What Comes After: A 2024 Game (Gameplay-PAUSED)

[John King wannabe]

Vice President Harris address South Carolina Democratic Convention

Columbia, SC

Vice President Kamala Harris attended the South Carolina Democratic Party's convention where she addressed South Carolina delegates and attempted to rub elbows with influential Democrats in South Carolina who would be pivotal to her winning the South Carolina primary in February of 2024. The Vice President would make a grand entrance with a drumline and dancers before marching to the stage using her status as Vice President to become a featured and headline speaker. An excerpt of her remarks are below;

"Wassup South Carolina Democrats! (Laughs)"

"I am honored to be here with you today at this important convention. As we gather together, I want to speak to you about the values that have always guided our party, and how we can continue to fight for progress and justice in the years ahead. Of course, I want to acknowledge the great Congressman and Assistant Democratic Leader, Congressman James Clyburn! A great American and advocate for Democratic ideals, and I hope Congressman Clyburn continues to play an important part in our Democratic process (Chuckle)"

"Our great Democratic party, the party of figures like Franklin Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Shirley Chisholm, Jesse Jackson! Barack Obama! They have all found their roots in this great party fueled by the power of people of color. Lifting their voices for what they believe the future of our country should look like. A party of equality, a party of equal opportunity and a party of progress!"

"But we also know that there is still so much work to be done. In a country as wealthy and powerful as ours, it is unacceptable that so many of our citizens are struggling to make ends meet, or are being left behind by a system that is rigged in favor of the wealthy and the powerful."

"That's why I believe it is more important than ever that we stand together and fight for policies that will lift up working families and create a more equitable and just society. Whether it's raising the minimum wage, expanding access to affordable healthcare, or investing in infrastructure and clean energy, we must do everything in our power to create a brighter future for all Americans."

"I know that these are difficult times, and that there are many challenges ahead. But I am confident that, by working together and standing up for what we believe in, we can overcome any obstacle and build a better future for all."

"So let's roll up our sleeves, get to work, and never stop fighting for the values that have always defined our party. Together, we can create a brighter, more equitable future for all South Carolinians, and for all Americans."

"Thank you all so much! And may God bless you!"

The Vice President would then privately huddle with Congressman Clyburn and once again lobby him for his support, getting him in contact with her campaign team before talking to other influential donors and encouraging them to make a sizable donation to her campaign.

The Vice President would then leave South Carolina back to Washington to attend to her official duties as Vice President.

[John King wannabe]

Vice President Harris rallies the troops in Nevada, strengthens campaign ground game

Already bouncing off a successful campaign launch and a much applauded speech at the South Carolina Democratic Party convention, The Harris campaign believes that momentum is on their side. The campaign has dumped a considerable amount of resources into early states, particularly, South Carolina, Georgia and Nevada. Those 3 states are where they see the Vice President as most likely to win and are attempting to build a strong ground game to avoid a repeat of the first Harris nationwide campaign.

Meanwhile the Vice President has hit the road, hitting the early primary state of South Carolina and now Nevada. The next door neighbor for the Vice President and a state with a high Latino population in which Harris hopes to stop from swaying to the Republican party. Harris has aimed to play a populist tone in these early states, aiming to appear more down to earth and relatable than a Vice President usually would seem.

The Vice President recently spoke on the issue of Universal Pre-K to a group in Las Vegas, Nevada. An excerpt of her remarks are below;

"As many of you know, I am a strong believer in the power of education. And one of the most important investments we can make in our children's futures is in early childhood education."

"That's why I am such a strong advocate for universal pre-k. (Laugh) Universal pre-k ensures that every child, regardless of their background or circumstances, has access to high-quality early learning experiences. And the research shows that these experiences can have a lasting impact on a child's development and success in school and beyond."

"But universal pre-k is about more than just academic achievement. It also helps to level the playing field for children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Too often, children from low-income families miss out on the same opportunities as their more affluent peers. Universal pre-k helps to bridge that gap and give every child a fair shot at success."

Vice President Harris also traveled to neighboring cities, such as Reno and Carson City seeking to expand her base of support beyond the big population center of Las Vegas. She has been in talks with all 3 members of Congress in Nevada as well as Senators Rosen and Cortez-Masto who she is hoping will get behind her and give her campaign a boost in Nevada.

After her time in Nevada the Vice President would schedule her next appearance for Atlanta, Georgia on in mid-May which will once again give her what she hopes is an early advantage in early primary states.

[RGM2609]

Gavin Newsom - For a Brighter Future

Given the electorate which will be voting in the primaries, the Newsom campaign has determined that building strong support within the Latino community is of paramount importance, which is why the first weeks of the campaign will be spent in Nevada, hitting the campaign trail, holding town halls within Latino communities, building the ground game and airing a large number of TV ads in Spanish introducing Gavin Newsom to the electorate. It has also been determined that it is important for Newsom to outflank the other candidates on the issue of immigration, which is why as soon as within a week of the announcement, Newsom held a speech in Las Vegas addressing this very issue. Here are some parts of it:

"We in California have understood from early on that the benefits of immigration far outweigh the downsides. We understood the power of diversity. Which is why we never treated newcomers like political pawns, instead, we were the first state to offer all immigrants healthcare access and we have invested in the situation at the border, offering migrants temporary shelter. In return, our state benefitted, and its strong economy is in part owed to the contributions of migrants to our society.

I want to take this mentality on a national level. We need to approach this issue rationally, and one of my first proposals as President will be a comprehensive immigration reform package. I will propose a path to citizenship for undocumented immigration, together with an improved legal immigration system so that people don't have to choose between entering illegally and waiting years. We also need to revamp our visa system, which, even moreso given Trump's disruptions, is no longer suited for our economical needs. The Republicans won't do this because they want to keep immigration as a culture war issue behind which they hide their failures. Well, I say no more!"

[RGM2609]

Gavin Newsom - For a Brighter Future

While the public appearances of Governor Newsom are the main focus of the campaign, Newsom's team has decided that given tge current situation in the polls, a behind-the-scenes push to prevent the establishment from consolidating behind Harris is desperately needed. In the following weeks before the first debaye, Newsom will be meeting with as many donors as possible as well as with influential politicians, focusing on those in the congressional leadership, but also with the elders of the party such as the Clintons or former Speaker Nancy Pelosi. While Newsom won't expect endorsements from anyone he meets, he will make the case that his campaign is the best bet for an unified party and a victory in the General Election, and turning the primaries into a coronation for Harris, a flawed candidate who bombed in 2020 and is now the frontrunner because of her office would risk her losing the General Election given her national unpopularity. Newsom will urge them to give every candidate a chance to prove during 2023 who is the most competent and electable before throwing their lot in with someone.

[RGM2609]

Gavin Newsom - For a Brighter Future

Newsom will also tour the state of New Hampshire, for now engaging in grassroots politics in the state's biggest cities, hoping to make himself more familiar to voters. He will hold a rally at most, and focus more on town halls where he can answer the questions of the voters and get to know their priorities. The campaign will also start the process of creating field offices and getting volunteers to work the state until the primaries. Newsom will also attempt to court the endorsements of Senators Hassan and Shaheen, as well as of Representatives Pappas and Kuster, booking personal meetings with each of them and once again noting the unifying potential of his campaign and his electability in the general election.

[Carolyn]

Source: Here.

20 PETE 24

Long expected by gossip mongers in the Hill, CNN would report the resignation of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. In a statement to the agency he led, Pete said he would leave effective on Monday, April 10th.

“In our time together, I have seen all of you match the tremendous challenges faced by our Department with vigor and grit. I will never forget your commitment to a safe, efficient, sustainable, and equitable transportation system for America,” his statement continued.

After finishing his obligations to the President, Pete was liberated from the Hatch Act. He was now his own man, free to do as he liked. Aides muttered that the timing of his release came after a new poll showed his position slipping.

In preparation for a long-term campaign, he set up an exploratory committee. Pictured with his family—Chasten and him holding their two children, Penelope and Joseph—Pete would expand on his original vision about stepping up to the challenge for his generation.

Like his time as mayor of South Bend, the 41-year-old politician said he’d taken the job as Secretary in a deeply troubling time for America. Donald Trump and his ilk had tarnished not only the economic but moral character of the nation; COVID-19 devastated families and livelihoods when it wasn’t taken seriously. Through a combination of bold, honest, and realistic reforms, he had the honor of working with President Biden to build back the nation’s infrastructure.

