There are three realities that Republican voters can no longer avoid.  The first, Joe Biden will not be the Democrat nominee in 2024.  Second, the Democrats want to face a damaged Donald Trump in November of 2024.  Third, Trump’s age, unforeseen events, and the egregious lawfare he is facing could eventuate in Trump having to drop out of the race.   Ron DeSantis is the only viable proven conservative candidate to replace him and yet Trump and many Republican voters are foolishly determined to permanently destroy DeSantis and render him unelectable.

The legacy media and establishment Democrats are setting the stage for Biden’s withdrawal with almost daily stories of his age, gaffes and incapacities.  Their allies in the polling community are increasingly publishing polls showing Biden losing to not only Trump but other candidates on the Republican side. 

The Democrats have for the last six months begun to focus on Biden’s replacement.  Leading the way are Gavin Newsom, Gretchen Whitmer, Amy Klobuchar, Pete Buttigieg, Jared Polis, and as a last resort, Kamala Harris.  All of whom are much younger and perceived by the general electorate to be less controversial than Donald Trump.  The only question that remains is the timing of Biden’s announcement.  Will it be before or after Trump or another Republican clinches the nomination?

While the Democrats are moving on with their strategy to replace Biden, the legacy media is replete with stories of how the Democrats are worried that Trump could defeat Biden.  Their allies in the polling industry are consistently showing Trump either tied or beating Biden.  Is this genuine concern about the election or a ploy to make certain that Trump is the Republican nominee?

In a much publicized recent poll by Democrat-leaning ABC News reveals that Trump is beating Biden by nine points.  However, the internals reveal some near impossible statistics.  This poll claims Trump is winning the youth vote by 16 points (in 2020 he lost the youth vote by 15 points) and Biden is winning minority voters by only 9 points (he won them by 45 points in 2020).   Meanwhile Trump’s favorability rating hovers at 35%. 

The objective of the egregious lawfare being conducted against Trump by a politicized and weaponized Justice Department is not to imprison him, as he will almost assuredly overturn any convictions on appeal, but to make him unelectable to the vast majority of voters while inciting the Republican primary electorate to be rightfully incensed and to unquestioningly support Trump in the primaries.    

In a poll sponsored by the conservative New York Post, a venal and senescent imbecile, Joe Biden would beat Trump by six percentage points if he, Trump, is convicted of any felonies.  Any other Democrat nominee would likely have better result in the general election.

Which brings us to the third and most important reality check.  What if Trump is either unable to run or is forced out of the race?

In the modern era there has never been two unabashed conservatives with track records of America First accomplishments running for the Republican nomination in the same year.   In 2024 there are two, Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis.  In the past there may have been one on occasion.  The rest of the field were invariably a part of the Washington Establishment.

Almost immediately prior to and after DeSantis declared his candidacy, Trump dumped $20 million in negative ads against him oftentimes containing misleading and untruthful assertions.  His army of social media influencers dutifully regurgitated these talking points and the legacy media, anxious to also destroy DeSantis, robotically repeated them and highlighted whatever Trump said as part of their obsession with him.

Trump did not have to resort to unconditional warfare to defeat DeSantis ansd win the nomination.  Trump’s popularity with a large plurality of the Republican base put him in the position of easily winning in the primaries.  Instead, he became singularly focused on annihilating DeSantis for supposedly being “disloyal”.

As of August 2023, more money was spent by Trump affiliated groups targeting DeSantis than were spent in all negative independent ads targeting Biden and Trump combined.  It was not long after Trump began his scorched earth campaign that DeSantis saw a precipitous drop in his poll numbers as the immediate retaliation by a vindictive Donald Trump to the DeSantis candidacy made it nearly impossible for him to gain national traction.

Thomas Lifson, in a blog post at the American Thinker, highlights many other issues with the DeSantis campaign.  There is little doubt that mistakes have been made and the course corrections insufficient.  But the unending and unjustified vitriol by Trump, his army of followers, and the legacy medai is the primary reason behind the campaign’s lack of success thus far.

If for some reason Donald Trump cannot run in 2024, who is going to be the Republican standard bearer?  Another RINO in Nikki Haley?  An establishment shill in Mike Pence?  A grossly inexperienced and narcissistic Vivek Ramaswamy?    

The only way the Republicans can win the presidency and down-ballot elections in 2024 is to stop the internecine vitriol and vindictiveness.  Ron DeSantis is not the enemy nor is Donald Trump or any of the other candidates.  Winning in 2024 requires that all factions of the Republican voting electorate cease treating each other as implacable enemies during the primary season and focus on the ultimate goal, defeating the party that hates America. 

Republican voters, but in particular the no-one-but-Trump voters, must face the reality that Donald Trump faces enormous hurdles to win the presidency in 2024.  There must, by necessity, be a plan B and a conservative candidate that can win against not only whoever Democrats nominate but their inevitable voting machinations.

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