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☆ Super Tuesday may underline Trump’s transformation of the GOP
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-05 | by ( Ron Brownstein | Analysis Ronald Brownstein | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +17 min

His performance so far reflects his success at transforming the Republican Party in his image. The most important message from the primaries is the most straightforward: Trump’s coalition is the dominant faction in the GOP. Like McConnell’s announcement, the choices by GOP elected officials in the primary contest signal their acknowledgement of the party’s direction. The share of GOP elected officials who have endorsed Haley isn’t anywhere near as large as her share of the total vote. But a deeper factor also explains the imbalance in support among GOP elected officials.

Persons: Donald Trump, He’s, Ronald Reagan, Nikki Haley, –, Trump, Reagan, Bob Dole, George W, Bush, Mitt Romney, Whit Ayres, Democrat Grover Cleveland, Republican Benjamin Harrison, ” Ayres, Ayres, Grover Cleveland, ” Chris Wilson, Ron DeSantis, “, ”, Gary Langer, he’s, Kyle Kondik, “ It’s, William Mayer, George H.W, George H.W . Bush, Democrat Al Gore, Haley, Dwight Eisenhower, Sen, Robert Taft, Mitch McConnell, Haley isn’t, Chris Sununu, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Liz Cheney, Wilson, Mike Johnson, McConnell, Kevin McCarthy, Jennifer Horn, Biden, William Galston, Galston, ’, ‘, Kristen Soltis Anderson, isn’t, Eisenhower, “ Trump, ” Galston, ” Trump, Missouri GOP Sen, Eric Schmitt, wouldn’t, he’d Organizations: CNN, Republican, Republican Party, South Carolina Gov, GOP, Washington, Trump, Veteran GOP, White, Democrat, Democratic, Florida Gov, ”, ABC, University of Virginia’s Center, Politics, Northeastern University, Republican internationalists, Republicans, Chicago Council, Global Affairs, Trump’s GOP, New Hampshire Gov, South, Brookings Institution, Biden, Republican National Committee, Missouri GOP Locations: Sunday’s, Iowa , New Hampshire, South Carolina, Michigan, George H.W ., Southern, Iowa, New Hampshire, Oakland, Washtenaw, Kent, Ukraine, Trump’s, Missouri

☆ Analysis: Why DeSantis’ departure isn’t likely to change the dynamic between Trump and Haley
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-21 | by ( Ron Brownstein | Analysis Ronald Brownstein | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +17 min

The DeSantis and Haley camps each believed they would benefit if the other left the field and created an unambiguous one-on-one race with Trump. In fact, both the Trump and DeSantis campaigns believe that more of the Florida governor’s supporters will likely pick Trump. Any gain or loss for Haley among voters from DeSantis’ decision seems likely to affect the race only marginally, many GOP observers believe. Even at that point in the 2016 race, Trump had won only a cumulative 40% of the votes cast in the GOP primaries. His theory that he could peel away a meaningful number of previous Trump voters simply proved wrong.

Persons: New Hampshire CNN —, Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Donald Trump, DeSantis, Haley, Trump, Joe Biden, Haley doesn’t, Biden, winnowing, Whit Ayres, ” Ayres, Texas Sen, Ted Cruz, George Conway, “ Trump, David Kochel, “, he’s, –, Trump’s, ”, Alex Stroman, Trump’s MAGA, MAGA, CNN DeSantis, “ DeSantis, Scott Reed, Bob Dole’s, John Connally, suburbanites, Vivek Ramaswamy, Donald Trump’s, ” Stroman, Jean Carroll, Mike Murphy, – Haley, Sen, Marco Rubio, she’s, Mike Dennehy, John McCain’s, Bill Kristol, Kristol, ” Kristol, Matt Gaetz, Ginger Heald, Ayres, Grover Cleveland, Republican Benjamin Harrison, Reed, Dole, Mike Pence, Pence, ” Reed, “ He’s Organizations: New Hampshire CNN, Florida Gov, GOP, South Carolina Gov, Republican, Trump, CNN, New Hampshire, Democratic, South, University of New Hampshire, Republicans, Texas, nonurban Whites, The, South Carolina Republican Party, Edison Research, Trump Trump, Biden, New Hampshire GOP, Florida Republican, Merrimack Republican, Committee, DeSantis Locations: Manchester, New Hampshire, Florida, South Carolina, New, Iowa, DeSantis, As, Hampshire, New York, Trump, The Florida, Trump’s, Texas, Charleston, Polk County, Trump’s Manchester , New Hampshire, Ukraine, Israel, ”

When Nikki Haley was a South Carolina legislator, she backed budgets boosted by federal aid. Now, Haley is running against Trump for the 2024 Republican nomination saying he is an agent of chaos. The daughter of Indian immigrants, she defeated a 30-year legislative veteran in the Republican primary. As governor, Haley had disputes with fellow Republicans that often seemed personal. But she reminds Republican primary voters that the deals were always for non-union shops.

