The “Who is running in 2024?” tea leaves thread

[NewYorkExpress]

Pete Buttigeig is heading to the Minnesota State Fair.

Klobuchar said on Thursday, she's stopping at the Farmer's Union, the cattle barns, and will be accompanying U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg as he visits the fair.

"He's from Indiana, he thinks he's seen everything, but he hasn't seen the Minnesota State Fair, which is the biggest state fair in the country," Klobuchar said. "I will be bringing him to the butter carving."

From the same article, Amy Klobuchar on her 2024 Presidential plans.

Asked what she plans to tell people if she's asked if she's running for president again in 2024, she said she will reply, "I'm headed to the butter carving booth."

[NewYorkExpress]

Klobuchar was asked about whether she’d consider running in 2024:

https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/sen-amy-klobuchar-presidential-run-2024/

"President Biden has said that he's running again and I take him at his word," Klobuchar said. "I love my job representing Minnesota in the U.S. Senate, and I think you see why with what we've been able to do the last few months. And it is great to be home getting out talking to people, getting their idea, bringing them back and, yes, going to the State Fair."

So, similar to the non-denials that Warren has given: On the surface, it sounds like it’s a denial.  Except it’s all couched in the context of “Well, Biden is presumably going to run again, so why are you asking me this?”….which dodges the question of whether she would rule it out in a scenario where Biden doesn’t run.

Klobuchar would be even more of a non-starter than Harris is because of her past as a DA. I maintain that to win the Democratic nomination, the eventual nominee will have to support #defundthepolice, at a minimum.

[NewYorkExpress]

The Biden/Harris ticket has filed with the FEC, which should put an end to any speculation on the Democratic side.

[NewYorkExpress]

In case anyone's wondering if Kamala Harris will run against Biden in 2024 or if she will be dropped from the ticket in 2024...not happening.

Vice President Harris said in an interview broadcast on Sunday that she would again run on President Biden’s ticket in 2024 if he decides to seek reelection.

“The president has been very clear that he intends to run again,” Harris told host Chuck Todd on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”


“And if he does, I will be running with him proudly,” Harris added.

[NewYorkExpress]

Glenn Youngkin's been on the campaign trail stumping for Republican candidates in the midterms. So far, he's stopped in Nevada and Michigan, with stops in Kansas and Arizona still to come.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin is expected to stump for Arizona governor candidate Kari Lake next month, escalating his midterm campaign efforts ahead of a prospective 2024 presidential bid.

Youngkin is embarking on the Arizona trip as part of a broader nationwide campaign tour to bolster Republican candidates for governor. In recent weeks, he has traveled to Nevada — an early state on the 2024 GOP nominating calendar — and to Michigan, where Republicans are looking to unseat Democratic incumbents. Youngkin is headed to Kansas later this week.

[NewYorkExpress]

Speculation continuing to swirl around Gavin Newsom.

Governor Gavin Newsom is in the midst of his re-election campaign, and yet in recent months -- with his tweets calling out red state governors and his TV ads airing in Texas and Florida -- it's felt less like he's running for statewide office and more like he's eyeing a presidential run.

His decision on Monday to veto a bill that would have legalized safe injection sites in some California cities also added to the speculation Newsom may be contemplating higher office.



"I don't think it's unusual that the California governor would be making moves that would suggest he may run for national office," political strategist Rob Stutzman told ABC7 News. "Every California governor, more or less, at some point envisions themselves in the oval office."

Joseph Cotchett, a top Democratic donor and longtime friend of the governor and President Biden, told ABC7 News he believes Newsom is setting himself up to run for president if Biden does not seek re-election.

"There's absolutely no question in my mind from what I know about him, and I may be wrong, that he will run for president," Cotchett said.

Governor Newsom has repeatedly denied he is setting himself up to run for president. He recently told the San Francisco Chronicle he has "sub-zero interest" in running.

"He may have a sub-zero interest in it now, but not if Joe Biden says I'm not going to run," he said. "If that comes out, he will move forward very fast."

[NewYorkExpress]

based:

https://twitter.com/johnhinckley20/status/1572981115845251072

Well, that's one way to get Jodie Foster's attention.

[NewYorkExpress]

Trump has a new Super PAC.

Top allies of former President Donald Trump are creating a new super PAC that’s expected to serve as the main vehicle for his midterm spending and could become a key part of his campaign infrastructure should he move forward with a 2024 White House run.

