* For the sake of the nation, nothing – NOTHING! - is more important than getting Joe Biden out of the White House next year.
* Because when he goes, they all go: Kamala, Garland, Mayorkas, Buttigieg, Blinken, Yellen, Austin, Granholm, Karine Jean-Pierre, Rachel Levine – the entire rat’s nest.
* But if ex-President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis run scorched earth campaigns against each other in the GOP primary, Republicans will end up being so divided by the time we get to the general election that neither is likely to win.
* Think Goldwater vs. Rockefeller in ’64.
* Which will also likely mean the GOP will fail to retake the Senate and could very well lose the House.
* So Paul Bedard of the Washington Examiner poses the one scenario that likely would put the White House back into Republican control…
“A Trump-DeSantis GOP presidential ticket would crush President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, bringing in independents who are stubbornly sitting on the political fence.
“According to a Rasmussen Reports survey, a unity ticket of former President Donald Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) would beat Biden-Harris by 51%-43%. That margin is the biggest yet for any potential GOP ticket…”
* Don-Ron ’24!
* Trump would likely chafe at the idea and DeSantis won’t like the notion of being second banana. Whatever. Get over yourselves. We’re talking about the future of our country here. This is no time for petty egos.
* If successful, Trump would be termed out in four years after making America great again…again. And DeSantis, a young man by comparison, would be the obvious heir apparent.
* In addition, if Biden wins and is unable to continue in office – a very real possibility – Kamala would ascend to the throne (perish the thought!). But if Trump wins and is unable to complete his term, DeSantis would become king of the hill.
* The consequences of the 2024 presidential election are so dire that it can’t left up to the Trump-DeSantis campaigns. Republicans need to begin DEMANDING the two make the deal – sooner, rather than later.
* Just win, baby!
* Barak Zilberberg, who embarrassed himself in his run for governor in Nevada last year, has decided to further embarrass himself, but on a much bigger stage, by running for president of the United States next year.
* In more “Send in the Clowns” news, perennial gadfly candidate Eddie “Insert Goofy Name Here” Hamilton has announced that he’s running for U.S. Senate in Nevada next year.
* Hamilton’s record for losing races includes Henderson city council (2023), governor (2022), Congress (2020), Henderson city council (2019), Congress (2018), Henderson mayor (2017), governor (2014) and U.S. Senate (2012).
* This is not a candidate to be taken seriously. Speaking of which…
* Jim Marchant – who’s now lost three races in a row - State Assembly (2018), Congress (2020) and Secretary of State (2022) - announced that he’s also running for the U.S. Senate this week. The seat is lost if he’s the nominee.
* Warming up in the bullpen: Sam Brown.
* Republican Drew Johnson, who lost a tight Clark County commission race last year by just over 300 votes, has announced he’s running for Nevada’s 3rd congressional district next year against incumbent Democrat Rep. Susie Lee.
* But first he’ll have to get past Elizabeth Halseth-Helgelein, the disgraced former state senator whose daughter murdered Lizzy’s ex-husband, in the GOP primary. Yeah, that’s gonna be a tough one.
* Dave Crete has dropped out of the race challenging incumbent Clark County GOP Chair Jesse Law. Meanwhile, Battle Born Republican Women President Jill Douglas has announced she’s in the race. Election scheduled for July.
* After a number of its candidates went down in flames in elections last year running on unsubstantiated claims of election fraud, you’d think the Nevada GOP would read the tea leaves and learn their lesson.
* Nope.
* In an action alert this week, the party declared: “You saw it just like we did - widespread, blatant Democrat cheating in our elections.” No proof. No substantiation. No wonder the party continues to be labeled “election deniers.”
* And yet it keeps giving the other side more ammunition. Can’t fix stupid.
* In his column in the Las Vegas Review-Journal today, Victor Joecks suggested that Nevada Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo “looks ready to surrender” to Carson City Democrats.
* Problem is, Joecks has no idea what the governor’s intentions are or what cards he might play at the end of the session. And yes, his veto pen is his ace in the hole.
* When the late, great Republican Senate leader Bill Raggio ruled the Carson City roost, no one but Raggio knew what his hills to die for were until the closing hours of the session. And he almost always got what he wanted.
* So it’s premature, at best, to suggest the governor is ready to fold his hand before the cards are laid on the table.
* For conservatives to undermine the governor ahead of the bewitching hours is not helpful. Be better to keep softening up the D’s so they have a weaker hand to play at the end.
* Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
FAMOUS LAST WORDS
“No one is suggesting that the 2024 GOP primary competition is over, though the notion of a Trump/DeSantis ticket grows more attractive as the days and weeks go by. Neither man will get everything he wants without the other’s help, and if winning the presidential election is truly each candidate’s goal, they should seriously ponder working together to guarantee it.” – Columnist Paul Bedard
Mr. Muth is president of Citizen Outreach, publisher of Nevada News & Views and blogs at MuthsTruths.com. His views are his own.