DeSantis leaves GOP race to Haley and Trump
Florida Governor endorses Trump before New Hampshire vote
From Exeter, New Hampshire - This is a special campaign trail edition of ‘Regular Order’ for January 22, 2024:
“It's now one fella and one lady left.”
Senate still waiting on border deal.
Bipartisan tax package takes big first step.
THIS WEEK. The House is out. The Senate keeps trying to make a deal on border security. All eyes on the New Hampshire Primary.
GRANITE STATE. And then there were two. The GOP race for President narrowed on Sunday, as Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida - once seen as the primary rival for former President Donald Trump - ended his campaign. That left former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley as the only challenger to Trump. "May the best woman win," Haley said to cheers in Seabrook, New Hampshire.
HALEY. The DeSantis news broke just as Haley was shaking hands at a lobster shack on the coast. "He ran a great race. He's been a good Governor, and we wish him well," Haley said of DeSantis, as she turned her attention to Trump. "Having said that, it's now one fella and one lady left."
NO HELP. Like other major Republicans, DeSantis offered no help to Haley, backing Trump in a videotaped statement. "He has my endorsement because we can't go back to the old Republican guard of yesteryear, a repackaged form of warmed-over corporatism that Nikki Haley represents," DeSantis said.
TRUMP. After months of mockery, Trump accepted the DeSantis endorsement and praised his rival. "I just want to thank Ron and congratulate him on doing a very good job," Trump said at his rally last night in Rochester, New Hampshire. It was a bit different from how Trump often called him "DeSanctimonious.”
GOP RACE. Does the DeSantis departure change anything? I'm not so sure. At Haley's rally last night in Exeter, there was a very good turnout. They liked her usual stump speech. But I never sensed that those people would rush outside and burn down the building if Haley asked them to do that.
MESSAGE. While Haley may not have planned this, the biggest cheers for her last night came when she jabbed directly at Trump. "Rightly or wrongly, chaos follows him," Haley said. "We can't have a country in disarray and a world on fire - and go through four more years of chaos. We won't survive."
SUNUNU. Meanwhile, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu went after Trump with gusto at the Haley rally. "I am tired of losing. I am tired of losers," Sununu yelled. "If you're going to sit there and complain that democracy is threatened, well, don't sit on the couch on Tuesday."
VOTERS. If you’re looking at past elections in New Hampshire for hints about this week, there have been some odd results for the GOP. I saw Pat Buchanan upset Bob Dole in 1996, and John McCain beat George W. Bush four years later. Trump easily won here in 2016. I still think he’s the favorite.
TRUMP. There is no sense of concern coming from the Trump campaign right now. Trump is doing his customary one rally per night, staying away from visits to diners, hockey games, and small VFW halls. He does not do retail campaign stops like all other candidates. He will wrap up his campaign tonight in Laconia.
MESSAGE. The Trump message remains a familiar blend of personal grievances delivered with references to all sorts of hot button issues for conservative media. But there is one extra ingredient of late, as he keeps making the case that a President deserves immunity from all laws.
NOT TRUE. Trump this weekend also aimed a false charge of election fraud at Gov. Sununu. "You have a Governor that lets Democrats vote in the Republican primary," Trump said. But that's not true. Independents can vote in the GOP primary, but not Democrats. And you can't change your party affiliation on Tuesday.
DESANTIS. The official end of the Ron DeSantis bid for the White House was an exclamation point on one of the worst high profile campaigns for President that I've seen. DeSantis never seemed at ease with voters on the campaign trail, and despite having all sorts of money, he never came close to derailing Trump.
FINAL HOURS. Even after finishing second in Iowa, it was clear the DeSantis campaign was going down the tubes. DeSantis had no advertising on the air here, and spent Saturday in South Carolina. His campaign suddenly set a 5 pm event for Sunday in New Hampshire - but that never happened.
COMPS. In terms of a well-funded, serious candidate, the DeSantis implosion might be like that of former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean - though there was no DeSantis 'scream' like Dean's in 2004. It's a cruel reminder that just being a political heavyweight doesn't guarantee you anything.
VERMIN. The final New Hampshire campaign stop for DeSantis on Friday night in Nashua now looks like an appropriate coda for his campaign. The small crowd of voters was treated to an impromptu appearance by Vermin Supreme - the political gadfly with a rubber boot on his head. You don’t know Vermin? Well, here we are in 2012.
CAMPAIGN TRAIL. This is my ninth New Hampshire Primary - my first was back in 1992. My very first night, I passed on plans to go out and drink with my buddies. Instead, I somehow found my way to the Dover Elks Club - where Bill Clinton gave his famous “‘Til the Last Dog Dies,” speech. If you want to chip in a few gallons of gas for this special coverage, you can do that at this link.
JUDGE JUDY. The big name campaigning with Nikki Haley on Sunday was TV star Judge Judy. And I'm not kidding when I say that the crowd cheered louder for Judge Judy than anything or anyone else during that event. Judge Judy made clear she was no fan of Donald Trump.
CAMPAIGN. That reminded me of 2020, when Pete Buttigieg brought actor Michael J. Fox to a stop in Keene. A guy in the crowd behind me hurriedly dialed a buddy to tell him. "MICHAEL J. EFFIN' FOX IS HERE. YEAH, DUDE. MICHAEL J. FREAKING FOX!"
CONGRESS. Back on Capitol Hill, the House is out this week, while the Senate will keep trying to flesh out the details of a bipartisan deal on border security, which might then unlock billions of dollars in military aid for Ukraine and Israel.