Persons: Nikki Haley, Haley, Donald Trump, ”, Doug Brannon, “, Bill Clinton, Slick Willie ”, Trump, Roe, Wade, I’m, Rob Godfrey, ” Godfrey, ” Haley, Hillary Clinton, Gresham Barrett, Whit Ayres, Barrett, Sarah Palin, ” Ayres, Palin, Mitt Romney, Romney, “ She’s, Kay Koonce, Haley burnished, Godfrey, Godfrey said, Koonce, Barack Obama’s, Obama, Florida Sen, Marco Rubio, Jan, Ayres, Chris Christie’s, ’ ” Ayres, Christie, Haley “, “ Chris Christie, ” Koonce, ’, Holly Ramer Organizations: Trump, GOP, firebrand, Republican, today's Republican Party, Fox, New York Times, U.S, Rep, Wall Street titans, Gubernatorial, Democratic National Committee, Conservative, House Republicans, Republicans, Florida, Capitol, New, Associated Press Locations: South Carolina, Washington, Charleston, New Hampshire, Columbia, China, New York, Trump, Iowa, New Jersey, Concord , New Hampshire

☆ Should Trump Believe the Polls?
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( Lauren Camera | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +11 min

Former President Donald Trump is a polls guy. He’s currently languishing in fourth place, according to polls, behind Trump, Florida Gov. “In 2016, we experienced the phenomenon of the silent Trump voter, those who were secretly for Trump but feared being ostracized if they said so publicly,” he wrote. “A majority of the party is Maybe Trump,” Ayres says. A separate New Hampshire primary poll from Monmouth University and The Washington Post taken Nov. 9-14 shows similar results.

Persons: Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Trump, Bradley, –, Tom Bradley, ”, Adam Geller, “, MAGA, Chris Christie’s, Christie, ” Christie, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Newt Gingrich, Sen, Rick Santorum, Ben Carson, Texas Sen, Ted Cruz, hasn’t, He’s, Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, they’re, South Carolina Sen, Tim Scott, Vivek Ramaswamy, Mark McKinnon, George W, Bush, John McCain, he’d, Whit Ayres, ” Ayres, Joe Biden, Haley, Ramaswamy, Civiqs, DeSantis, Jamie Dimon, Ayres, Jesus Organizations: White, Los Angeles, GOP, Capitol, National Research Inc, Trump, New, New Jersey Gov, Granite State Republicans, Donald Trump View, Arkansas Gov, MAGA Republican, Trump , Florida Gov, South Carolina Gov, South Carolina, Republican, North Star Opinion Research, Republican Party, University of New Hampshire Survey Center, Monmouth University, The Washington, Koch Locations: California, ”, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Iowa, Trump, Texas, Trump , Florida, Georgia, Hampshire, Tuscaloosa , Alabama, Florida

Trump, according to aggregates of national opinion polls, holds about a 50-percentage-point lead over her, with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis also in the mix. Trump also has large leads in early Republican nominating states such as Iowa and New Hampshire. The polls show her tied with DeSantis in Iowa and surpassing him in New Hampshire. Should Haley's rise continue, she would likely face a full onslaught of attacks from the Trump campaign, pro-Trump social media influencers, and related super PAC spending groups. A Trump spokesperson did not respond to questions about whether the campaign would soon turn its attention to Haley.

