CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – When Republican Party of Iowa president asked Senator Tim Scott on Thursday to “take us on a little trip about what you dream of today,” he laughed at the news of his future in politics. Scott said it was a “tough” but “good” question.
“President!” Someone shouted at the audience.
“My homeowners association?” Scott replied.
Scott didn’t meet the Republicans who visited him in Iowa’s second -largest city, the Rich Country Club – but, no, he wasn’t there to talk about his presidency at the HOA.
The South Carolina senator is one of a dozen or more Republicans quietly beginning to lay the groundwork for a big and unexpected warning for the 2024 presidential campaign: Donald Trump.
Scott did not mention Trump once when he chaired the governor’s funding meeting this week with Iowa Senator Johnny Ernst. But the former president hinted that there could still be a vote in two years, complicating matters for loyalists like Scott, who is effectively stuck in uncertainty until Trump decides. Republicans include Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, former South Carolina Governor Nick Hale, former Vice President Mike Pence, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and Senator Rick Scott of Florida.
The emerging field of 2024 began planting seeds in Iowa in 2021, and in some cases even earlier. Cruz is the returning favorite who won the 2016 Cocoon against Trump.
There seems to be something the same now: None of them have a bad word – or really a word – to say about Trump, says Jeff Kaufman, president of the Republican Party of Iowa, who helps lawmakers organize the first run of candidates. the leadership.
“I haven’t met someone here who would say anything negative about Trump,” Kaufman told reporters after the event with Tim Scott. “And when there is a disagreement, it is passed on in the way of a family disagreement. I thought, maybe I’ll have a little more back and forth about it.
In contrast, senior party officials dwell on issues such as immigration and the economy, which are still popular with Republicans.
“In the next election, I think you will not see far [Trump’s] “Politics,” Kaufman said. “You have heard sen. Scott – did not name the president, but spoke about politics “.
“I haven’t met anyone here who has indicated anything negative about Trump.”
– Iowa GOP President Jeff Kaufman
If a Republican had a chance to vote “never Trump” in 2024, it might just be a snippet then. It appears that a small sample of GOP activists loyal to Scott’s event did not approve of Trump’s antagonist, such as MP Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) Or Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), Both of whom did. thinking about how to use the lever. Their profiles in the country after Trump’s 2021 impeachment vote.
“I will definitely support him [Trump]”- said Shelley Nelson, a retiree who is worried about the economy and gas prices. “I really want to see [Florida Gov.] Ron Desantis escaped. This is my first choice in 2024. But if it’s Trump, of course. I mean, I love Trump’s politics. Someone’s personality may bother you, but the rule works perfectly. “
Scott, the only black Republican in the Senate, brought fans to Cedar Rapids with his inspiring story of the life he grew up with after his grandparents divorced.
“My grandfather would come to the kitchen table every morning with my brother and me and read the cover of the newspaper,” recalls Scott, 56. “I always wondered what was so important about the paper that this man was reading. for 30 minutes daily. About 15 years later, I learned that my grandfather had never really learned to read, but what he learned was an example for two grandchildren to understand the power of being knowledgeable and educated.
Scott, a senator since 2013 and a rising Republican star, showed early on what could precede the electoral campaign: “One side wants to measure your success and your importance based on the amount of melanin you have. you on your skin. I prefer to evaluate our success and our importance in the values we are willing to promote ”.
An independent GOP adviser told the audience that Trump’s unpredictable timing could hurt everyone, even for Republicans with good intentions on the ground. “What will the people who told him before do?” the man asked.
“I think people want to keep the powder as dry as possible to see what the pitch looks like,” said David Kochel, a veteran GOP strategist in Iowa. “This is the best reason in the world to say to people, ‘Thanks for calling, Senator Cruz, but we’re not ready to make a commitment yet.’
Scott left the event on Thursday before boarding the flight, but promised to return. Hale is the next Republican to lead the fundraising title for the Iowa GOP later this month.
Althea Haase, a hostess out of Cedar Rapids, said she liked the way Scott seemed “straightforward and sincere … he looks like a religious person and we need religious people.”
Ernst, who joined the Senate two years after Scott, called him “one of my best friends in the U.S. Senate” and “the epitome of the American dream.”
If Trump is still running, he will certainly not enjoy the benefits of a position like upfront party support.
“Ultimately, the question of current authority is up to the voters to decide,” Kaufman said. “I declared to the public that this is going to be an open and neutral playing field.
“The party president will not support anyone. And honestly, I hope no one on my Central State Committee will support anyone. “
Pence, who quietly broke away from Trump, was the last Republican to personally call Kaufman after this week’s Iowa primary. “He said he would return to the state and consider if anything happened [he] “It will help you,” Kaufman said.
Interestingly, the party president said he has not yet met the Trump people.
“It all depends on the 700-pound elephant in the room and what it will do,” Kaufman said. “I don’t think we will receive any meaningful guidance until 2022”.
Source: Huffpost