And it’s the same quality of leadership, that devotion to the higher values intended by the Founding Fathers, that’s needed more than ever to not only continue the work done for the past three years but expand on them. Better healthcare, climate justice, financial accountability, safe streets, these are values worth fighting for because it helps lift up everyone. A series of messages flashed by:

Dignity for All.
Justice for All.
Equality for All.
Pete for All.

[𝕭𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖆 𝕸𝖎𝖓𝖔𝖑𝖆]

April and May 2023

Eric Adams held a series of rallies that touched cities in crucial states like Detroit, Atlanta and Savannah but culminated in one in the South Side of Chicago with longtime Congressman Bobby Rush. The campaign strategy is clearly focused on Black voters especially in inner-cities, trying to steal what is considered by many one of the key advantages of incumbent Vice President Harris in this primary. He spoke about housing, with references to his plan for NYC and its results in its first year, and transportation, which has been a critical point of his mayoral tenure as well, but also crime, healthcare and labour issues. He also did not hesitate to throw bombs at his opponents:

This administration is great, we all love Biden. But Vice President Harris, she's acting like she's already won the nomination. She needs to know that this is an open primary and you have to prove yourself to the voters to win. And I don't think she has shown to be a problem solver on the ground, or even a great campaigner. She's all talk.

If you talk to Black folks down in South Bend, Indiana, you know what they say? They all dislike Pete Buttigieg.

Some Democrats think that you support working people by going against the police, talking about "socialism" and tweeting about problems instead of working hard to solve them. But they're wrong, and we'll prove them wrong!

[McGovernite]

Gillibrand & Hochul Campaign in New England

Accessed via Imgur

Throughout the summer months of June and July, Senator Gillibrand campaigned with New York Governor Kathy Hochul in New York, New Hampshire, and neighboring New England states. The endorsement came in the latter half of March as Hochul saw Gillibrand's campaign gaining traction, especially in their home state of New York. Hochul and Gillibrand have long been allies, both accomplishing a progressive and uplifting agenda both in Albany and in Washington D.C. The two have visited local coffee shops, parades, events, and town halls across the northeastern United States with special visits to crowds of cheering students at universities like Columbia University, Yale University, Hamilton College, Brown University, and even Harvard University. The two have built a name for themselves across the northeast, expanding their name recognition while simultaneously courting the region as Gillibrand's for the taking.

As June and July continue, Gillibrand expects to further cris-cross the United States and push her campaign, a plan which will prove to be somewhat easier due to recent hires by the Gillibrand campaign of experienced and skilled political staff. Although the future is unknown, it's become clear to many that Gillibrand is not to be taken for granted, especially in New England.

[Kuumo]

Governor Whitmer Announces 2024 Presidential Campaign
Detroit, Michigan
March 6th, 2023

https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-business-michigan-gretchen-whitmer-afefc541df8d47d33c8032caf147e066

Thank you, Detroit!

It's been a pleasure serving as your governor. We've enshrined reproductive rights into our state constitution. We've legalized and regulated cannabis. We passed the highest investment in education in state history. We're even well on our way to fixing the damn roads.

You may have guessed why I'm here today. We stand at a crucial time not only for our state but for our entire country. Outside of Michigan, women's right to bodily autonomy remains under attack. Millions of Americans are without affordable health insurance. Climate change poses a serious threat to us all. While the Biden administration has worked to address these issues, there remains much still to be done. In my time as governor of Michigan, I've worked with both parties to tackle these issues and make a tangible difference for the better and will take this mentality to the national stage. That's why I'm running for President of the United States of America.

**********

March 2023

After the governor's official campaign announcement, the Whitmer campaign focused on setting up field offices in the early states of South Carolina, New Hampshire, Nevada, and Michigan. Much of the attention in the first leg of the campaign season will be on the first three states, as she is expected to be heavily favored in the Michigan primary as the recently re-elected governor.

Whitmer flew into Las Vegas for the first stop of her campaign outside of Michigan, holding two town halls and meeting with the Culinary Union. Her campaign believes that the heavily unionized Democratic base in the city provides an opportunity to build support in the state.

**********

April 2023

Despite the strong early advantage for Harris in the South Carolina primary, the Whitmer campaign sees potential in netting delegates and garnering media attention through a second or third-place finish in the nation's first contest. Whitmer met with Jim Clyburn, emphasizing her early support for President Biden, common policy priorities, and record of electability in a pivotal swing state. She also held town halls in Charleston, Columbia, and Greenville to increase her name recognition among South Carolina voters.

Whitmer also visited New Hampshire, visiting each county in the state and highlighting her strong record of support for abortion rights, labor unions, and universal pre-k.

**********

May 2023

To improve her position with young voters, Whitmer hosted town halls at University of Nevada Reno, UNLV, and her alma mater Michigan State. The campaign also increased its presence on social media, including running ads in Spanish, to address Whitmer's anticipated weakness with young and Latino voters.

[John King wannabe]

Internal Harris Campaign Memo - Sent to senior staffers across the country

Pete Kavanaugh <PKavanaugh@Harris24.com>
to <Campaign Staff List>

Hello Team Kamala!

I am honored to send my first official campaign memo as the official campaign manager for the Kamala For the People campaign. First I would like to express my gratitude to Vice President Harris for entrusting me with such an important position in leading her campaign and I will do my best to ensure we make her the 47th President of the United States!

A little about me; I previously served as deputy campaign manager for President Biden's successful 2020 presidential campaign and I previously worked in several consulting jobs. I have had a brief retirement before coming back into politics for the VP but I am glad to be back.

Before I get into the nitty gritty of campaigning details and how we will use our funds, ground game, etc. I would like to make very clear that this is a leak-free campaign. Anyone caught leaking to the press and especially to any other campaign will be relieved of their duties immediately. Any personal grievances can be handled by me. And without further ado. let's get into the details;

The Beginning Stages
As we all know our campaign started off extremely strong. With over $5.5 million dollars raised in our first 24 hours we blew past the first Harris campaign record of $1.5 million dollars in the first 24 hours. Our campaign is investing this big sum of cash into our early digital advertising program which will be deployed in Georgia, South Carolina, Nevada and Michigan. Meanwhile we will invest heavily in radio ads in New Hampshire as we believe that population in New Hampshire is better suited to receiving their information in a more direct form rather than on a website or YouTube ad.

We also understand the Vice President is perceived as weak electorally. We must combat that message by getting her in swing states often such as Georgia and Michigan where we can get her in front of large crowds and a diverse electorate. We can slowly begin to shift the narrative away from "un-electable" to "our best shot". We have advised the Vice President to play up her relationship with President Biden. There she can show how she "won" with President Biden in 2020.

Ground Game
A considerable amount of our ground game will be invested in NV, SC, GA and MI. Although it can not appear we put no effort in New Hampshire, we will have the Second Gentleman make a few appearances in New Hampshire to make it clear that the campaign still believes we have a chance in New Hampshire. Although a win is unlikely unless one of the left leaning candidates crashes and burns.

We will be opening 4 campaign field offices in Georgia, 3 in Nevada, 3 in South Carolina and 4 in Michigan to start off our campaign. Please do not get used to these numbers. They are expected to grow and decrease over time as well as our staff count in those states. These field offices have been tasked with gathering enough signatures to get Vice President Harris on the ballot in these primary states, we have teams across the country doing the same as well, as well as help from the "Draft Kamala' PAC who will now merge with our campaign committee.

But that is all for now! Thank you all so much for being apart of this journey and we wish you the very best of luck in your respective positions. Just for those wondering in the area, our official HQ is in Baltimore for those wishing to visit.

Until tomorrow,
Pete.

[Enduro]

Exerpt from speech in Ames, May 2023

"Human life is sacred, and I oppose any form of death penalty. My administration would work towards a federal ban on the death penalty, and against expansion of abortion."

Justin Amash went on to do another two speeches in Iowa regarding his prolife stances, established a campaign headquarters for the state, attend 4 fundraisers, and begin an extensive ground discussion with voters before moving onto New Hampshire to establish his campaign there.

