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☆ Former Vice President Pence quits the presidential race after struggling to gain traction. 'This is not my time,' he says
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-28 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Former Vice President Mike Pence on Saturday dropped his bid for the Republican presidential nomination, ending his campaign for the White House after struggling to raise money and gain traction in the polls. "So after much prayer and deliberation, I have decided to suspend my campaign for president effective today." A former vice president would typically be seen as a formidable challenger in any primary, but Pence has struggled to find a base of support. Pence did not immediately endorse any of his rivals, but continued to echo language he has used to criticize Trump. But even in Iowa, Pence struggled to gain traction.

Persons: Mike Pence, Pence, Donald Trump, Trump, Lincoln, Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum, Karen Organizations: Republican, White House, Republican Jewish, Trump, Associated Press, NORC, for Public Affairs Research, Indiana, Arkansas Gov, Republican Party, Las, The Heritage Foundation, Social Security Locations: Las Vegas, Iowa, Miami, U.S, Israel

Republican presidential candidate Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks at the New Hampshire Republican Party's First in the Nation Leadership Summit in Nashua, New Hampshire, U.S., October 13, 2023. When Troy Scheuermann, a chiropractor in Van Buren County stood up to introduce DeSantis at a campaign stop in Keosauqua (pop. For farmer Lance Lillibridge of Benton County, Iowa, a personal touch from DeSantis, a politician not known for his warmth, is what secured his support. RURAL ROADSIn a recent three-day swing through Iowa, DeSantis traveled through Davis County (pop. The Trump campaign said it has identified 1,800 in-state volunteers to support the campaign, as well as 200 county chairs representing all 99 counties.

Persons: Ron DeSantis, Brian Snyder, Donald Trump, Trump, DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Mike Pence, Tim Scott, Troy Scheuermann, Scheuermann, “, ”, ” DeSantis, Van, Le Mars, Don Kass, Mike Van Otterloo, Van Otterloo, David Kochel, Jeb Bush, Mitt Romney, Kochel, Lance Lillibridge, Lillibridge, ” Lillibridge, Ted Cruz, Rick Santorum, Mike Huckabee, you’re, “ We’ve, Jessica Szymanski, Szymanski, James Oliphant, Gram Slattery, Nathan Layne, Ross Colvin, Claudia Parsons Organizations: Florida, New Hampshire Republican Party's, Nation Leadership Summit, REUTERS, Republican, Trump, Iowa, Ipsos, Iowa Republican, United Nations, Ukraine, PEOPLE Reuters, Reuters, Cream, Plymouth County, Supervisors, DeSantis, Iowa Corn Growers Association, Arkansas, “, PAC, White, Thomson Locations: Nashua , New Hampshire, U.S, , Iowa, Iowa, Florida, DeSantis, Van Buren County, Keosauqua, Van Buren, Le Mars , Iowa, Plymouth, Benton County , Iowa, China, Davis County, Buena Vista County

☆ DeSantis to relocate many election campaign staff as part of heavy Iowa push
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-04 | by ( James Oliphant | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Bolstered by an infusion of new cash, Republican candidate Ron DeSantis’ presidential bid is diverting more resources to Iowa, including relocating key members of his team there, his campaign said on Wednesday. The moves reflect the crucial role Iowa, the state with the first Republican nominating contest on Jan. 15, plays for DeSantis. The Florida governor's campaign has essentially made it a win-or-bust state because he badly trails Republican frontrunner Donald Trump in opinion polls in Iowa and elsewhere. The DeSantis campaign on Wednesday reported raising $15 million during the third quarter, although not all of those funds will be available for use during the Republican primary. His campaign is planning to relocate about one-third of its staff, including aides who handle strategy and communications, to Iowa for the stretch run before the contest, the campaign said.

Persons: Ron DeSantis ’, Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, James Uthmeier, Ted Cruz, Rick Santorum, DeSantis, Trump, James Oliphant, Ross Colvin, Grant McCool Organizations: DeSantis, Republican, The New York Times, Iowa, Thomson Locations: Iowa, Florida, DeSantis, U.S

CNN —A furious scramble for second place is underway in the crowded Republican primary contest, with candidates vying for an opportunity to directly take on front-runner Donald Trump. Since the 2024 presidential race began, the second-place spot in GOP primary polling has been a coveted one. He was more muted compared with other rivals at last month’s first Republican primary debate in Milwaukee, and he’s now polling at similar levels to several other non-Trump contenders. She said she ultimately intends to take part in the Republican primary and is considering Haley, Christie or former Texas Rep. Will Hurd. This cycle is shaping up to be similar to that, said Kyle Plotkin, a veteran Republican campaign strategist.