The political action committee, called MAGA Inc., will supersede Trump’s existing super PAC, Politico first reported. Paperwork for the new committee was filed Friday morning with the Federal Election Commission.

[NewYorkExpress]

Bernie Sanders leaving the door open to a third White House campaign.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Monday said he hadn’t yet decided whether he will make another bid for the White House.

“That’s a big — you know, I haven’t made that decision,” Sanders said on “CBS Mornings.”

[NewYorkExpress]

Sepculation continuing to swirl around Liz Cheney.

Rep. Liz Cheney’s (R-Wyo.) comment that she will not be a Republican if former President Trump wins the party’s 2024 presidential nomination is sparking chatter that she might mount an independent White House run. 

While Cheney lost her House primary to the former president’s endorsed candidate last month, her break with the MAGA wing of the GOP has made her the leader of the anti-Trump movement among Republicans and beyond.


It’s unclear whether Cheney will run in 2024 at all, whether she would run as an independent if she mounted a bid or what impact an independent bid could have on what’s shaping up to be another Trump-focused presidential election. But observers say she’ll continue to be an important figure on the national stage no matter what. 

...

“I’m gonna make sure Donald Trump — I’m gonna do everything I can to make sure he’s not the nominee,” she said during an interview at The Texas Tribune Festival on Saturday.   

“And if he is the nominee, I won’t be a Republican,” she added.   


Additionally, the outgoing congresswoman said that she would be willing to campaign for Democrats ahead of November’s midterm elections.   

Cheney — who has said she’s “thinking about” a presidential run — remains one of the big wild cards ahead of 2024. Though third-party presidential campaigns have historically fallen flat, Cheney’s high profile means an independent bid has the potential to scramble the political calculus as GOP primary voters increasingly nominate hard-right candidates for office, frustrating more moderate Republicans. 

[NewYorkExpress]

Tim Scott now has a Super PAC, and was in New Hampshire last week.

South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott’s closest adviser is leaving his office to take a broader role in his political operation, a move that comes amid a growing role in the midterm campaign — and speculation that he could run for president in 2024.

Jennifer DeCasper, who has been Scott’s chief of staff since 2015, is departing the Senate to start her own consulting firm, where she will help guide his political activities ahead of the midterm elections, including advising a new Scott-aligned super PAC that is expected to spend heavily for candidates on the ballot this year. The group — dubbed Opportunity Matters Fund Action — is focused on voter turnout and digital and mail advertising.


Scott has taken a highly active role in the midterm election: He has endorsed an array of candidates and is expected to visit more than a half-dozen states to bolster Republican contenders. Meanwhile, a separate pro-Scott super PAC launched in 2020, Opportunity Matters Fund, has spent $17 million to boost more than a dozen candidates, including sending $5 million to Senate Leadership Fund, the GOP’s primary Senate super PAC.


Scott’s increasingly high profile has sparked buzz that he is readying a national campaign. In August, he traveled to Iowa, which hosts the GOP’s first presidential nominating contest, and he is expected to return to the state later this week. Last fall, he made a trip to New Hampshire, another key state on the calendar.

And Opportunity Matters Fund’s ads have backed a pair of House Republicans in Iowa and the GOP Senate nominee in Nevada, a third early-voting state in the presidential nominating process. Scott’s leadership PAC, meanwhile, has lavished hundreds of thousands of dollars on Republicans in his home state, which hosts the first-in-the-South primary.

[NewYorkExpress]

https://twitter.com/rpyers/status/1578140991772508161

The sad part of this is, if he ran in the Senate race, he'd beat Tester by more than Gianforte would if he ran.

[NewYorkExpress]

Dwayne Johnson will apparently rule out a run for President on CBS Sunday Morning this weekend.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is no longer cooking up a White House bid, saying a run for president is “off the table.”

“I will say this because it requires a B side to this,” Johnson said in a preview clip from “CBS Sunday Morning” released Friday.


“I love our country and everyone in it. I also love being a daddy,” the wrestler-turned-actor and father of three told CBS’s Tracy Smith.

“Especially during this time, this critical time in my daughters’ lives,” Johnson, 50, said. “Because I know what it was like to be on the road and be so busy that I was absent for a lot of years in my first daughter’s growing up in this critical age and at this critical time in her life.”