Dinner with libertarian party leaders

"Our best path to being a party that has a say in how this country is governed is to unite with the republican party. We agree on enough. If we want lower taxes, protected privacy, and a smaller government, then we need to reevaluate and organize more efficiently."

Amash met with party leaders for the republican state party as well, advocating for greater cooperation between the entities. After establishing headquarters, Amash spoke at 6 events across the state including 2 fundraisers.

Afterwards, his campaign organized the ground game in state as well and in Georgia and Nevada. The candidate appeared with Ron Paul at 3 events starting in NH and ending in NV.

Exerpt from speech in NV

"I'm here to change the race; Vice President Harris believes the presidency to be hers by right, and the best issue Republicans have been able to come up with at this point is rumors of Governor DeSantis' personal life. This race needs to be about the issues; about how best to govern."

During a Q&A following the speech the following exchange occured:

"Representative Amash, your historic campaign of running for both the republican and libertarian nomination concurrently is unprecedented. Will you include the democratic nomination in your plans?"

"Democrats will vote for me if they believe I'm the best choice, I hope, but for now I will not be running in that contest. If Democrats were to show me they wanted me, I may change my mind, but running for one major party nomination is a huge undertaking that requires a lot of money and attention let alone two."

[McGovernite]

Gillibrand Receives Boost in Fundraising, Opens Field Offices in Key States

Accessed via Imgur

In the few days and weeks following Senator Gillibrand's presidential campaign announcement, the numbers were flooded. Thousands of people from across the United States had donated to her campaign, pushing the total amount of money raised in the two weeks after her announcement at $405,000. In addition to the money she had left over from her Senate campaign back in 2018, the Senator was confident in her campaign's abilities to put the money to good use.

They opened up field offices in the key states of New Hampshire, Nevada, New York (Albany and Rochester) South Carolina, and Michigan (as well as a campaign headquarters in New York City). Staff was hired, offices were open, and the campaign began in full swing. Gillibrand's ground game focused heavily on voter registration efforts, going door to door, and pushing TV, social media, and radio ads. The Senator has recognized that she isn't as well known as others, but she hasn't let it stop her. She's appeared at all kinds of events across the United States from pig broils in rural Michigan to discussions of political philosophy in the New York City Public Library. Despite the critics' opinions, this strategy has seemed to work. As she continues to criss-cross the United States, the crowd goes larger and louder. More and more people have begun to get a sense of who Kirsten Gillibrand is, and many like what they see: a small town girl who made it big fighting for the working class. This message has been pushed by the candidate and campaign and will, if they get what they want, push her over the finish line in many suburban, rural, and urban working class areas across the United States.

[GoTfan]

Ro Khanna 2024

Town Hall in Charleston

Voter: Congressman, this is a race with multiple progressives in it. Are you sure you won't end up splitting the vote with the other progressive candidates?

Khanna: It's a reasonable fear, but unfounded. Jeff and Alexandria are both good friends of mine and both strongly progressive figures. I'm running to bring the ideas of Economic Patriotism and progressive capitalism to the front of the discussion. THat's how we move forward as a nation; raising the minimum wage, supporting domestic manufacturers, and investing in the technologies of the future.

Jeff and Alexandria have been friends of mine for several years. I hope that progressives will see me as the best candidate, but they are excellent candidates as well.

Voter: How would your Economic Patriotism platform affect our small busniesses, particularly the higher minimum wage?

Khanna: Well first off that's a good question. Republicans have tried to claim this narrative that higher wages means lower employment. It doesn't. Studies have proven that a higher wage has a positive effect on employment and a positive effect on the economy. More money in the hands of average Americans means that there is more money being spent, which pulls everyone up.

The biggest threat to our small businesses are the major ones like Amazon who ruthlessly crush their competition. That's why under an administration I lead, I will prioritise defending our smaller businesses from our major ones and support them as much as I can.

Ground game

Building a cohesive ground game is always one of the most important things in a campaign, and doubly so for a long-shot campaign like Ro's. He set about hiring directors for all fifty states, utilising his contacts from his time on the Sanders campaign in 2020, with a particular emphasis on the early states, such as South Carolina and Nevada. It was likely that young volunteers would be the first to come, and Ro took a hint from 2020 to lure more: All campaign workers would be allowed to unionise.

Key target demographics remained the same. College students, tech workers, organised labour. They would have to make up the majority of his volunteer corps. His field directors were a different sort as well; such positions went to community activist leaders before anyone else, people who were experiences in these sorts of areas. Those involved with climate groups wuld make excellent field leaders.

Finally, Ro made sure to hold Zoom meetings with all the key people at least twice a week to get updates, strategise, and suggest. This was going to be a grassroots-driven campaign. It had to be; he didn't have the ability for anything else right now. he also continued his meetings with Stephenson, Smalls, and Shelton. Their support would be critical.

Media strategy

Barack Obama and Bernie Sanders had shown the importance of the internet and scial media in their campaigns, and Ro had to utilise these methods as much as he could, considering that he was low in the polls. He began to appear on multiple internet media outlets, including frequent stops on The Young Turks with Cenk Uygur, and early supporter of his.

Internet ads were cheap, effective, and wide-reaching, so Ro prioritised them over traditional media ads. His campaign developed a strategy similar to John McCain's in 2008. Take advantage of interviews; they're free media and reach a lot of people. Emphasise social media and internet media outlets more than anything; his strength was going to be with young voters and tech workers. The same strategy had worked for underdog campaigns throughout American history, as well as all over the world.

It was not a short-term strategy by any means, but Ro was set on playing the long game; building a dedicated network of supporters slowly would hopefully begin to pay dividends by the time the primaries started.

[Alcibiades]

Matt Gaetz For President — March to May 2023

Gaetz’s overall strategy centres on being the ‘true MAGA’ candidate, and trying to build a path by consolidating the sizeable share of the Republican primary electorate who remain die-hard Trumpists. To this end, he is focusing his attacks on the relatively non-Trumpist candidates, while avoiding giving oxygen to his competitors on the furthest-right end of the field, instead banking on his greater institutional support, as a sitting Congressman, and polished media persona, having been a regular on the right-wing cable circuit for years. Gaetz is avoiding detailed policy pronouncements, judging that this is not the territory on which Republican primaries are won in this day and age, instead using bombastic rhetoric and eye-catching announcements in the vein of Trump’s liberal-outrage-mongering in 2016, such as mass-firings of ‘woke’ and ‘unpatriotic’ federal bureaucrats.

Gaetz is hosting regular meetings with his supporters in the House Freedom Caucus to strategise, and ensuring a heavy presence in the right-wing media, ranging from cable shows to pro-Trump social media influencers. Of course, the campaign is also hitting the ground in the early primary states, with a particular focus on Iowa, as a state which swung heavily Republican in the Trump era. Here, the campaign’s focus, using data analytics, is to identify previously low-turnout voters, concentrated in working-class areas in particular, who are primarily motivated by support for President Trump rather than the Republican Party in general, who we hope can be won over by our MAGA messaging and attacks on the ‘RINO establishment’. We also have hopes for New Hampshire, with its large constituency of secular but culturally conservative whites. South Carolina is not receiving as much attention at the moment (although we do hope that a general consolidation of support among the far-right of the party can help us to a decent showing there), while in Nevada we are employing a similar strategy to Iowa, with added focus on pro-Trump Hispanics. In terms of building up a ground game, we are utilising our deep connections to Trumpworld to hire staffers and volunteers.

Interview on Tucker Carlson Tonight, April 21st, 2023

 
Credit: Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia Commons

Carlson: And we’re now delighted to be joined by Congressman Matt Gaetz of Florida, who recently announced his bid for the Republican nomination for President. Congressman, welcome back to the show.

Gaetz: Thank you Tucker, always a pleasure to join you.

Carlson: So, uh, there are a lot of candidates running, in this primary, all saying they’re the most conservative or patriotic choice, as you’d expect. What makes you different?

Gaetz: Well Tucker, I think you have to look back to when President Trump took the 2016 primary by storm. Republican voters wanted someone who would go to Washington DC and really shake things up, who would drain the swamp. What you have to understand about the Republican Party is that we’re often our own worse enemy; specifically, the party elites and donor class are frequently utterly out of touch with what ordinary patriots want. I’m not gonna listen to special interests or swamp creatures, my only loyalty is to our voters and their priorities. And what I know is that they still want to continue the work of the Make America Great Again Movement, and I’m never gonna give up on the fight President Trump started. Too many of my competitors in this race have shown that their comittment to this fight is dubious at best, but this is a fight we simply can’t afford to lose, otherwise the Radical Left is gonna burn this country to the ground.

