As you know, there have been plenty of rumors surrounding what could be a very crowded Republican presidential primary field. In fact, it’s beginning to look like it could have as many candidates as the very busy Democratic primary in 2020.
Naturally, names like former and one-term President Donald Trump top the list of possible candidates. Florida’s GOP Governor Ron DeSantis is also expected to run or has at least been floated as a likely contender. Other big names include Texas Senator Ted Cruz, former U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley, Trump’s Vice President Mike Pence, and even former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Now, of course, given that the November congressional midterms are just around the corner, no one on the Republican side of the aisle has made an official announcement or statement about whether they will be running or not.
Doing so at this point would not only allow the Democrats that much more time to hash out a plan of attack but also possibly negatively affect the upcoming elections. And seeing as how the GOP could overtake the majorities in both congressional houses, no one can afford to mess that up.
But it doesn’t mean that possible contenders can’t start making tentative plans and even getting their names out there more.
Take newly instated Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, for example.
You might remember his startling upset in Virginia last year when he defeated former governor and thought to be crowd favorite, Terry McAuliffe. In doing so, he successfully flipped the state from blue to red, making him an instant star for the Republican Party.
But a star big enough to run for president? That certainly seems like it might be the case, according to his future travel plans.
No, he hasn’t announced a bid for the White House. As I explained above, that’s not such a good idea at this point.
However, he is taking some action as of late that has quite a few wondering if that is his plan.
As it was first announced by Politico, the governor will be traveling to no less than five other states in the coming weeks, where he is scheduled to meet and hold rallies with the GOP gubernatorial candidate of that state.
A political adviser to Youngkin, Kristin Davison, told The Hill that he would soon be traveling to Georgia, Kansas, Nevada, Oregon, and New Mexico. And more states could be added.
Now, clearly, the governor could just be doing his best to promote the Republican Party and support those candidates.
Then again, Davison says he has a lot of other events planned that aren’t just about promoting particular candidates.
In September, for instance, he’s scheduled to attend a Susan B. Anthony List-hosted gala in Washington DC.
Additionally, he’s also slated to headline the Michigan GOP state convention. He’ll also be campaigning for that state’s GOP gubernatorial candidate, Tudor Dixon, who is endorsed by Donald Trump and won her primary earlier this month.
Similarly, in September, he will be holding an event with Nevada’s gubernatorial GOP candidate Joe Lombardo.
Again, all that he’s doing could be seen as him just going above and beyond for the sake of his party. But why else do those things as a first-time governor and one in your first year, no less? Besides, pretty much all of the states where he is traveling so far are fairly well known as battleground states.
When asked about the possibility, though, he naturally declined that a presidential run was his intention. During an interview last month, Youngkin said he was “hugely humbled” that someone might even seriously consider him as a presidential candidate, but “that’s not a decision that we have even begun to undertake.”
In any case, he’s sure doing a good job of putting himself out there, being a team player, and promoting the party. And all of that looks great to those of us beginning to think about who we will vote for, should they run, come November 2024.