SENATE TALKS. As I wrote on Friday, we know the talks have made progress, but Senators have offered us no concrete details about what's been agreed to in the negotiations. Really, the longer this goes, the more unlikely an agreement becomes - especially with Donald Trump likely opposed.
DEPORT. In recent days, I've definitely detected more GOP mentions of something that could well become a prime battle cry for Republicans in this election year. “If you’re not willing to deport people who come here illegally, you can’t secure the southern border,” said Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH).
STOPGAP. President Biden on Friday signed into law the latest temporary funding bill approved by Congress. The plan gives lawmakers until March 1 to finish four government funding bills. The other eight bills must be completed by March 8. All of those measures were supposed to have been passed into law by October 1 of last year.
DELAY. Nikki Haley complained about the slow-going in Congress on the budget, saying that Congress has only finished its spending work on time four times in the past 40 years. It’s actually worse than that - it’s four times in 48 years.
RECORD. Since Congress reformed the budget process in 1974, lawmakers have had their funding bills done by October 1 (the start of the new fiscal year) in 1976, 1988, 1994, and 1996.
TAX PLAN. A bipartisan tax package got a big boost on Friday from the House Ways and Means Committee, which voted 40-3 in favor of the plan. It features one big priority for Democrats - an expansion of the Child Tax Credit; and one big priority for Republicans - additional business tax breaks.
BIPARTISAN. "There is a path forward for Republicans and Democrats to deliver critical tax relief," said Rep. Jason Smith (R-MO), the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.
OUTLOOK. Can something like this actually reach the finish line in an election year? Maybe. "A major Child Tax Credit expansion amid this chaotic House Republican majority would be a remarkable accomplishment," said Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA).
COST. The $78 billion package is paid for - well, sort of paid for. The tax provisions would be temporary, expiring after 2025 (which is when all of the individual tax changes expire from the Trump tax cuts). But outside groups say these plans really cost hundreds of billions over a ten year period.
BAYOU STATE. Over the objections of House Speaker Mike Johnson, the Louisiana state legislature (run by the GOP) has approved a new Congressional map which could knock out Rep. Garret Graves (R-LA). The plan creates a second black-majority district in the state, which is likely to be won by Democrats in November.
GRAVES. Why is Graves being dumped? Part of it can be explained by his endorsement of an opponent to Gov. Jeff Landry (R-LA). It would have been logical for state lawmakers to knock off Rep. Julia Letlow (R-LA), because she has the least seniority in Congress. But it didn't work out that way.
JUNGLE. Meanwhile, the state legislature did approve the end of the 'Jungle Primary' for Congress in Louisiana. Instead, the state will now have closed primaries, though a late deal brokered by Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) will let independents cast a ballot in either major party primary.
ABORTION. Last Friday, thousands of abortion opponents marched through the snow in the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C. Today, abortion rights supporters will have their say on the 51st anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision on abortion, which was overturned in 2022 by the U.S. Supreme Court.
BIDEN. At the White House, President Biden will convene a meeting of his Task Force on Reproductive Healthcare Access - it comes as the Biden campaign has unveiled a new TV ad featuring an OB-GYN from Texas - who had to leave the state in order to end her own life-threatening pregnancy.
MESSAGE. "In Texas, you are forced to carry that pregnancy, and that is because of Donald Trump overturning Roe v. Wade,” says Dr. Austin Dennard.
DENIED. Donald Trump Jr. will be headlining a Trump campaign event today in New Hampshire. I signed up to cover that gathering - but I was rejected. One of my colleagues was also given the back of the hand.
BACKUP PLAN. So, what happens if you get rejected by a campaign, but you still want to be there for that event? You just sign up for a regular ticket. That works for someone like me - but not for a TV network.
RAP SHEET. Two men from Illinois were arrested last week for their actions on Jan. 6, as they were accused of causing over $40,000 in damages at the Capitol. Justin LaGesse and Theodore Middendorf entered the Capitol through a broken window near the Senate Wing Door. They later used a flagpole to try to break other windows on the north side of the building.
MUSE OF HISTORY. January 22, 1902. On this date, Sen. George Hoar of Massachusetts brought forward a resolution from the Senate Judiciary Committee to investigate the extent of polygamy in Utah, and what steps the feds should take to prevent it. This was a time in U.S. history where passions ran strongly against the Mormon church, as the Congressional Record in 1902 was filled with petitions asking for an amendment to the Constitution to specifically prohibit polygamy.
LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM:
The House next has votes on Jan. 29.
The Senate convenes at 3 pm.
Check President Biden’s schedule.
Follow me on Twitter @jamiedupree.
Email me at jamiedupree@substack.com
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“We can't go back to the old Republican guard of yesteryear.” While he doesn’t strike me as a person capable of recognizing irony, DeSantis expertly summed up the malignancy of the modern GOP.
Also, it was fascinating to learn 45 skips all the diner grip n grins with the locals. And if your credentials were denied, I’m wondering what non-broadcast media is being allowed into 45’s rallies.
I also wonder how the 45 campaign is dealing with his weekend stump blunder of confusing Pelosi and Haley while railing on about Jan. 6. When you start adding up the “Biden will lead us in the WWII” remarks, someone’s brain isn’t firing on all cylinders. And it’s not just the NYT reporting on this. Fox News had a piece on its website about the Nikki-Nancy mixup.
The PAC backing DeSantis will be changing their name from Never Back Down to Guess We'll Back Down After All