Carlson: Well of course, I think we both agree on the threat the America-hating left poses, but what exactly is your plan to take them on and beat them?

Gaetz: The key - and I think is something that a lot of Republicans politicians just don’t get - is institutions and culture, Tucker. The left has been infiltrating these for decades now, a toxic, creeping process which has now reached boiling point. And the problem is too many of our so-called ‘conservative’ leaders have been totally complacent in the face of this threat. The truth is, Tucker, that a lot of my opponents move in the same elite social circles as leading liberal Democrats, and, they’ll say their bit about conservative values, but at the end of the day they’re terrified of not getting invited to prestigious cocktail parties by their leftist buddies. One of the reasons I think I’m best-placed to take this on is that I’ve been in the belly of the beast as a member of Congress for six years now, so I know what the Swamp is like. I could have taken the easy route like too many of my colleagues, and sucked up to the RINO leadership to get plum positions, but I chose to try and fight those who wanted to subvert the MAGA agenda from the inside. And, you know, I’m sure all my opponents will talk about how they’re against CRT and woke culture, but what are they gonna do about it? If I’m elected President, I’m gonna be looking very hard at the senior employees and officials of our bloated federal government, and firing anyone who’s not a 100% America-loving patriot.

Carlson: You talk about fighting woke culture, but hasn’t your fellow Floridian Ron DeSantis been very strong on that as Governor?

Gaetz: DeSantis talks a big game, but what’s really behind it? He stands there and takes credit for the accomplishments of the fantastic patriot legislators we have in this state. But where was he when the Democrats were hell-bent on destroying President Trump? Where was he, Tucker? I’ll tell you where, in the Governor’s Mansion, licking his lips with delight, because his main rival had been eliminated. I served with Ron in the House, and let me tell you: the only thing he cares about is himself. President Trump calls him Ron DeSanctimonious for a reason - he’s a smarmy, two-faced elitist. Let me just say, and I think you know this Tucker, and your viewers certainly know it, Republican voters don’t accept imitations.

[Devout Centrist]

Lake Campaign Schedule

March
Month's theme: Secure the Border

After a successful start at Apache Lake, Kari Lake's team launched into action. By the end of the week, the candidate had formally filed to run for President with the FEC and had a PAC established in her name. The campaign opted to focus on a mix of small dollar donations from the Republican and large contributions from sympathetic Republican donors.

During this time, the Lake campaign began to set up field operations in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada. The team decided to focus the lion's share of their efforts in New Hampshire and Nevada in order to differentiate Lake from the other Republicans in the race.

To energize the Republican base and to build a foundation of support, Lake leaned into a populist message on immigration, summed up by the simple slogan "Secure the Border":

It's three simple yet beautiful words, people: Secure the Border. We have a terrible, terrible crisis going on down there and no one is trying to fix it. No one. We have Democrats and some Republicans, who are traitors by the way, who don't want it fixed. It's tragic. They should be in prison somewhere if you think about it. We gotta bring Alcatraz back for them.

You know what goes on down there, right? We've got coyotes streaming across the border. Coyotes. It's basically the Mexican wolf, but they're people. They're called coyotes. And they're wily, believe me.

These guys are called coyotes. That's what they are. What these guys do is they human traffic people across the border. They traffic them. They drag them across by the truckload. By the truckload! No air, no water. They just truck them over, in steel boxes. It's horrific. You have these thugs stealing women and children across the border, and they get away with it. They have the drugs on them too. Lots of drugs. Drugs. Drugs. Drugs. It's like a candystore from hell, folks. Candystore from hell. And Democrats are doing nothing to stop it. People are dying. Dying. We're drowning in these drugs and they're doing nothing to stop it.

We need to secure the border folks. Say it with me: Secure the Border. Secure the Border. Secure the Border! It's gotta be a priority. If we do that, we won't have a coyote problem anymore. We won't. We won't. We have to fix it. And then, once it's secure, we can decide who gets to stay in this country. We want Americans folks. We want taxpayers. We want hard workers. We want people who do it the right way. The legal way. And once we secure the border, it'll all work out. It'll be beautiful. But we have to secure it first.

Let me tell you, you look at some of these places today, and they need jobs. El Paso. Brownsville. The Democrats, they want to defund ICE. I.C.E. The immigration guys. They're basically the 6th, 7th branch of the military if you think about it. They want to defund these guys. What the hell are they thinking?! They're gonna put so many people out of work, it's unbelievable.

No. Not happening. Under a Lake Administration, sounds great right folks? Under a Lake Presidency, we are doubling ICE and the border patrol. Doubling them. Not only will these good guys secure the border, they'll create thousands, maybe millions, of good jobs for people. For Americans. It's what we need folks. It's what we need now.

April
Month's theme: Kill Inflation

March's mild success enabled the Lake campaign to take their message to the airwaves, with Lake debuting a slew of cost effective advertisements on social media, Youtube, and conservative talk radio. The Lake campaign began to court endorsements from professional sports in order to attract more blue collar, marginal Republican voters. The campaign hoped that this strategy would benefit Lake by winning over the Trump base. Additionally, in the month of April, Lake focused her attention on the issue of inflation.

You look at what's happened to this country and it's a disaster. Total disaster. Food prices are up 90%. Houses cost 50% more. Gas is up 75% since President Trump. How the hell did we let this happen? How? You look at Democrats, and they're taking joy in people's misery. You see Kamala the other day, not a great looker you know, and she's cackling. Cackling. She's looking at the gas prices and she's cackling. They can't keep getting away with it. They can't keep getting away with it!

None of this stuff was going on under Trump. None of it. It's a 100% manufactured problem. You wouldn't be having this problem if we had a real leader in the White House. If we had a leader, a real leader, this inflation nonsense would disappear into thin air. Poof! Boom! Gone!

We know how to stop inflation people. We know how to. There's gotta be a tax cut for working people. For the "middle" class. And the poor. But only the working poor. We are not gonna reward bums. We are not rewarding lazy people who sit on their asses all day and complain. No. Only American workers.

And we're gonna take care of people that work. Believe me. That starts with cheaper healthcare and cheaper prescription drugs. No one, I mean no one, should be paying some low life hospital freak a gajillion dollars for insulin. No one.

Low cost housing. Cheaper day care. You know, stuff working people need. Stuff they need that costs them an arm and a leg. We're gonna make it cheap. You fix those things, you fund them, you give people a tax cut, it'll all be perfect. Inflation will vanish. People will cheer. Wow!

May
Month's theme: End Outsourcing

Buoyant following a respectable April, the Lake campaign swung through the Upper Midwest in a bid to reassemble the Trump coalition and find a following among dissatisfied independents. The team took campaign stops in Erie, Pittsburgh, Youngstown, Toledo, Monroe, and Chicago. This unorthodox strategy was designed to elicit interest from disaffected minority voters.

So here we are, in Youngstown, and it's full of such beautiful people. Such great people. Really amazing folks. But it looks like a bomb hit this town. It looks like someone dropped a nuke on this place. What happened? What happened? The keyboard typers. The woke corporations. They took everything from you. They outsourced millions of American jobs overseas. Millions of jobs. All it took was 20 years for everything to be destroyed. Everything. These people, they should be charged with murder. Murder! They saw this place, on their bright little screens, and they saw numbers. They saw numbers. They didn't see people! They didn't see a town of wonderful, hard working Americans. They saw numbers. And the numbers they put into their computers, it didn't look good. So they moved your jobs away.

Let me tell you, it's the biggest tragedy in American history. Biggest tragedy maybe ever. They stole jobs from Detroit, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Philly, and Youngstown. Stole them from right under our noses and moved them away. So many beautiful workers, so many great men, of all races by the way, were put on the streets. So many Democrats and a lot of Republicans let this happen. They made it happen. They let it happen! They made our country commit suicide by the millions.

