In Georgia Kemp took on Trump about the Big Lie and cruised to victory. Millions and millions of Republicans are voting for these people. In 2022, the normies did much better than the populists. None became the nominee.įurthermore, the conservative managerial wing of the party is not some small offshoot of the Tucker Carlson universe. At this point in earlier election cycles, Jeb Bush, Rudy Giuliani, Scott Walker and Mike Huckabee were doing well in their polls. The conventional wisdom is that it will stay that way - but maybe not. The race is between populist Tweedledum and populist Tweedledee. So right now the GOP has two leading candidates with similar views, and the same ever-present anti-woke combativeness. But instead, he’s running as a dour, humorless culture war populist - presumably because that’s what he is. His state is growing faster than any other in the country.

The Florida governor should be the ultimate optimistic, businesslike conservative. The second reason we’re not seeing the two narratives face off is Ron DeSantis. Kemp has taken on Trump in the past, but who wants to get into a gutter brawl with a front-runner when you already have a fantastic job governing the state you love? It could be that the GOP presidential field will be much smaller than many of us thought a couple of months ago. My educated guess is that Youngkin will not run for president in 2024 he wants to focus on Virginia. The first reason is that Trump’s supporters are so many and so loyal, and his political style is so brutal, he may be deterring governors from entering the campaign. The conservative governors certainly play the values card, especially when schools try to usurp the role of parents, but they are strongest when emphasizing pocketbook issues and quality of life issues.īut that’s not happening so far. The bellicose populists put culture war issues front and center. These different narratives yield different political messages. Their most appealing narrative is: Jobs and people are coming to us, we’ve got the better model, we’re providing businesslike leadership to keep it going.

(Seven of the 10 fastest growing states have Republican governors, while 8 of the 10 fastest shrinking states have Democratic governors.) They are running growing, prospering states. On the other hand, Republican governors from places like Georgia, Virginia and New Hampshire often have a different story to tell. The first is the Trumpian populist narrative we’re all familiar with: American carnage … the elites have betrayed us … the left is destroying us … I am your retribution. There are two different narratives running through the Republican Party right now. Baltimore Sun eNewspaper Home Page Close Menu

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