[NewYorkExpress]

Not sure if we've missed it recently, but Pete Buttigeig and Kamala Harris has been going round the country recently fundraising for Democrats, and getting vastly different receptions. They've been to New Hampshire (Buttigeig), Texas (Harris) and South Carolina (both since June). Buttigeig has been much better received by his fellow Democrats than Harris too...

[NewYorkExpress]

Politico article speculating about backers of Wes Moore positioning him for a run for President.

Wes Moore is on the rise — and some of the Democrat’s close allies already have their sights on more than just the Maryland governor’s mansion.

Moore is poised to become just the third elected Black governor in U.S. history if he holds onto a wide polling lead in Maryland. He may well be the nation’s only Black chief executive in the country next year.


Accomplishing that feat comes with lofty expectations from a Democratic Party hungry for a new generation of leaders. Moore would also enter the governorship under intense scrutiny: a political neophyte promising to usher in an era of transformation in his first elected gig.


If such a high-pressure debut seems like cause for caution, his supporters aren’t tempering their enthusiasm.

Moore has racked up a slew of endorsements, including a rare political nod from Oprah Winfrey. Democratic luminaries are drawn to the energy and charisma he displays on the trail running for the state’s open governorship.


Even President Joe Biden chose a Democratic Party event in the Washington, D.C. suburb of Rockville as his unofficial midterm campaign kickoff. There Biden heaped praise on Moore, the former head of the Robin Hood Foundation, the anti-poverty nonprofit, as well as a captain who led troops in the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division in Afghanistan.



“Wes is the real deal. The real deal, folks. He’s a combat veteran. Only drawback is he’s a Rhodes Scholar,” Biden joked. “Former CEO of one of the biggest anti-poverty organizations in America,” he continued, “and if we all do our part, the next governor of Maryland.”

And while the president made no mention of his former boss, others in the party can’t help but compare Moore, a moderate, to the nation’s first Black president. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer not-so-subtly reached for not one, but two former presidents as comparisons when asked about Moore’s experience.

“Ronald Reagan didn’t have much experience before he became the governor of the largest state, except as an actor. Barack Obama had a few years [in the U.S. Senate],” said Hoyer, the No. 2 Democrat in the House, deflecting criticisms raised about Moore.

[NewYorkExpress]

Interesting comments from Pence in regards to backing Trump in 2024.

Former Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday hinted at his own plans for 2024 as he dodged a question about voting for former President Trump in the next election.

“Well, there might be somebody else I prefer more,” Pence said with a smile during an appearance at Georgetown University.


Pence was asked by a student in attendance if he would vote for Trump in 2024 if the former president is the GOP nominee.

“All my focus has been on the midterm elections, and it’ll stay that way for the next 20 days. But after that, we’ll be thinking about the future,” Pence said.

[NewYorkExpress]

Trump, in Texas hints at announcing run again.

Former President Trump said Saturday that he would “probably” have to run for the White House again, alluding to a potential 2024 rematch against President Biden.

At a rally in Robstown, Texas, Trump, who was campaigning for Republicans in the state, continued to push unfounded claims that he won the 2020 election.


“I ran twice. I won twice,” he said. “I did much better the second time than I did before.”

The former president noted he got “millions more votes in 2020 than 2016” and “more votes than any sitting president in the history of our country by far.”

“And now, in order to make our country successful, safe and glorious again, I will probably have to do it again,” he added.

[NewYorkExpress]

Kari Lake shutting down speculation that she will be Trump's running mate in 2024.

Arizona GOP gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake (R) said on Sunday that she plans to serve two full terms as governor amid speculation that she could be former President Trump’s running mate if he runs in 2024.

On ABC’s “This Week,” co-anchor Jonathan Karl asked Lake if there is any truth to rumors that she is a potential vice presidential candidate.


Lake, who has embraced Trump’s backing during her campaign, has repeatedly pushed the former president’s false voter fraud claims and is in a tight race with Democrat Katie Hobbs, Arizona’s current secretary of state.

“My question is, if you’re elected, will you commit to serving all four years as governor?” Karl asked Lake.

“I’m going to serve eight years as governor of Arizona,” Lake replied.



Karl asked again if she intends to finish her term in office if she is elected.

“OK. I just — I’m hearing this a lot on the campaign trail, and what I think is happening, Jonathan, is the media is trying to scare the public I’m going to leave. I am devoted and dedicated to saving Arizona,” Lake told Karl.

