launch his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024 at a press conference at Mar-a-Lago. Even though it will overshadow the runoff in Georgia and the general election, which could give Trump a needed win, the former president will still hold the event.
That raises a question of its own, actually:
Trump has already stated that he would make an announcement on November 15. During a rally in Ohio last week, he said that he would make a big announcement. It's widely expected that Trump will officially launch his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024 at a press conference at Mar-a-Lago. He has been teasing and suggesting his intentions since he delivered a speech at an event organized by conservative political groups in February 2021.
Since then, Trump has been continuously attacking various political opponents. From Florida's recently re-elected governor to the conservative media outlets, he has been accusing them of orchestrating a conspiracy to illegally influence the presidential election.
Why not hold a rally instead? It's not as if Trump can't get the thousands of people to attend an event. Even after the disastrous results of the mid-term elections, his core supporters still remain loyal to him. A press conference or a statement release is typically low-energy for a candidate, especially since Trump is known for his showmanship.
It's possible that Trump's team did not have time to organize a massive rally, which would require a lot of preparation and coordination. However, delaying the announcement would allow them to focus on the important tasks at hand, such as getting former Georgia football star Herschel Walker to the finish line in the state's Senate race.
The Wall Street Journal suggests that Trump is playing a game with the Department of Justice. He could be trying to keep up with the clock by announcing his campaign alongside former Florida governor Ron DeSantis and state attorney general Glenn Youngkin.
His advisers had urged him to hold off until the runoff in Georgia, which will take place on December 6. However, Trump decided to make his announcement now to try and clear the field of potential challengers, such as Youngkin and DeSantis. These two governors have demonstrated that they can win in competitive states.
Trump is also trying to get ahead of a potential Justice Department indictment. If he decides to run for the presidency, he would likely use an indictment by former US Attorney General Garland as a political tool. In addition, the fate of Walker, who is currently running for the Senate in Georgia, is not affected by Trump's plans.
The fates of other candidates are not affected by Trump's ambition. Also, Mike Pence is not delaying the release of his memoir, which is scheduled to come out after the December 6 runoff in Georgia. He is touring the country to promote his book and give Raphael Warnock's campaign plenty of material.
In another example, the political action committees (PACs) of Trump and the Republican establishment are not focusing on Walker's fate. They are instead raising money for other candidates.
This suggests that the focus of the Trump campaign is not on the Senate race in Georgia.
It's also doubtful that the Department of Justice will not proceed with an indictment, as they have a policy of not revealing indictments within a week of an election to avoid the appearance of corruption. If Trump decides to run for president in 2024, the next election he would face would be in January. The runoff in Georgia would be more significant for the DoJ than his status as a declared candidate.
The Wall Street Journal's editorial board is not discouraging Trump from running for president again. They are merely warning Republican activists and voters that supporting him would be a huge help to Democrats.The results of last week's elections showed that Trump's insistence on refusing to acknowledge that he lost the presidential election is a losing strategy. Republicans who took this line lost. Trump refuses to admit to his own failure, which is why he refuses to join the country in moving on.
Donald Trump will carry the baggage of his failed campaign into his next presidential run. In 2016, voters gave the former reality TV star a chance against Hillary Clinton. Now, they know that he is the same person they will get for another four years. Americans have already voted in the past two elections to put an end to the daily political turmoil.
Many Republicans who believe that Donald Trump is their champion would like to see him face off against a radical left-winger in the White House. Unfortunately, two years after he was elected, he is still more unpopular than Joe Biden. Despite his unpopularity, Trump is still considered the most effective political motivator in history for Democrats.
The main problem for Republicans is that their base is so loyal to Trump that he could easily win the party's presidential nomination in a divided field.
It's also widely believed that Democrats want Trump to run for president in 2024. During the last election, Democrats were able to successfully turn the primary elections into a referendum on Trump by spending more than $53 million on the so-called Akin Strategy. They won most of the races where Trump's preferred candidate won. Watch the early money and messaging in the primaries next year to see if the party will target other candidates such as Youngkin and DeSantis.
Despite the recent polls indicating that support for Trump has started to ebb, many Republican voters still want him to run for president. A new poll conducted by Morning Consult and the Club for Growth shows that he still leads over his nearest competitor, DeSantis, by a margin of 47 to 33. It will take a robust debate to determine if Trump is still the best candidate for the country.
After the primary elections next year, it's important for Republicans to decide if they want to engage in a free-for-all campaign or discipline themselves. If they do, it will create a two-person race that will be very different from the one that the Wall Street Journal warned about.
The preceding is a summary of an article that originally appeared on HOTAIR.