Persons: CNN —, Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, Trump, DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy, Nikki Haley, Chris Christie, Haley, ”, Ramaswamy, Tom Boyer, “, ” Boyer, Thalia Floras, Christie, Will Hurd, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry, Rick Santorum, Kyle Plotkin, “ Everyone’s, ” Plotkin, he’s, David Urban, ” Urban, ‘, It’s, That’s, Brett Doster, ” Doster, Mike, Pence, Vivek Organizations: CNN, Republican, Florida Gov, Trump, University of New, South Carolina Gov, New, New Jersey Gov, GOP, Republicans, Anselm College, Democratic Party, Texas Rep Locations: Florida, Milwaukee, University of New Hampshire, Granite, New Jersey, DeSantis, Iowa , New Hampshire, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Ukraine

Vander Plaats and his group are leaders in the state’s Christian conservative movement, which has enormous political influence in Iowa. “It’s a lot more money” than you typically see allocated in Iowa, said Steffen Schmidt, an emeritus political science professor at Iowa State University who studies political spending in the state. “We endorsed Rick Santorum and he stormed to a caucus victory due to our base of supporters,” Vander Plaats wrote. Dunwell referred a request for comment to Vander Plaats, who said Dunwell had been paid as an “independent contractor” since June. You like being around them,” Vander Plaats said on conservative podcast host Steve Deace’s show on Monday.

Persons: Ron DeSantis, Scott Morgan, Ron DeSantis scrambles, Donald Trump, DeSantis, Bob Vander Plaats, Vander, Vander Plaats, “, Steffen Schmidt, ”, Andrew Romeo, –, Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum, Ted Cruz, ” Vander Plaats, Steve Scheffler, Scheffler, “ Vander Plaats, Paul S, Ryan, Jess Szymanski, Jon Dunwell, Dunwell, Tucker Carlson, Vivek Ramaswamy, Tim Scott, Tricia McLaughlin, Ramaswamy, Scott, Mike Pence, Marc Short, Carlson, Santorum, Karen, ” Trump, Trump, Haley, Scott —, Casey, Steve Deace’s, ” Alexandra Ulmer, Joseph Tanfani, Jason Lange, Jason Szep Organizations: Republican U.S, Florida, Fair, REUTERS, Republican, Family, Foundation, pollsters Edison Media Research, Iowa State University, Family Leader, Trump, Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition, Reuters, Santorum, Iowa, DeSantis, ”, Fox News, Federal, Commission, Scott, PAC, Trust, Patriot Voices, Twitter, Thomson Locations: Iowa, Atlantic , Iowa, U.S, ” IOWA, Arkansas, Des Moines, New Hampshire, Nevada, Republic, San Francisco, Washington

Complicating the matter for DeSantis: Trump, the front-runner in the race by far, appears unwilling to provide him with a target. Rival campaigns smell blood in the water as DeSantis has faced questions over profligate campaign spending and his readiness for the national stage. In the most recent Reuters/Ipsos poll, released last week, Trump held 47% of the Republican vote nationally, with DeSantis dropping six points from July down to just 13%. Rick Santorum, a former U.S. senator and Republican presidential candidate who participated in a series of debates in the 2012 election, said DeSantis will need to be ready for an “onslaught” of attacks. “If I was on that stage, I would be going after Trump,” Santorum said.

Persons: Ron Desantis, Tucker Carlson, Scott Morgan, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Donald Trump, Trump, DeSantis, Nikki Haley, ”, Robert Bigelow, Rick Santorum, Santorum, “, ” Santorum, Justin Sayfie, Jeb Bush, ” Sayfie, Charlie Crist, Haley, Doug Burgum, Chris Christie, Tim Scott, Vivek Ramaswamy, Mike Pence, Pence, Christie, “ That’s, ” Aaron Kall, It’s, ” Kall, Marco Rubio, James Oliphant, Gram Slattery, Colleen Jenkins, Alistair Bell Organizations: Former Fox, Iowa Events Center, REUTERS, Florida Governor, Trump, Republican, United Nations, Reuters, Harvard Law School, TRUMP, New, University of Michigan, Thomson Locations: Florida, Des Moines , Iowa, U.S, Milwaukee, Haley , North Dakota, New Jersey

DeSantis is scheduled to visit Iowa on Friday, his third trip to the state since declaring his presidential bid. His wife, Casey DeSantis, last week traveled to Iowa to launch a national "Mamas for DeSantis" campaign focused on parental rights, hoping to win over the swing vote of suburban Republican women. DeSantis' supporters are also emphasizing what they see as the similarities between DeSantis and Kim Reynolds, Iowa's popular Republican governor, said one person close to the campaign. "The campaign has the most sophisticated and experienced team ever in Iowa, and is poised to crush DeSantis," Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said. A dearth of reliable polling in Iowa makes it difficult to assess the real strength of both DeSantis and Trump in the state.