Persons: Nikki Haley, Adrienne Arsht, Mike Segar, Donald Trump, Haley, Kyle Kondik, Trump, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Whit Ayres, Ayres, Joe Biden's, Haley's, Betsy Ankney, Nikki, Olivia Perez, HALEY Trump's, Koch, James Oliphant, Alexandra Ulmer, Ross Colvin, Grant McCool Organizations: South Carolina, Republican, U.S, NBC News, Adrienne, Adrienne Arsht Center, Performing Arts, REUTERS, Rights, Trump, University of Virginia Center for Politics, Florida Governor, DeSantis, TRUMP, Thomson Locations: Miami , Florida, U.S, Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, California, Texas, South, Tuscaloosa , Alabama

☆ How Haley could eclipse DeSantis to become the Trump alternative
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( Ron Brownstein | Analysis Ronald Brownstein | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +16 min

But many Republican strategists believe that DeSantis’ struggles to connect with voters, and his choice to run at Trump solely from the right, have opened a lane for Haley to eclipse the Florida governor. An array of recent polls, both nationally and in the battleground states, signal that DeSantis and Haley have separated themselves from the rest of the candidates chasing Trump. “Absolutely, Nikki Haley has more upside than DeSantis if they are both viable after the first two,” argued Alex Stroman, a former executive director of the South Carolina GOP. DeSantis, Ayres argued, has “has tried to appeal to some of the ‘always Trump’ voters, but the ‘always Trump’ voters are always Trump for a reason. Nikki Haley seems to have figured out the job is to consolidate the ‘maybe Trump’ voters who supported Trump twice but now … want a different style and different temperament.”Republicans sympathetic to DeSantis argue that it is Haley who has boxed herself in.

Persons: Donald Trump’s, Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Trump, “ You’ve, ”, Tom Rath, Donald Trump, DeSantis, Haley, Republican pollster Whit Ayres, Alice Stewart, Chris Christie, Vivek Ramaswamy, South Carolina Sen, Tim Scott, Scott, Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum, Ted Cruz, Kim Reynolds, Huckabee, Santorum, Cruz, John McCain, Mitt Romney, ’, Ayres, Rath, George W, Bush, “, ” Dante Scala –, –, Scala, GOPers, ” Haley, McCain, Linus, ‘, ’ ”, he’s, Newt Gingrich, Alex Stroman, DeSantis “, ” Ayres, Ayres ’ “, tellingly, MAGA —, dethroning, ” Scala, Mike Murphy, who’s, Joe Biden, ” Murphy, There’s, Sen, Gary Hart parlayed, Hart, Walter Mondale, Chris Sununu, DeSantis ’, Yogi Berra, ” Rath Organizations: CNN, GOP, Florida Gov, South Carolina Gov, ”, Republicans, Trump, Republican, Washington Post, New, New Jersey Gov, South, Huckabee, New Hampshire GOP, University of New, Romney, South Carolina GOP, “, dethroning Trump, Democratic Locations: Florida, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Iowa, New Jersey, Granite State, University of New Hampshire, After New Hampshire, Gaza, DeSantis, Haley, Iowa , New Hampshire

At the same time, Republican voters are warier of foreign conflicts and less interested in foreign policy than they have been during previous competitive primary elections, said Doug Heye, a Republican strategist. Republicans have often said that militants who support or carry out attacks on Israel will try to slip through the U.S.-Mexico border, despite scant evidence of it. He also said, without evidence, that Hamas militants were pouring over the U.S.-Mexico border. STRATEGY BRINGS RISKSRepublicans have drawn a link between national security and border security before, albeit in broader terms. Still, the immigration crackdown that Republican candidates have proposed is not without risk, said Ayres, the Republican pollster.

Persons: Jose Luis Gonzalez, Doug Heye, Whit Ayres, Nikki Haley, Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, Trump, DeSantis, General, It's, Rob Godfrey, Haley, Ayres, You've, you've, Gram Slattery, Ted Hesson, Jason Lange, Ross Colvin, Howard Goller Organizations: U.S . Border Patrol, ATV, REUTERS, Rights, Republican, Republicans, U.S, Cato Institute, Florida, Border Patrol, Department of Homeland, U.S . Customs, DHS, ISIS, Thomson Locations: U.S, United States, Mexico, Sunland Park , New Mexico, Israel, America, Iowa, Gaza, Palestinian, Colombia, Colombian, California

☆ Trump’s indictments – and mug shot – are deepening his supporters’ anger and revving up their support
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-16 | by ( Kate Sullivan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

“And I love it because he has every right to be,” the South Dakota Republican said. “Everyone makes mistakes.”Like many other Trump supporters interviewed, Scott Akers of Alabama immediately pointed to Hunter Biden when asked about Trump’s mounting legal peril. ‘This country’s a powder keg’Intertwined with their outrage over the indictments, some Trump supporters are raising the specter of heightened political violence if Trump were to be convicted. Trump supporter Amanda Hamak-Leon and her boyfriend are seen at his Rapid City, South Dakota, rally on September 8, 2023. A vendor sells T-shirts featuring Trump's mug shot outside his Rapid City, South Dakota, rally on September 8, 2023.