All these politicians, except for Trump, have lied. They lied for 20, 30, 40 years. Every time they come through here. They've come through here and said, "oh, don't worry, jobs are coming back. They're coming back, we promise! We swear! Cross our hearts and hope to die!" Folks, did those jobs come back? Did those factories reopen? Do we have new buildings here? No! NO! Those people, they said they'd cross their hearts and hope to die. And there are no jobs here. Unbelievable.

We are turning that around fast folks. We're gonna take Trump's policies and bring them back. Big, big tariffs on China and India. We're gonna reopen every shuttered plant. We're gonna bring that money back, and tax the woke billionaires who took everything from you. We'll bring back construction jobs through big grants and better tax policies. We're gonna invest in so many places, it'll be amazing. We're gonna turn the Rust Belt back into the Steel Belt. No more Chinese steel! No more expensive keyboard typers. Just American factories with American workers. Done deal.

[oldkyhome]

Senator Josh Hawley, via Flickr

The Groundwork: Defining Josh Hawley

"Ron, Nikki, Pence. Really, the worst has come out of the woodwork," Trump told Senator Hawley, "You're a bright guy, Josh, and I need someone out there who really represents the Trump brand."

The prompt daunted the young Hawley, but he knew his work had culminated to this point. The past 6 years had brought Josh to the national forefront and defined him as a traitor to the old GOP order and a champion for the party's rank-and-file, especially with his recent attacks on the Biden DoJ. A media pariah, the press had always attributed these controversial stunts to unbridled Presidential ambition. Now the Trumpian wing of the party was without a clear head, and polls showed him as one of the party's top picks for 24. With Trump's nod, perhaps a Hawley Presidential bid was really in order.

So after consulting friends and family, Senator Hawley began getting into contact with allies and donors to inform them of his plans to run. Some big names included JD Vance, Eric Schmitt, Christopher DeMuth, Peter Thiel, and Emile Doak.

The groundwork had, in some part, already been laid down for him; the reports of the former President and Senator Hawley meeting privately has already caught headlines and stories, and that free air time and association with Trump is bound to pick up free supporters for Hawley. This would distinguish him from other front-runners and hopefully give him an advantage in picking up staff from Trump's old campaign operation. Hawley intends to capitalize on the attention with frequent appearances on prominent media networks in the first several weeks, as well as prioritizing staff hires from the Trump team.

But he'll need more than vague associations with Trump to define his message to voters. That's why one of the first indications Sen. Hawley would give for his impending Presidential bid would be his new book, 'The Knives Are Out: The Dire State of Our Republic.' In it, he lauds the former President as a champion of the common man and scrutinizes forces that wanted him out of the race: special interests, tech billionaires, party bosses, and, of course, Joe Biden's Justice Department. He criticizes the nation's justice system as decaying, political, and growingly resemblant of the third-world. He goes on to accuse Republican leadership of being "more obsessed with never-ending wars and spurning the everyday people that make up our party than {...} actually winning an election" and describes Garland's indictments as a deliberate plot against Trump, welcomed on by special interests in party leadership. Hawley further lays out a policy agenda to allow more Congressional oversight over large-scale DoJ indictments.

This messaging places Hawley squarely in the corner of the insurgent right; the same angle Trump came from in his original 2016 bid and his abandoned 2024 bid. But he isn't trying to clone Trump, nor will he attempt to imitate Trump (unlike a certain Florida Governor). Josh Hawley is his own man. He presents a new angle to Trumpism with his Presidential bid. He's young and fresh with a passion for a new Republican vision and strategy built off of Trumpism, without the drawbacks of other candidates who have criticized Trump at one point or another. He'd also enter with significant connections to the Evangelical right, as a prominent religious liberty litigator with unique folksy appeal that only Mike Pence could rival.

And his focus on the base would emphasize that. It's why he would have no quarrels with breaking GOP orthodoxy on foreign policy or economics, but in ways that are fundamentally set apart from the likes of Kamala Harris, Jeff Merkley, and others. Hawley's version of the diagnosis of America's problems is still fundamentally conservative. He sees declining economic opportunity for the middle class as intimately tied to social isolation and the erosion of local communal life and values—including church, family, neighborhoods, and labor unions. This rhetoric would speak viscerally to broad concerns over declining standards of living, suicidal cultural pathologies, industrial outsourcing, and the Republican Party's indifference to these problems. His good name with the base would only strengthen this approach.

As Hawley figures out the specifics of his messaging for the 24 campaign, his team would be preoccupied with setting up the infrastructure for it: courting the right people, raising his profile to large audiences, getting the attention of MAGA donors, etc. A strong ground game in all early primary states is a prerequisite, and if he gets good polling numbers and outsized attention to this campaign Hawley thinks he can pull that off. He'll spend most of the early dedication in Iowa, which neighbors his home state of Missouri and has similar demographics, but the real work wouldn't begin until he formally announced in early March.

(Trump quote is GM approved)

Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Excerpt from Josh Hawley's Appearance on Hannity

Hannity: "Joining us now, Missouri Senator Josh Hawley. Josh, the 2024 Republican primary is heating up and you've been polling at the top of the field. Are you running for President?"

Hawley: "Well, Sean, that's a question I can't give a straight yes or no to yet, but this is an consequential election for the future of our nation. Truly what's happened with our Justice Department the past few months is reprehensible and people across my state and across America, especially middle America, are fed up with these shenanigans from the Biden Administration."

Hannity: "Alright, let's talk about the 2024 race though. Reportedly, you've been meeting privately with Donald Trump, who's no longer in the race due to a series of legal battles from the Biden Administration as you know. What's going on? Is Trump trying to convince people to stay out of the race? Or are you seeking his blessing?"

Hawley: "President Trump is dealing with an incredibly tough witch hunt right now from the Justice Department, and I know he is as concerned as anyone else with the state of the party and the candidates going into 2024. We need a strong nominee who will push the MAGA agenda and win in November next year with the support of good, ordinary folks across this country, especially when the stakes are so high. We can't afford to lose and Trump knows that."

Hannity: "Speaking of Trump, his Vice President, Mike Pence, has recently announced he'll seek the Republican nomination, bashing Trump and other Republicans that support him. What do you think?"

Hawley: "It's really despicable that Vice President Pence thinks he can waltz into the Republican primary and disrespect every single person that backed him for four years with President Trump. He has no business being in this race, and I think the voters will reflect that sentiment."

[NewYorkExpress]

Pence response to Josh Hawley, May 1, 2023, Greer, South Carolina

Senator, I'm not the person who is up on criminal charges right now. That's your Orange Jesus. I mean, I'll forever be thankful to Trump for making me Vice President because I would have lost reelection as Governor of Indiana otherwise, but quite frankly the man is a menace and a traitor, and so is anyone who is still defending him.

Pence speech, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine, May 3, 2023

Frankly, the past seven years of foreign policy have been a disaster. We had President Trump, who was literally taking orders from Vladimir Putin, and quite frankly committed treason with every action he took in the White House, made America less safe by, quite frankly, not considering the ramifications of his actions on us, let alone the rest of the world, and offending almost all of allies.

President Biden, meanwhile has decided to lead from behind. We are the greatest country in the world, and Biden's vision of our foreign policy shows weakness to our enemies. The minute Russia sent troops into Ukraine, Biden should have either sent our army in to back up the Ukrainians, or turned Russia into a radioactive wasteland in retaliation. That's showing strength, and that's how America leads. Not this wishy-washy crap Biden's been doing.

[RGM2609]

Gavin Newsom - For a Brighter Future

Gavin Newsom realizes the importance of denying a certain candidate a monopoly over African Americans, as the exact same error made Sanders lose to Biden in 2020, which is why Gavin Newsom is planning to use a large part of the money raised in the first month (including the almost 3 million dollars raised in the first day) to establish a ground presence in heavily African American communities in Georgia and South Carolina. Newsom will also release introductory ads for those states lavishing him as someone who has been a liberal on both criminal justice and racial justice from the beginning and who in California has fought hard against systemic racism. Behind the scenes, Newsom will attempt to establish contact with figures such as Stacey Abrams, Senator Raphael Warnock and Representative Jim Clyburn, touting his record and promising to appeal extensively to the African American community in the coming months. While he does not necessarily expect endorsements, he hopes to determine them to stay out of the race. Specifically to Clyburn, he will say that while he made the right choice endorsing Biden in 2020, as he was the candidate most likely to win, Harris most certainly is not, and if she is nominated, she will likely lead the party to defeat in face of some hardcore Trumpist.

