{"id":1995504,"date":"2023-08-09T14:47:01","date_gmt":"2023-08-09T18:47:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/why-shrinking-the-2024-gop-field-to-trump-vs-not-trump-is-easier-said-than-done\/"},"modified":"2023-08-09T14:48:50","modified_gmt":"2023-08-09T18:48:50","slug":"why-shrinking-the-2024-gop-field-to-trump-vs-not-trump-is-easier-said-than-done","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/why-shrinking-the-2024-gop-field-to-trump-vs-not-trump-is-easier-said-than-done\/","title":{"rendered":"Reducing the 2024 GOP contenders to Trump vs. Not Trump is no simple task."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwhy-shrinking-the-2024-gop-field-to-trump-vs-not-trump-is-easier-said-than-done%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1995504&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>Sen.\u2064 Mitt Romney Sets Deadline for Republican Presidential Field<\/h2>\n<p>Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) has set a Feb. 26 deadline for the Republican presidential field to unite around\u200b an alternative\u200b to former President Donald Trump. However, the current \u2063state of the race suggests that this\u2063 task is more \u2064challenging than anticipated.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Part of the problem \u2062is that the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/why-shrinking-the-2024-gop-field-to-trump-vs-not-trump-is-easier-said-than-done\/\" title=\"Reducing the 2024 GOP contenders to Trump vs. Not Trump is no simple task.\">entire field appears noncompetitive<\/a> at the moment. Trump consistently leads in national polls, with an average of just under \u206254% according\u200c to RealClearPolitics. In the \u200cearly \u2063states, where the race is most crucial, Trump maintains a significant lead of\u200c 20\u200d to 30 points over his competitors.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h3>The Challenge of Finding Trump Alternatives<\/h3>\n<p>The alternatives to Trump have struggled to consolidate the anti-Trump vote\u2063 and attract soft Trump supporters. Without a significant shift in these dynamics, it begs the \u200bquestion of who would drop out.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL)<\/strong> has\u2062 no reason to end his campaign. He consistently\u2063 polls in the double\u2062 digits, alongside Trump. DeSantis has also raised\u200c a substantial amount of money. Additionally, if DeSantis were to leave the race, a considerable number of his supporters could potentially gravitate towards Trump.<\/p>\n<p>DeSantis remains the most viable candidate\u200d to challenge Trump, despite not meeting expectations as the runner-up. As stricter debate \u200drequirements and donor pressure come into play, DeSantis has room to grow and\u200b attract more college-educated Republican\u200b voters.<\/p>\n<p>Unless another candidate, such as <strong>Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA)<\/strong>, enters the race and\u200b disrupts the dynamics, the case\u200d for DeSantis dropping out is weak.<\/p>\n<p>However, for other candidates like <strong>Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC)<\/strong>, the situation is different. Scott is polling in double digits in Iowa and his home state of South Carolina, although trailing behind\u2062 former UN \u2063Ambassador \u2063Nikki Haley.<\/p>\n<p>Scott can argue that he \u2064is gaining momentum, while DeSantis has failed to dislodge \u200bTrump as the frontrunner. Scott&#8217;s positive demeanor, reminiscent of Ronald Reagan, sets him apart from \u200dTrump without alienating him. Scott&#8217;s absence from Trump&#8217;s remarks at the South Carolina GOP fundraising dinner is a testament to this.<\/p>\n<p>If Scott can continue to raise funds, there is little reason for him to drop out before Iowa. \u200dIf things go well, he could make a case\u200c for staying in until at\u200b least South Carolina, which is two days \u2062before Romney&#8217;s deadline.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Vivek Ramaswamy<\/strong> \u2063may find hope in certain polls. While the New York Times\/Siena College poll puts him at just 2%, other polls show him at higher percentages, such as 6% in\u2063 Economist\/YouGov, 7% in Reuters\/Ipsos,\u200c and even 10% in a Fox Business poll.<\/p>\n<p>Ramaswamy&#8217;s optimism may be a\u2064 stretch, but he can convince himself that his version of &#8220;Trump Lite&#8221;\u2064 is gaining\u2063 traction while DeSantis&#8217;s is \u2062not. As a self-funded \u2062candidate,\u2063 he is \u200dcurrently immune to donor pressure. For \u2063now, he only needs\u2064 to\u200d convince \u2062one person that he has a\u200d legitimate shot.<\/p>\n<p>For candidates polling below \u2063Haley, they can tell themselves that they are not causing any harm. DeSantis is not one strong competitor away from being on par with Trump. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie believes his debate skills alone can be devastating to Trump, justifying his presence \u200cin the race.<\/p>\n<p>While some of the money \u200cdonated to <strong>Gov. Doug Burgum (R-ND)<\/strong> could be better spent\u200b elsewhere, his 0.3% in the RealClearPolitics average won&#8217;t make or break a challenge to\u2062 Trump.<\/p>\n<h3>The Challenge of Altering the Dynamics<\/h3>\n<p>Egos, operatives, and motivated\u200d reasoning all contribute to the reluctance of candidates to drop out of\u2063 the 2024 presidential race. However, with all candidates polling below\u2063 20%\u200b while Trump maintains a significant\u2062 lead of 40% to 60%, their chances of altering this dynamic rely on luck, magic, or\u2064 unforeseen circumstances.<\/p>\n<p>In 2016, it was believed that Trump won\u200b because other candidates, such as\u200b then-Gov. John Kasich of Ohio and Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX)\u200d and Marco Rubio (R-FL), stayed in the race for too long. While Kasich had no viable path to the nomination, it was unclear whether Cruz or Rubio would have fared better against Trump in a one-on-one contest. By the time Rubio dropped out, it was too late.<\/p>\n<p>Every Republican with presidential ambitions believes they \u2064could defeat Trump if\u200b given a fair chance. However, the \u2062likelihood of that happening is less certain now, considering Trump&#8217;s \u2063previous victories and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/desantis-calls-for-special-session-that-will-address-threat-of-big-tech-censorship\/\" title=\"DeSantis Calls For Special Session That Will Address Threat Of Big Tech Censorship\">current legal challenges<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>There will be \u2062a \u2062limited window\u200c for the field to narrow down while Trump is still potentially beatable,\u200b but it won&#8217;t\u2062 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/state-department-irans-nuclear-transgressions-make-return-to-deal-harder\/\" title=\"State Department: Iran\u2019s Nuclear Transgressions Make Return to Deal Harder\">remain open indefinitely<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/opinion\/romney-sets-deadline-for-republican-presidential-field\">Click here to read more from The Washington \u200bExaminer<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) aimed to narrow the Republican presidential field by Feb. 26 and unite against former President Donald Trump. However, the current state of the race reveals the difficulty in achieving this. The lack of competitiveness among the candidates poses a significant challenge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1995506,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1995504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1995504","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1995504"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1995504\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1995506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1995504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1995504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1995504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}