Persons: Phil Jensen, Donald Trump’s, “, ” Jensen, Trump, ”, –, Corey Bonner of Texas, “ They’re, they’ve, haven’t, they’re, Carolyn McNeese, ” McNeese, Joe Biden’s, Hunter, Bobby Wilson, “ He’s, Jace Kirschenman, Corey Shawgo, Scott Akers, Hunter Biden, ” Akers, Joe Biden, Biden, David Weiss, we’ve ‘, Frank Yurisic, ” Yurisic, I’ll, Kate Sullivan, Trump’s, Jim Vanoy, Rachel Kleinfeld, Stewart Rhodes, Enrique Tarrio, Kleinfeld, Amanda Hamak, Leon, CNN Trump, Tucker Carlson, Mark Roling, ‘ I’m, ’ Trump, aren’t, Craig Shirley, Ronald Reagan, ” Shirley, “ They’ve, They’ve, ” Trump, “ I’m, I’m, ” Whit Ayres, GOP pollster, ‘, it’s, ” Ayres, Scott Olson, Go Brandon, ’ ”, Sam Smith, Smith, Let’s, Brandon, ” Hamak Organizations: CNN, South Dakota Republican, Trump, Republican Party, Alabama Republicans, Republicans, House Republicans, federal Justice Department, GOP, Trump’s Pennsylvania, Rep, Carnegie Endowment, International, Capitol, Fox News, Republican, Trump’s Rapid Locations: Rapid City , South Dakota, Atlanta, ”, Iowa , New Hampshire , Pennsylvania, Alabama, South Dakota, Texas, Pennsylvania, Erie, Trump’s, Washington, ” South Dakota, Rapid City, Manhattan, Iowa, Phoenix, Fulton

☆ Abortion politics take center stage after Biden campaign capitalizes on GOP debate rift
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-26 | by ( Arit John | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

The GOP divide was laid bare on the debate stage this week, as candidates backed a 15-week abortion ban, deferred to the states or tried to split the difference. “There’s no real consensus at this point.”Biden’s reelection campaign has also homed in on remarks GOP candidates made on abortion during the debate. The ad, aimed at women in seven battleground states, is part of a $25 million ad campaign CNN first reported earlier this week. Republicans have begun to coalesce around the idea of a federal abortion ban after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Pence used his remarks at the same conference to call on every GOP candidate to back a 15-week ban as a national standard.

Persons: Roe, Wade, Joe Biden’s, ”, Whit Ayres, “, ” Biden’s, Republicans “, Biden’s, Donald Trump, Donald Trump , South Carolina Sen, Tim Scott, Ron DeSantis, ” Biden, Julie Chavez Rodriguez, Dobbs, Jackson, Trump –, Georgia –, Tom Bonier, Bonier, they’ve, DeSantis, Susan B, Anthony Pro, ” Marjorie Dannenfelser, Kellyanne Conway, Nikki Haley, Asa Hutchinson, Doug Burgum, Mike Pence, Scott, Pence, CNN’s Dana Bash, Trump, ” Trump, Ayres, they’ll Organizations: CNN, Republican, GOP, Democratic, Republicans, ” CNN, Florida Gov, MAGA Republicans, Associated Press, NORC, for Public Affairs Research, Voters, Biden, America, Washington, Trump White House, UN Ambassador, South Carolina Gov, Arkansas Gov, Asa Hutchinson , North Dakota Gov, Thursday Fox, Trump, Freedom Coalition Locations: Donald Trump , South Carolina, Florida, U.S, Nevada , Arizona , Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arkansas, Asa Hutchinson , North

☆ Opinion | ‘They Are Not Going to Settle for the Second-Best Trump’
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-23 | by ( Thomas B. Edsall | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

DeSantis saying he’s going to start “slitting throats” reminded me of Romney’s “severely conservative.” While DeSantis’s is a dangerous escalation of violent imagery, they both sound bizarre and unnatural. At a more fundamental level, Bateman wrote:It’s not at all clear that what most Republican voters (rather than donors) want is a mainstream and party credentialed version of Trump. The problem with this approach, Ayres continued, is that “the Always Trump voters are ‘Always Trump’ for a reason — they are not going to settle for the second-best Trump if they can get the real thing.”Geoff Garin, a Democratic pollster, wrote:There is no room for DeSantis or anyone else to outflank Trump on the right, where Trump has his most loyal base. Candidates can argue that Trump is insufficiently conservative on some issues, but that it not the point for Trump loyalists. Candidates can try to echo the ugliness of Trump’s rhetoric, but that too misses what really draws these voters to Trump.