[Mycool]

Jared Polis Campaign Strategy

Polis expands his campaign strategy in the spring, focusing on two groups college educated voters who turnout higher in primaries and Latino voters who are considered lower propensity. His plan is to engage with college educated voters on his plan for profit sharing, making college debt free, and his liberal social policies. As for Latino voters he plans to focus on the economy and education, focusing on raising the minimum wage, reducing income inequality, and paid leave. This happens alongside opening campaign offices in Nevada and New Hampshire, early states viewed as crucial to Polis’s success. Polis focuses on endorsements in the Midwest, particularly Amy Klobuchar and Minnesota’s congressional delegation. Minnesota is an early state and Polis thinks his practical progressivism will play well there. He also meets with early state Senators Catherine Cortez Masto and Maggie Hassan, not expecting to win them this early but to start building relationships in the states.

[Mycool]

Polis Speaks at Townhall in Detroit

“Look I am concerned about our front runners this year. Neither one has any experience winning a purple state, neither one is without scandals like a bad record on marijuana or a housing policy described as a “Gentrification Agenda.” This is bad folks. This is how we lose what should be a slam dunk. The GOP has a field of far right election deniers and we’re risking it by ceding the primary before it’s over. I know what it’s like to win a purple state, twice. And I can do it again.”


He proceeded to talk about strengthening unions through the Labor Commission, extending Joe Biden’s policy there. He also spoke about an automation tax to ensure American jobs are protected from the trend of automating jobs.

[S019]

Early Feb 2023: Submit bill to state legislature that would ban all abortions after 10 weeks except in cases of rape, incest, and danger to the life of the mother

Rest of Feb: Governor duties and start running first ads

[Insert image of DeSantis talking to a camera]

DeSantis: I believe in America, I truly do, I believe in the opportunity this country has to offer, I'm worried that opportunity is being lost under this administration, and that's why I'm running for President.

[show images of DeSantis in his youth as well as a modest house]

DeSantis: Growing up we didn't have much, my mother worked as a nurse and my father installed TV boxes. But what we did have was hope, the hope that one day we would be successful.

[show images of DeSantis working in the navy and as a prosecutor]

DeSantis: I've always believed in serving my country, I went to college and then joined the Navy, and then I became a prosecutor. All because I wanted to do something for this country.

[show images of DeSantis as a Congressman and as Governor

DeSantis: I became concerned that politics as usual wasn't working when I returned home and that's why I entered politics. I served 6 terms in the US House and then I ran for Governor of Florida.

[cut back to DeSantis speaking to the camera]

DeSantis: America has given me so much, and now I want to give back. I want to help you achieve the same success that I did. Joe Biden is turning America into a socialist country, if that happens, we'll lose the opportunity that has long distinguished this country. That isn't happening on my watch. I'm Ron DeSantis and I approve this message because this is the greatest country in the world and we can't let that be taken away.

March 2023: Visit to Iowa, meet with Governor Reynolds and state legislative leadership. Visit to New Hampshire, several rallies throughout the state with allies

April 2023: Governor duties for first half of the minute, visit to South Carolina in second half.

Under Joe Biden, America is struggling. America is failing. We need to present a new approach to leadership. In Florida, we've shown a different way forward. When we reopened the state during COVID, we were criticized, but we kept deaths down and gave people their freedom back. We showed the woke mob that there was another way. Right now, our country is being led by Joe Biden's woke mob, and has been unable to deal with the challenges that it faces, including inflation and the rising threat of China. We need more effective leadership. Our campaign is going to provide better leadership and put this country on the path to success, once again.

May 2023: Introduce election integrity bill, provisions include ending weekend early voting, requiring mail ballots to be received by 7 AM on Election Day, requiring voter ID for mail voting, also voters shall be purged from the rolls if they fail to vote in three consecutive general elections. Work with the legislature to pass the bill during the first half of the month and then travel to Nevada for the second half. Meet with Governor Lombardo and Representative Amodei, as well.

COVID and lockdowns hit Nevada's economy hard. Joe Biden wanted to go into national lockdown and destroy Nevada's economy. In Florida, we kept our economy open and gave people the freedom to do what they thought was right, because this country is about freedom. In America, you have the freedom to what you want, or at least you should. But Joe Biden's America is becoming a socialist country where you have no freedom. Our campaign believes in freedom and wants to fight for freedom, join us if you believe the same!

[PPT Spiral]

Making the Most

In the aftermath of the now infamous Pence announcement incident, the Stone campaign quickly moved to capitalize on it. In addition to the viral video produced by the campaign, a 'moneybomb' fundraiser was arranged within the week. This was considered a great success internally. Stone cemented ties with scores of grassroots donors,  including not only the devouts already plugged in to GOP politics, but the more apathetic and disengaged donors who got their attention piqued following the news. Online ads with clips of the ambush were pumped out and disseminated, being microtargeted on platforms such as Facebook and YouTube to reach especially the young, more edgy conservatives along with the middle-aged crowd seemingly most in tune with Trumpism. Places like Twitter have even inundated with memes of Stone emasculating Pence and other RINOs, as the candidate's close ties to that realm pay great dividends.

Having publicity, as Roger Stone himself attests, is better than no publicity. The candidate and his team tried their damnest to craft their messaging of Stone: that he is the "real deal," a "true pro-America conservative," and "the only one with balls" among other key descriptors. This was assisted by the Stone-friendly allies in key online platforms who would amplify the themes, and the messaging also made its way through cable news. Stone, from decades of political consulting, has the deepest friendships of the field with the likes of Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, and Laura Ingraham. Stone and his allies would make sure to regularly call in, check up on the personal lives of these Fox hosts, and subtly nudge their news coverage to be in a more favorable direction. This especially would be true once Stone appears on interviews, where he often got to arrange for talks at the top of the news hour to command the greatest number of viewers.

Day for Truth: Vaccines

As the candidates attempted to differentiate themselves, Stone settled with a distinct cleavage point used for the month of May: harness the full anger surrounding COVID and its policies, including the administration of vaccines. Stone can credibly appeal to the anti-vaccine and anti-lockdown crowd as he is personally unvaccinated, nor does he has a muddy record in elected office surrounding these issues. The latter point would be used unsparingly against Ron DeSantis, whom Stone repeatedly refers to as "Ron DeSnaketis" on the campaign trail. A spectacle on these matters was organized by Stone, held in Jacksonville, FL, in the leadup to the first GOP debate. Leading vaccine skeptics such as Marjorie Taylor Greene, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Joe Rogan, and Bret Weinstein were invited to speak. In addition, the infamous "Freedom Convoy" of truckers gathered to swarm the event stage and the surrounding downtown. To top it all off, Stone secured Kid Rock and Ted Nugent as performing acts in what would be called "The Day for Truth."

Why are we all gathered here today, folks? Is it because this oh-so benevolent government of ours always acts in our best interests? Far from it. The government, the media, and even many of our doctors have lied to you. They have lied to you about the safety of these vaccines. They have lied to you about what this is doing to our parents, our grandparents, and even our precious children. They brush it under the rug, tell you to never speak up, never doubt the system. But, they're just simply wrong. We should speak up, and we are here on this stage, at this very moment.

This is not a partisan issue. Hell, we've had a bipartisan group of speakers joining us today all in the cause of freedom and truth. We're all patriotic Americans and we deserve accountability.

We already know many of the scum like Fauci who have propagated these lies. Now, it's time to turn our attention to the weasels and cowards who are hiding from the wrath they deserve.

Down the street, over at that mansion, resides a certain Ron DeSantis—or, as I like to call him, Ron DeSnaketis. He's a snake because he may claim to be on your side, searching for the truth and punishing the wrongdoers. Where has he been before he started running for President, though? He got the vaccines, pushed people to take the vaccines, and signed into Florida law the clause that these big vaccine manufacturers are shielded from any liability. He may not mention it now, but let's not forget how he subjected Floridians to lockdowns too, myself included. Now he's doing a game of pretending to care about you and your family, and we're supposed to believe it?

Don't buy in to the bullsh**t from DeSnaketis or his chums in the medical industrial complex. They want to keep you sick, overwhelm our hospitals, and reduce our quality of life so they can more easily control you. This is about truth and freedom versus corruption and tyranny. This is what my campaign is all about.