Persons: Ron DeSantis, Donald Trump's, DeSantis, Trump, Chris Stirewalt, Stirewalt, Ted Cruz, Rick Santorum, Mike Huckabee, Steve Cortes, Donald Trump, They've, Ryan Frederick, Mike Pence, Tim Scott, Casey DeSantis, Kim Reynolds, Iowa's, Reynolds, Steven Cheung, Ann Selzer, Selzer, James Oliphant, Gram Slattery, Alexandra Ulmer, Ross Colvin, Alistair Bell Organizations: Republican, Trump, American Enterprise Institute, Arkansas, Fox Business, Republican Party, Iowa, Thomson Locations: Florida, Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, South Carolina, U.S, Trump, Adair County

☆ Analysis: Why Trump's Republican rivals should focus on New Hampshire, not Iowa
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-09 | by ( Harry Enten | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

All those candidates, however, then proceeded to lose the New Hampshire primary and the party nomination. Only 26% of New Hampshire Republican primary voters identified the same way. Trump has also been weaker among demographic groups who make up a larger share of the New Hampshire Republican electorate. Although the 2016 Iowa entrance poll did not ask about income, the 2020 general election exit poll did. (Note: Household and family income are somewhat different measures, but I’m merely demonstrating that New Hampshire Republicans are, on the whole, wealthier than Iowa Republicans.)

Persons: Donald Trump, South Carolina Sen, Tim Scott, Mike Pence –, Trump, Iowans, Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum, Ted Cruz, Bob Dole, George W, Bush, Mike Pence, Joseph Prezioso, Ron DeSantis, Quinnipiac, Iowa Republican caucusgoers, I’m, Chris Christie, Christie Organizations: CNN, –, Trump, Iowa Republican, Trump Republicans, Republican, New, Iowa, GOP, Hawkeye, Getty, New Hampshire Republicans, Iowa Republicans, Republicans, Florida Gov, New Hampshire GOP, New Hampshire Republican, New Jersey Gov Locations: South Carolina, Iowa, New Hampshire, Derry , New Hampshire, AFP, Hampshire, New, New Jersey

☆ Nobel economist Paul Krugman slams crypto as mostly useless, after saying it's hugely overpriced and helps criminals
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Theron Mohamed | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Paul Krugman says crypto is mostly useless, overvalued, and appeals to bank skeptics and criminals. The Nobel Prize-winning economist flagged a "crypto bubble" and the "dark side" of the crypto world. Krugman has dismissed crypto as inefficient, volatile, and propped up by hype and speculation. Sign up for our newsletter to get the inside scoop on what traders are talking about — delivered daily to your inbox. Krugman delivered a far harsher critique of crypto in a New York Times op-ed in April.

☆ Tim Scott's biggest financial backer is Larry Ellison, a tech billionaire who owns the sixth-largest island in Hawaii and has poured $35 million into the senator's super PAC
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Ellison has pumped $35 million into Scott's super PAC, and could legally give him millions more. On Monday, Ellison attended Scott's campaign launch in North Charleston, where Scott described him as one of his mentors. Trump's political operation includes the "MAGA, Inc" super PAC, while Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has enjoyed the support of the "Never Back Down" super PAC. Scott's campaign isn't the first time a Republican presidential candidate has heavily relied on a single megadonor.

Trump won 76% of the white evangelical vote in 2020, down from 80% in 2016, according to Edison Research exit polls. In a March poll, Trump edged DeSantis among evangelicals in a two-way matchup 51% to 42%, a nine-point improvement for Trump from the month before. The gathering is traditionally an important stop for Republican presidential candidates, although this year DeSantis, who was invited, will not be going. Vander Plaats said evangelicals will consider whether Trump can prevail next year after losing the 2020 election to President Joe Biden. “I don’t think President Trump is a principled man -- I think he was a great president,” Ascol said.

☆ DeSantis makes Iowa debut as Trump waits in wings
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( James Oliphant | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Iowa could be particularly crucial for DeSantis, who is expected to jump into the 2024 White House race later in the spring. Addressing a welcoming crowd at a casino in Davenport, Iowa, DeSantis boasted about his policy record in Florida and blasted the Democratic Biden administration on issues such as crime and immigration. Craig Robinson, a former political director of the Iowa Republican Party, believes Iowa voters are eager to hear from DeSantis, who polls show to be Trump's biggest rival for the nomination. Randy Yaddof, 71, of Davenport described himself as a Trump supporter but said after listening to DeSantis he was considering backing the Florida governor. A Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll released on Friday showed declining favorability ratings for Trump among Iowa Republicans.