Persons: Trump, Romney’s “, Bateman, It’s, Trump’s, ” David O, Sears, “, Archie Bunker, Whit Ayres, Republican pollster, DeSantis, RFK Jr, Ayres, Geoff Garin, MAGA, Frances Lee, ” Lee, ” Organizations: Yale, Harvard, Trump, Republican, Derby, Wimbledon, NPR, Ivy League, for Disease Control, Democratic, Trump loyalists, Republicans Locations: Ukraine, Princeton

☆ Why the Republican defense of Trump points to more turbulence ahead
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-22 | by ( Ronald Brownstein | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +20 min

In the Republican coalition, it is a moment that has culminated decades of change – and one that points to years of turbulence ahead. Overwhelming majorities of Republican voters dismiss the charges against Trump. In Gallup’s latest annual survey of trust in institutions, Republicans expressed less faith in 10 of the 16 measured. Veteran GOP pollster Whit Ayres points to another, more personal, reason so many GOP voters have discounted the charges against Trump. Trump is the Republican most effectively riding that wave now, but it seems unlikely to recede whenever he fades from the political scene.

Persons: Donald Trump, ”, Trump, Tresa Undem, –, Stormy Daniels, “ Trump, …, Ronald Reagan, “ There’s, Amy Fried, Goldwater, Reagan, Fried, Steve Bannon, Eric Plutzer, ” Plutzer, Hillary Clinton, “ Efrem Zimbalist Jr, Plutzer, “, MAGA, Undem, ” Trump, He’s, ” he’s, George Floyd, It’s, ” Robert P, Jones, winks, ’ Trump, ” “ MAGA, ” Jones, Daniel Cox, —, ” Cox, Chris Christie, Asa Hutchinson, Will Hurd, Hunter Biden, Cox, wasn’t Hunter Biden, Whit Ayres, ” Ayres, Donald Trump’s, aspersions, That’s, ’, Long Organizations: CNN, Republican, GOP, Trump, Whites, Bright Line, Republicans, CBS, University of Maine, Government, National Rifle Association, NRA, Penn State University, Institute for Democracy, Department, FBI, ABC, Justice Department, Pew Research Center, Gallup, Black, Religion Research Institute, White, American Enterprise Institute, Trump —, Prestige, Senate, Trump . Veteran GOP, “, Democratic Locations: “, Vietnam, stoke, Russia, Manhattan, Fulton County , Georgia, New York, Undem, America

Republican presidential candidate, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, delivers remarks at the annual Christians United for Israel Summit (CUFI), at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Virginia, U.S., July 17, 2023. "Governor DeSantis has to change the dynamics," Eberhart said. DeSantis faces a crucial moment on Aug. 23 in Milwaukee at the first Republican debate of the 2024 campaign. "This is par for the course for DeSantis' campaigns," Ayres said. Republican Senator John McCain, for instance, fired almost all of his senior campaign staff in June 2007 before staging a comeback and ultimately clinching the 2008 Republican nomination.

Persons: Ron DeSantis, Kevin Wurm, Donald Trump, Generra Peck, James Uthmeier, Andrew Romeo, Dan Eberhart, Peck, Uthmeier, DeSantis, Eberhart, Joe Biden, Trump's, Wilbur Ross, Romeo, Robert Bigelow, Bigelow, Trump, David Polyansky, Whit Ayres, Ayres, John McCain, Gram Slattery, Alexandra Ulmer, Tim Reid, Ross Colvin, Will Dunham Organizations: Florida, United, Israel Summit, Crystal Gateway Marriott, REUTERS, Republican U.S, Republican, Democratic, Reuters, Trump, Thomson Locations: Arlington , Virginia, U.S, Florida, Milwaukee, Washington, San Francisco, Los Angeles

Republican presidential candidate, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, delivers remarks at the annual Christians United for Israel Summit (CUFI), at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Virginia, U.S., July 17, 2023. "Governor DeSantis has to change the dynamics," Eberhart said. DeSantis faces a crucial moment on Aug. 23 in Milwaukee at the first Republican debate of the 2024 campaign. It is unclear what direction Uthmeier will take the DeSantis campaign as its new manager. "This is par for the course for DeSantis' campaigns," Ayres said.