“All four years?” Karl asked again.


“To turning it around. And I like to say I’m the fake news’s worst nightmare,” Lake continued.  “I’m going to be their worst nightmare in Arizona for eight years. I’m going to have two terms as governor.”

[NewYorkExpress]

Gavin Newsom vows to serve his full four year term if reelected.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sunday vowed he would serve a full four-year term if reelected in November, trying again to knock down speculation that he wants to replace Democrat Joe Biden on the ballot should he not seek a second term.

Newsom made the promise during an hourlong debate with his Republican challenger, state Sen. Brian Dahle — the only time the two candidates will meet face to face before voting ends on Nov. 8.

Newsom is expected to easily win reelection in November more than one year after beating back a recall attempt fueled by anger at his pandemic policies — which included the nation’s first statewide stay-at-home order. He has barely campaigned in California this year, instead spending money on ads in challenging Republican leaders Florida and Texas — potential opponents in a presidential election.

“Everyday Californians understand what is happening here in California and the governor is focused on running for president,” Dahle said during a debate that was broadcast live on the radio by KQED News. The debate will air again Sunday night on KQED Public Television.


Asked directly by co-moderator Marisa Lagos if he would commit to serving all four years if he’s reelected, Newsom said “yes.” Newsom defended his national campaigning, saying he “barely” left the state to take on national Republican leaders, who he says are banning books and “demeaning” the LGBT community.

[NewYorkExpress]

Marjorie Taylor Greene just had a rally in Iowa.

[NewYorkExpress]

Corey Stapleton's website has been upgraded and his twitter bio says he's a candidate for president.

He's eventually going to drop down to the Senate by mid-2023. Probably going to beat Tester too, barring something really odd happening.

[NewYorkExpress]

Republican Jewish Coalition in Las Vegas was over the weekend. In attendance was Donald Trump (already announced), Mike Pompeo, Chris Christie, Ron DeSantis, Larry Hogan, Nikki Haley, Mike Pence and Chris Sununu.

[NewYorkExpress]

Pence's non-profit hires Ali Kjergaard, a spokesman for Ben Sasse. Also, he's heading back to New Hampshire in the New Year.

Former Vice President Mike Pence is building out his political staff, the latest indication that he’s prepping a White House bid that will pit him against his former boss, ex-President Donald Trump.

Ali Kjergaard, a spokesperson for outgoing Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse, has been tapped to serve as communications director for Advancing American Freedom, a Pence-aligned non-profit organization that is serving as the former vice president’s campaign-in-waiting. Those familiar with the hiring process say two additional communications officials are expected to be added sometime early next year. Pence’s team is also looking to bring on fundraising aides.


The staffing additions are the latest step Pence has taken toward launching a 2024 bid. Last week, he released a memoir and made an appearance at the Republican Jewish Coalition conference in Las Vegas, an event that attracted a handful of prospective presidential aspirants. The former vice president spent the last year campaigning across the country for Republican candidates in the midterm election – including in early GOP nominating states like Iowa and New Hampshire.


Pence is expected to continue his political travel into the new year, with a trip to New Hampshire among the potential stops. A Christian evangelical, Pence is also slated to embark on a tour of mega-churches.

So far, the Pence operation totals around two dozen staff and consultants, a group that includes his former chief of staff, Marc Short, and former press secretary, Devin O’Malley, and a veteran GOP strategist, Chip Saltsman. All three are likely to play roles in a 2024 bid.

[NewYorkExpress]

Gavin Newsom has told the White House that he won't challenge Biden in 2024.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has won three elections in five years in America’s largest state, is apoplectic about his party’s messaging defects and follows Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the right-wing media ecosystem with a zeal that would put some opposition researchers to shame.

But Newsom wants the word to go forth: He’s not going to challenge President Biden for the Democratic nomination in 2024.


“I’ve told everyone in the White House, from the chief of staff to the first lady,” he recounted to me as we sat on the top floor of California’s now-ceremonial governor’s mansion on election night.


His message to Ron Klain and Jill Biden over the summer — when he visited Washington amid growing speculation, and considerable West Wing irritation, that he was plotting a primary challenge — was to count him as a firm supporter of Biden’s reelection: “I’m all in, count me in,” he said he told them.

Newsom relayed the same to Biden himself on election night.

[NewYorkExpress]

Independent President Campaign announcement imminent?