This is the Day for Truth! We're in this together, and we shall prevail!

Practically all of the prominent anti-lockdown and vaccine skeptic crowds were encouraged to join the event, both to bolster attendance for newsworthiness as well as a ripple effect of influencing sympathetic voices to join Stone's side. Stone would make the time to also hold interviews with aligned hosts in alternative media, including the more obscure, and penetrate into the alternative medicine/health and wellness bubble in full force. Other campaigns dance around these topics, although Stone would cotninue making a name for himself as speaking the obvious truth and commanding respect for it. An unorthodox campaign would require unorthodox followers, and Roger Stone was rapidly whipping followers to be fiercely loyal to the movement.

[oldkyhome]

Here in Missouri, via YouTube

Announcement Video

Following a few months of speculation after the withdrawal of Trump, Josh Hawley, accompanied by his wife Erin and his two kids, announced he would run for President in a video published to social media. Here's the transcript:

"I want to tell you a story. It's a familiar picture. (cuts to pictures and videos of Hawley's family) A working family of four in small town Lexington, Missouri just trying to make by. Dad was a community banker and mom was a teacher. They woke early and worked late to make a life for themselves and their children. (cuts to scenes of Lexington, MO) Here and in towns like it across the nation, people value honesty and gumption and life’s simple pleasures: a fine morning in a deer stand, reading to the kids before bed, Sunday dinner at Mom’s.

(cuts back to Hawley speaking to camera) Families like this embody the dignity and quiet greatness of working America. (cuts to pictures of 19th century rail workers, steel workers, troops storming Normandy, etc) Their sacrifices are what made America the greatest nation in the world, whether it was paving the railroads that opened the West, fueling the industry that would power the Industrial Revolution, or rallying around the flag in every hour of danger.

(cuts to pictures of people talking to each other in restaurants, churches, porches) Folks don’t ask for much, and we live by a simple creed: give the best of yourself to your family, your community, and your fellow man.

(cuts back to Hawley speaking to camera) But for the last several decades, Washington and Wall Street has forgotten those people. (cuts to videos of big financial institutions and lobbyists) They've redirected their focus to special interests and elites that bankroll their campaign and bend the rules against ordinary folks. (cuts to scenes of empty factories, homes, schools) The jobs go overseas or south of the border or to cities on the coasts. And once-vibrant towns decline, taking with them the network of schools and neighborhoods and churches that make up middle class life.

(cuts to a scene of outlets calling 2016 for Donald Trump, him delivering his victory speech) Towns like mine set off a prairie fire when they shocked the political establishment and elected Donald Trump. The D.C elite class couldn't have been more confused, but we know why that happened. (cuts to videos of Washington, politicians, lobbyists, etc) Decades of being taking for granted and Washington ignoring the needs and issues of our communities produced that result. (cuts to scenes of high gas prices, rising food costs, and families looking shocked at their tax form) Now, with Joe Biden and his special interests undoing Trump's work and restacking the deck against working America, the stakes are higher than they've ever been before.

(cuts back to Hawley speaking to camera) I'm running for President because now is the time to fight back. We can't tolerate another 4 years of the same Biden policies that have squeezed and squeezed America's middle-class. The great American middle and its conviction and courage has always been at the heart of our democracy, and together, with your voice, we can shock the political establishment again and take back Washington from the special interests and the well-connected. We can, and we will. (fades to Hawley 2024 logo)"

(): denotes scene change

Self-made campaign material

Spring Schedule

March 1-4: Attend CPAC 2023, speak on March 3rd
March 5: Prepare with staff and supporters for the big announcement
March 6: Announce campaign via social media, make calls to allies and donors
March 7-9: Appear on national media networks to promote the campaign
March 10-15: Visit Iowa, arrange staff hirings and lay the groundwork for initial operations
March 16-22: No campaigning; Senate duties
March 23: Release an op-ed to the WSJ explaining Hawley's new electoral vision and strategy for the GOP
March 24-26: Visit Nevada, arrange staff hirings and lay the groundwork for initial operations
March 27-31: Host meet-and-greets and stump in rural Iowa, gauging support

April 1-9: No campaigning; Senate duties
April 10-12: Conduct national staff hirings, particularly seeking out former Trump Team officials
April 13-16: Speak with high-profile MAGA donors to shore up support
April 17-21: Visit New Hampshire, arrange staff hirings and lay the groundwork for initial operations
April 22-27: No campaigning; Senate duties. Introduce bill to ban TikTok.
April 28-30: Conduct meetings with Iowa Congressional delegation to solicit endorsements.

May 1-3: Attend the 2023 NatCon Conference, speak on May 2nd.
May 4-5: Appear on national media networks to promote the campaign.
May 6-7: Meet with film staff to discuss Hawley's first ads.
May 8-12: Visit South Carolina, arrange staff hirings and lay the groundwork for initial operations
May 9-15: No campaigning; Senate duties.
May 16-18: Fly to Iowa, visit local well-known state officials to solicit endorsements.
May 19: Hold constituent town hall in Missouri.
May 20-21: Visit Cedar Rapids, Iowa to open campaign HQ and hold 2 meet-and-greet events.
May 22: Speak to a group of evangelical voters on religious liberty, abortion.
May 23-25: Court endorsements from the Missouri GOP congressional delegation.
May 26-31: No campaigning; Senate duties.

[Mycool]

Endorsements and surrogates

Alongside the relationship building among Senators, Polis turns his attention to Georgia. In Georgia, Polis thinks the Atlanta suburbs could produce a win in the state. He starts by courting Representatives Lucy McBath and Nikema Williams. Both New Democrats, Polis thinks a practical approach is key. He highlights his swing state performance, common sense gun control bills, and support for raising the minimum wage.

Senators Hickenlooper and Bennett are the primary surrogates for Polis. Bennet will lay the groundwork for endorsements by speaking with the rest of Colorado’s delegation, rallying them behind Governor Polis based on his performance in the state. Hickenlooper will campaign in New Hampshire and Michigan on Polis’s behalf, focusing on college educated voters in those states. Joe Neguse will lobby Representatives Nikema Williams and Steven Horsford, attempting to sway them to Polis’s camp based on his climate plan, green campaign, and electability.

[KaiserDave]

Chapter II: Red Hot Summer
June 2023-September 2023

The first turn has gone splendidly. It's clear what each candidates are about, the lane they're going for and how they are reaching voters. Now it's really time to put your nose to the grindstone. The temperatures are going up (ironic compared to our current predicament), the sidewalks are hot, the air is sweltering, and the campaign is kicking into high gear. This turn will be intense, have debates, and the polls will start to shift big as the summer progresses, in one direction....or another. Be on your toes! This turn will run through June, July, August, and September.


Garcia Wins Decisive Runoff Victory to be Mayor of Chicago
CNN, April 4th, 2023

Ron DeSantis new public enemy No. 1 of alt-right
The New York Times, April 7th, 2023

"Why has DeSantis decided to cave to the radical left on abortion? It's pathetic. Even COVID lunatic Mike DeWine has gone further. Just pathetic."
Laura Ingraham live on FOX, FOX News, April 12th, 2023

Poll says DeSantis Abortion Bill, unpopular with primary voters, but viewed as reasonable by independents, moderates
CNN, April 14th, 2023

Report: Biden unsure about nominating Harris, interested in other options
The Hill, April 15th, 2023

Pence Stumbles: Attacks from Roger Stone, Death Row Gaffe
POLITICO, April 17th, 2023

How Roger Stone is resurrecting Qanon and enthralling the far right internet sphere
Vox, April 18th, 2023

There is a CONSPIRACY by disgusting RINOs to DESTROY me. Will be exposed!
@realDonaldTrump, Truth Social, April 19, 2023

D.C. Democrats Think Kamala Harris has the nomination wrapped up, but these longtime Democratic operatives think Mayor Pete is ready to storm the gates
The New York Times, April 20th, 2023

Kari Lake Taking the Republican Right by Storm
The Daily Beast, April 23rd, 2023

Poll: Harris Facing Potential Weakness with Black Men
The New York Times, April 24th, 2023

