The Race to be Trumps VP Candidate Has Begun!

Cameron Lee Cowan

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With DeSantis finishing in a distant second in the Iowa Caucuses and Trump cleaning up the contest early at night, it’s clear that from now on, it’s a race to convince Trump to pick his VP. Nikki Haley was never going to do well in Iowa and the bombastic Vivek Ramaswany, dropped out a little after midnight eastern.

Iowa’s voters braved cold temps to cast their votes and across the state, it was all Trump, all the time. He has done precious little campaigning in the state and has only held a few events. No matter, though, Iowa anointed him all the same.

The GOP is dead, long live MAGA

What’s left for the rest of the party? What do the Mitt Romneys and Liz Cheneys do now? Much like how the Tea Party shoved out moderate Republicans, those who survived that purge are now being purged by the MAGA vision for America. The MAGA vision of America rejects immigration, diversity in any form, and deeply desires a return to a mythical past that never really existed or only existed for a few people. The most shocking thing was how many Iowa caucus voters believed that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump, although Trump’s own investigation turned up nothing, and he is in court for his Big Lie and Fox News had to pay hundreds of millions for defaming a voting machine company. But never mind all of those facts, the Republican Party has gone all in on the Big Lie.

Democrats in Full Panic

In the aftermath of the Iowa caucuses, my phone exploded with people freaking out about the results. Trump won handily, with Nikki Haley and DeSantis in distant 2nd and 3rd. This has convinced all my liberal friends that the house is on fire, Trump will be elected and become a dictator. I’m not saying that their concerns aren’t justified, but one caucus, does not an election decide. It’s not a surprise that Trump is going to be the nominee. His polling within the GOP has been indicating that for months. The GOP is barely bothering with a process to pick a candidate. It’ll be a Trump/Biden rematch. Ironically, I’ve also had the same conversation about Biden in the last few days.

Biden is old, he is unpopular, and his economy is working for the poorest and the richest, leaving the middle class stranded with increasing expenses and failing standard of living. For many of my liberal friends, this is a reason why the DNC needs to dump Biden. However, there are two reasons to keep Biden around. The first is that Biden has the power of incumbency, which is helpful and generally helps wins elections. Unseating a president after only one term is no easy thing. Secondly, the discussion about Biden was already had, and we’re stuck with him. So rather than bemoan how to get rid of Biden, the liberal media and my friends should focus on talking about Biden’s positive points. The economy might suck, but his achievements in foreign policy and setting America for a more positive future cannot be denied. We are better today than we were under Trump, and the White House needs to say that: bluntly.

Hunting in New Hampshire

The next GOP primary contest will be in New Hampshire on January 23, 2024. So far, the polling has Trump with a 16 point lead (NBCNews) but a CNN poll has Trump in single digits with Nikki Haley coming up fast. DeSantis is onto New Hampshire to do a campaign swing through the state ahead of its titular, first in the nation, primary. Unlike Iowa, who hasn’t picked a winner in 24 years, New Hampshire is better at picking winners, especially Republicans. Trump will hold a rally in the state but doesn’t have much other campaigning planned. Nikki Haley will be campaigning in the state over the following days.

After New Hampshire, South Carolina is next, where the Democrats will begin their primaries in 2028, completing the first three states before Super Tuesday in February. There will be a live stream on The Cameron Journal YouTube channel for Super Tuesday, so keep that in mind for your election coverage.

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Cameron Lee Cowan

Creative Director of The Cameron Journal. Culture, political commentary, and much more!