Former South Carolina Governor and US House Rep. Mark Sanford announced he will make a decision by Labor Day if he will launch a primary challenge against President Donald Trump in 2020. From CNN:
Sanford told CNN’s Jake Tapper that he’s been encouraged to run for president by people who “have said we need to have a conversation about what it means to be a Republican.”“Because the bent that we’ve been moving toward here of late is not consistent with the values and the ideals they believed in for a very long time,” Sanford said Tuesday on CNN’s “The Lead.”He suggested that South Carolina voters are weary of “the bully in the schoolyard routine” from Trump.”So I think something is afoot both on the financial front and frankly on the tone and tenor front,” he told CNN.
Sanford released a video on Monday that teased a potential 2020 run. He claimed “a big storm is coming” due to the financial problems in America. The government “not dealing with it would crush our economy, it could wipe out whatever we’ve saved, it could even destroy our Republic.” He pointed out that the Democratic candidates have “a long laundry list of new political promises that we can’t afford. Trump “rules out action on the very things that drive our debt and spending.”
The former politician encouraged people to reach out to him with ideas on how to fix America and make her prosperous again.
Sanford spent three days in New Hampshire this week. He told Fox News he would make his decision around Labor Day.
He expanded on the points he made in his video:
“I think we need to have a conversation as Republicans about what it means to be a Republican,” Sanford explained. “One of the cornerstones to the Republican Party historically was, do we spend beyond our means? Do we believe in some level of financial sanity? And that seems to have gone out of the window of late.”Sanford warned that “we’re about to drive the train off the tracks on debt, spending and accumulating deficits. And if we don’t all speak up, as Americans and as Republicans we’re going to pay the price.”Pointing to plans with hefty price tags being proposed by the two dozen Democrats running for the White House, Sanford said “there’s something wrong with a robust debate taking place on the Democratic side where it’s simply a debate of more versus more versus more versus more, with nobody worried about who’s going to pay for it — and no debate taking place on the Republican side.”
Some New Hampshire Republicans welcomed Sanford with open arms. From The Washington Examiner:
GOP political consultant Jim Merrill said Republicans generally supported a discussion about the mounting national debt, the growing deficit, and continued federal spending to put pressure on the Trump administration and to counter 2020 Democratic presidential candidates pushing policies such as “Medicare for All,” the Green New Deal, and student loan forgiveness.An advantage for Sanford is that people in New Hampshire actually listen, Merrill told the Washington Examiner.”Even if your candidacy isn’t successful, sometimes your issues survive your candidacy,” he said, citing Paul Tsongas, who won the state’s 1992 Democratic primary election on a fiscal responsibility platform.
However, Merrill admitted that Sanford would likely not beat Trump in a primary. He stressed, “that these issues aren’t being talked about.” Sanford could grab a victory even if he loses because if “the issues catch fire and someone grabs them then he’s contributed to the process.”
Merill warned that while it would help the Republican Party to discuss the debt and fiscal problems, it could get erased if the conversation spirals into “personal attacks on Trump.” Plus, Trump has ammunition against Sanford considering his past. Remember the lies about hiking along the Appalachian Trail to hide an extramarital affair.
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