Where Does the Progressive Movement go from here? Post-Sanders, Jeff Merkley Deserves a Look
The Intercept, April 25th, 2023

inarguable proof that desantis (desnaketis) visited Epstein Island friends with hillary clinton devil worshipper satanist must be stopped STOP HIM!!!!!
@followtherabbit, 4chan, May 1st, 2023

The Rise of Josh Hawley: Trumpism's New Intellectual
The New Yorker, May 3rd, 2023

Florida Voter Integrity Bill Passes State Legislature
FOX News, May 4th, 2023

WFP Poll: AOC First Choice of Progressive Voters, then Khanna, then Merkley
Working Families Party, May 7th, 2023

Ron DeSantis: PARTY HOUND? Parties with Young Girls as Teacher, LOVES IT!
THE DRUDGE REPORT, May 9th, 2023

"I SLEPT WITH RON DESANTIS AS A 16 YEAR OLD" GEORGIA WOMAN SPEAKS OUT
The National Enquirer, May 10th, 2023

Russian Donbass Offensive Grinds to a Halt: Small Gains for High Casualties
The New York Times, May 12th, 2023

MASSIVE DOSSIER DESANTIS DOJ INFORMER PLOTTED AGAINST TRUMP LINK:...
@1776TRUMP45PATRIOT, Twitter, May 14th, 2023

"I've got all kinds of people trying to get me to endorse in 2024. And I tell them all the same thing. I'm waiting, because I don't want to see anybody changing their position after I come out for them, in them debates, when they need to win. I'll say two things. Can't trust AOC, and Ro's legit."
Chris Smalls Live on Desus & Mero, Desus & Mero SHOWTIME, May 15th, 2023

Democratic, Republican Debates Planned for June, More Coming...
The Washington Post, May 16th, 2023

Many people are saying some very bad things about Ron DeSanctimonious. Could be true!
@realDonaldTrump, Truth Social, May 17th, 2023

Conflict in the California Democratic Party, Harris vs Newsom
Los Angeles Times, May 18th, 2023

Establishment Coalescing Behind Harris, but Shaheen, Hassan withhold crucial endorsements
The Boston Globe, May 21st, 2023

TRUE VIDEO: DeSantis Solicits GAY SEX at Miami Bar
@patriotmilitiaSTOP1984, Twitter, May 24th, 2023

PRE-DEBATE POLL: DeSantis Still Ahead Despite Attacks, Harris Leading
NATIONAL POLL: Who do you support of the following potential candidates for President? (Republican)
Ron DeSantis: 32%
Nikki Haley: 11%
Josh Hawley: 10%
Kari Lake: 8%
Glenn Youngkin: 5%
Roger Stone: 5%
Larry Hogan: 4%
Mike Pence: 4%
Matt Gaetz: 4%
Kristi Noem: 3%
Justin Amash: 1%
Mike Lindell: 1%
Ben Carson: 1%
Undecided/Someone Else: 8%

NATIONAL POLL: Who do you support of the following potential candidates for President? (Democratic)
Kamala Harris: 31%
Pete Buttigieg: 19%
Gavin Newsom: 11%
Gretchen Whitmer: 7%
Alexandria Ocasio Cortez: 5%
Eric Adams: 4%
Ro Khanna: 3%
J.B. Pritzker: 2%
Jared Polis: 2%
Jeff Merkley: 2%
Kirsten Gillibrand: 2%
Undecided/Someone Else: 12%
CNN, May 28th, 2023

"Donald Trump and his associates have done nothing but bad, very bad, for conservative causes since Election Day 2020. Now they're trying to destroy the best hope for conservatives, and America, Ron DeSantis. If they succeed in slandering him we will lose again and again to these out of control, anti-capitalist, anti-Israel, socialist Democrats."
Live on the Ben Shapiro Show, The Daily Wire, May 29th, 2023

Endorsements

Ron DeSantis
Florida Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar
Florida Congressman Carlos A. Giménez
U.S. Senator for Wyoming Cynthia Lummis
Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves
Former Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin
The DeVos Family
Former Attorney General William Barr
Former Attorney General and Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions
U.S. Senator for Alaska Dan Sullivan
U.S. Senator for Arkansas John Boozeman
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey
Political Commentator Ben Shapiro
Nevada Congressman Mark Amodei
Nikki Haley
South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster
U.S. Senator for South Carolina Lindsey Graham
U.S. Senator for South Carolina Tim Scott
Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp
U.S. Senator for North Carolina Thom Tillis
Mike Pence
Indiana Congressman Greg Pence
Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb
Josh Hawley
U.S. Senator for Missouri Eric Schmitt
U.S. Senator for Ohio J.D. Vance
Attorney Christopher DeMuth
Publisher Emile Doak
Missouri Congressman Sam Graves
Missouri Congressman Jason Smith
Glenn Youngkin
North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum
Virginia Congressman Bob Wittman
Virginia Congresswoman Jen Kiggans
Virginia Congressman Ben Cline
Virginia Congressman Morgan Griffith
Kari Lake
Wrestler Brock Lesnar
Wrestler Mark William Calaway "The Undertaker"
The Bundy Family
Actress Gina Carano
Actress Roseanne Barr
Country Music Artist Randy Owen
Singer-songwriter Toby Keith
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers
Singer-songwriter Alan Jackson
Roger Stone
Media Personality Andy Ngo
Media Personality James O'Keefe
Media Personality Alex Jones
Former Congressional Candidate Laura Loomer
Media Personality Gavin McInnes
Blogger Lew Rockwell
Internet Entrepreneur Kim Dotcom
Former White House Advisor Steve Bannon
TV Personality Rick Harrison
Larry Hogan
Former Massachusetts Governor and NCAA President Charlie Baker
Vermont Governor Phil Scott
Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie
Kristi Noem
Montana Governor Greg Gianforte
Mike Lindell

Matt Gaetz
Colorado Congresswoman Lauren Boebert
Ben Carson


Kamala Harris
Ohio Congresswoman and Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Joyce Beatty
Delaware Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester
California Congresswoman Maxine Waters
California Congresswoman Barbara Lee
California Congresswoman Julia Brownley
California Congressman Ted Lieu
U.S. Senator for Delaware Tom Carper
U.S. Senator for Delaware Chris Coons
U.S. Senator for Maryland Chris Van Hollen
U.S. Senator for New Mexico Ben Ray Luján
U.S. Senator for Virginia Mark Warner
EMILY's List
Pete Buttigieg
LGBTQ Victory Fund
New Jersey Congressman Andy Kim
North Carolina Congressman Jeff Jackson
Rhode Island Congressman Seth Magaziner
Rhode Island Congressman David Cicilline
Actor Robert De Niro
Gavin Newsom
U.S. Senator for California Alex Padilla
Alexandria Ocasio Cortez
Missouri Congresswoman Cori Bush
Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar
Michigan Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib
Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich (Shared with Khanna and Merkley)
Gretchen Whitmer
U.S. Senator for Michigan Gary Peters
U.S. Senator for Michigan Debbie Stabenow
Michigan Congresswoman Haley Stevens
Michigan Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin
Michigan Congressman Dan Kildee
Michigan Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan
Former Congressman Tim Ryan
J.B. Pritzker
Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth
Chicago Mayor Chuy Garcia
Jared Polis
U.S. Senator for Colorado John Hickenlooper
U.S. Senator for Colorado Michael Bennet
Colorado Congressman Jason Crow
Colorado Congressman Joe Neguse
Center for New Liberalism Director Colin Mortimer
Eric Adams
Reverend Al Sharpton
Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.
Former Congressman Charles Rangel
Illinois Congressman Bobby Rush
Jeff Merkley
U.S. Senator for Oregon Ron Wyden
Washington Governor Jay Inslee
Oregon Governor Tina Kotek
Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich (Shared with Khanna and AOC)
Idaho State Representative Paulette Jordan
Former Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer
Ro Khanna
Media Personality Cenk Uygur
Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich (Shared with Merkley and AOC)
Kirsten Gillibrand
Governor of New York Kathy Hochul
New York Congressman Paul D. Tonko


This List does not include all endorsements, nor does the absence of named endorsements mean you have no endorsements, these are just meant to indicate to players who is gathering what kind of support where and as a record of major endorsements. Also remember they are far from the be all end all.


You have ELEVEN DAYS (Until January 4th). There will be a debate this turn. Post your regular posts but watch out for the debate!