☆ DeSantis, Trump to collide in key state of Iowa
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( James Oliphant | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Iowa could be particularly crucial for DeSantis, who is expected to jump into the 2024 White House race later in the spring. The state will hold the first Republican nominating contest early next year, and a win there would show DeSantis is a viable candidate against Trump. DeSantis will appear at events in Des Moines, the state capital, and the river town of Davenport that will be moderated by Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds. Craig Robinson, a former political director of the Iowa Republican Party, believes Iowa voters are eager to hear from DeSantis, who polls show to be Trump's biggest rival for the nomination. But the Midwestern state will remain as the first electoral test for Republican presidential candidates.

☆ Trump won't be able to terminate the US Constitution but a Republican-led effort to rewrite it continues
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-02 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Advocates on both sides of a long-running effort to rewrite the Constitution will face off again in 2023. Meckler's organization is one of the largest players in the Article V push. Article V requires there to be 34 states for a convention to be formed. Convention of States is not alone in its pursuit of the Article V movement. Outside of Convention of States, efforts to call a convention to pass a Balanced Budget Amendment also continue.

☆ Trump isn’t the only thing that could rock American democracy
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Zachary B. Wolf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

In a rare bright spot for democracy in the wake of the US Capitol insurrection, Walker – unlike Trump after 2020 – conceded his loss. But looking to the next election, there’s a brewing fight over which states should have the first say in the presidential primary process. The most core question raised this week is being put to Supreme Court justices. Removing a check from the systemThe leap from Trump’s call to end the Constitution to the independent state legislature theory isn’t that far. Under the map approved by the state Supreme Court and after last month’s midterm elections, the delegation will be an even 7-7 when the new Congress is seated in January.

☆ Democrats’ plan to give Iowa the boot from top primary spot is great news
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Joshua Spivak | Joshua Spivak Is The Author Of | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

This year, it’s the Democrats with a noteworthy shakeup to the 2024 primary and caucus calendar. Biden finished a distant fourth in Iowa and fifth in New Hampshire and was seen as dead in the water. Perhaps what makes Iowa even more problematic for Democrats is that it has moved out of the political center. In 1988’s Democratic caucus, it is still arguably unknown who really won: the declared winner, Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt, or Illinois Sen. Paul Simon. Perhaps what makes Iowa even more problematic for Democrats is that it has moved out of the political center.

☆ Republicans' next big play is to 'scare the hell out of Washington' by rewriting the Constitution. And they're willing to play the long game to win.
▼ + stars: | 2022-07-31 | by ( Grace Panetta | Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +27 min

Whether it happens, he said, is highly dependent on Republicans' success winning state legislatures during the 2022 midterm elections. But not everyone in the conservative constitutional convention movement believes such a gathering is so imminent. Constitutional convention boosters include many of Trump's current and former allies, including conservative legal scholar John Eastman, Florida Gov. In 2012, the Republican National Committee went so far as to pass a resolution formally opposing the convention movement. A convention of states would be the first of its kind since the original Constitutional convention in Philadelphia in 1787.

☆ Many Americans think of education and transportation as public goods, but they're actually heavily privatized. Here's why that's a problem.
▼ + stars: | 2022-01-29 | by ( Paul Constant | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Cohen said the privatization of public goods like education won't benefit the majority of Americans. Many fields that ordinary Americans assume to be public goods — public education, libraries, public transportation — don't fit that strict description. "In that definition, healthcare is a private good, not a public good," Cohen said. We're all familiar with the trickle-down claim that under a profit motive, business can provide public goods more efficiently than the government. "The alternative of private control over public goods is public control over public goods," he said.

☆ Mitt Romney officially ends his 2012 presidential campaign by transferring $92,000 in leftover cash to his Senate coffers
▼ + stars: | 2020-09-02 | by ( Dave Levinthal | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Dozens of zombie congressional campaign committees together are sitting on nearly $200 million, NBCLX reported. More than half of the Romney presidential committee's remaining $92,000 was transferred to his US Senate committee, which reported about $325,000 cash on hand as of June 30. Asked why it took so long for Romney's campaign to shut down, a former Romney campaign official said it's a "several years' long process to shut down a presidential campaign committee." Obama terminated his 2012 presidential campaign committee more than two years ago, on July 15, 2018. Santorum's 2012 presidential committee owes about $450,000, while his 2016 presidential committee remains about $520,000 in arrears.

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