Persons: Ron DeSantis, Kevin Wurm, Donald Trump, Generra Peck, James Uthmeier, Andrew Romeo, Robert Bigelow, Bigelow, Peck, Joe Biden, Trump, DeSantis, Romeo, David Polyansky, Dan Eberhart, Uthmeier, Eberhart, Wilbur Ross, Whit Ayres, Ayres, Gram Slattery, Alexandra Ulmer, Tim Reid, Scott Malone, Will Dunham Organizations: Florida, United, Israel Summit, Crystal Gateway Marriott, REUTERS, Republican U.S, Reuters, Republican, Democratic, Trump, Thomson Locations: Arlington , Virginia, U.S, Florida, Milwaukee, Washington, San Francisco, Los Angeles

People around the 51-year-old former governor of South Carolina, the daughter of two Indian immigrants, say her willingness to discuss the topic represents a calculated risk while other candidates dodge it. They say it is in part a deliberate bid to seize some attention away from front-runners Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Supporters, donors and some party stalwarts praised Haley for her speech addressing an issue that divides the party. Roberts said she hoped New Hampshire's Republican governor, Chris Sununu, a self-described supporter of abortion rights, jumps into the race. Governor DeSantis, Trump's closest rival who is expected to announce a run within weeks, signed a ban on abortions after six weeks in Florida last month.

☆ Analysis: As DeSantis readies 2024 presidential bid, Florida lawmakers hand him fresh ammo
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( James Oliphant | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

WASHINGTON, May 3 (Reuters) - Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis had counted on a productive state legislative session this spring to turbocharge his coming 2024 presidential bid. With the first presidential nominating contest still nine months away, political analysts say DeSantis has plenty of time to turn his fortunes around. Lawmakers on Tuesday passed an immigration measure that would provide more money for DeSantis’ program for relocating undocumented migrants. POTENTIAL PERILSThe six-week abortion ban remains the thorniest outcome of the session for DeSantis’ national aspirations. The governor did not expressly advocate for the bill, and he signed it without fanfare to replace the current 15-week ban.

DeSantis' muddled messaging on Ukraine and the multiple legal investigations into Trump mean that this year’s primary race “is a vast sea of uncertainty,” said Whit Ayres, a Republican strategist and former DeSantis pollster. Metals magnate and donor Andy Sabin backed Trump in 2016 and 2020 but is now planning to spend money in the Republican primary on “anybody but Trump." Enthusiastic crowds of Trump supporters were mostly quiet when he mocked DeSantis at two recent rallies. For now, despite the volatility, Trump and DeSantis remain the two leading contenders, said David Tamasi, a Republican donor and lobbyist. "You have two candidates getting 75-80% of the vote," said Tamasi, who previously backed Trump but is not this time.

☆ A vicious spat between two of Trump's biggest supporters reveals growing infighting in the MAGA movement
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A feud between two former MAGA allies has exposed tensions in the movement. The GOP far-right is feuding over the House Speaker battle, and Trump's 2024 campaign. In essence, it's a power grab — a bid to secure more influence over the House in return for backing McCarthy. In aiming jibes at Greene, Boebert was likely seeking to put some distance between herself and the conspiracy theory-fuelled brand of politics Greene represents. "I just don't know how the MAGA forces are going to to react in the long run," he said.

☆ The Republican far-right is seeking to place new limits on aid to Ukraine after the GOP claimed a narrow House majority
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Far-right Republicans want Ukraine aid restricted, with some saying it should be cut off entirely. But one analyst told Insider that broader bipartisan support for Ukraine aid remains solid. Gunner Ramer, political director of the centrist Republican Accountability Project, told Insider that a narrow Republican majority in the House meant that lawmakers such as Greene would wield outsized influence. Ukraine aid bills have, to date, all passed with broad bipartisan backing. Ayres, meanwhile, cautioned House Republicans hostile to Ukraine aid that pressing the issue could alienate moderate voters, for whom core policy issues like crime and the economy remain key.

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