The race for the Republican presidential nomination, once a two-man battle between former President Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, getting busier.

Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, the only black Republican in the Senate and a favorite of many GOP donors, declared his candidacy last week. A few nights later, DeSantis made his late

own

candidacy in a chaotic Twitter event. That brought the number of major candidates to six, with more to come soon.

Trump is leading in the polls, but he attracts serious rivals who believe he can be beaten. More than a year

–

long campaign, a lot can change: Eight years ago

,

At this point in the 2016 contest, Trump was the favorite of just 4% of GOP voters.

The growing number of participants is good news for the leader, who, just like in 2016, benefits from the fragmented opposition. But it’s also good news for Republican voters, who not only get more candidates to choose from, but more ideas. about the future of their parties after Trump

that it

may not arrive until 2028.

[Note: I’m probably guilty of overquoting Conant this would be his third appearance in my column this year, I think so if the piece works without the following quote, please feel free to axe it.]// I don’t think you quoted Conant too much, but I do think we can delete the last part of the quote.

Are we going to remain a populist party like Trump pushed, or are we going to go back to a more conservative party? GOP strategist Alex Conant said

of the primary

.

That’s what the 2024 Republican presidential primaries will essentially be about.

Unsurprisingly, Trump is offering four more years of the grievance-fueled politics that earned him his first term. Hi h

a

s promised supporters: For those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution.

As president, Trump broke with the Republican doctrine on Social Security and Medicare and vowed never to make cuts

the

advantages. On free trade, he declared himself a tariff man, and on foreign policy, he criticized traditional alliances and aligned himself with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

But he stuck to traditional GOP policies on other issues, including lower taxes even for the wealthy; lighter environmental and safety regulations

S

on companies; and tighter restrictions on abortion.

Trump’s rivals have embraced most of his policies, but with variations that fall into three rough categories:

Trump 2.0: DeSantis has offered a hard-hitting version of Trumpism that focuses on issues of culture war, denouncing what he calls the “wake mind virus.”

He passed a state law banning abortion after six weeks, a measure Trump proposed was too strict.

He favors laws banning gender affirmative health care for transgender minors and classroom education about sexual orientation.

And he has Walt Disney Co. attacked for his political views, a fight Trump derided as ill-advised.

Trump Light: Scott, former governor of South Carolina. Nikki Haley and former Vice President Mike Pence (who has not yet formally announced) are also mainly promoting Trumpian policies, but in a kinder, softer tone.

Scott is the clearest example, calling for a return to the optimistic conservatism of the big tents perfected by Ronald Reagan

more than

a generation ago.

Republicans must choose between resentment and grandeur, the senator said in his announcement last week.

“We need a president who not only convinces our friends and our base,” he said. “We have to have compassion for people who disagree with us.

Unlike Trump and DeSantis, Scott, Haley and Pence have all called for strong US involvement in NATO and Ukraine.

Trump critic: Former Governor of Arkansas Asa Hutchinson, Former Governor of New Jersey. Chris Christie and the current Governor of New Hampshire. Chris Sununu are these packs

leading

renegades. All three are die-hard conservatives, but all have condemned Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

Donald Trump has a moral responsibility for what happened on January 6, said Hutchinson, the only one of the three to have announced his candidacy. When you look at what he wants to do as president, it’s more about taking revenge on his political enemies than leading our country.

Christie has called Trump “a puppet of Putin”.

All three seem way out of step with their party’s voters, barely registering in the polls. In a CBS News poll last month, 61% of Republican voters

said say

they want

edit

a candidate who confirms that Trump won in 2020.

But even if

these reject their candidacy

going nowhere in the polls, the

j

can play an important role

at the election

.

ace

DeSantis, Scott, Haley and Pence were hesitant to confront Trump directly

even when it came to mostly over

his willingness to violate the constitution when he tried to overturn the 2020 election

. T

they trapped themselves

–

22: They want to replace the former president as leader of their party, but they don’t want to alienate his followers.

That leaves them arguing that they would be better nominees than Trump, but they can’t explain exactly why it’s a hard way to make a sale.

It’s the same dilemma the GOP faced in 2016, when a podium full of candidates hoped that Trump’s candidacy would fail without anyone pushing.

That will not happen. If the front runner has to be taken down, someone will have to do it. Hutchinson, Christie and Sununu seem willing to try.

For that, they deserve a certain amount of admiration, whether you agree with their opinion or not.

It becomes a thankless mission with little chance of success and a guarantee of abuse. But it could also be an event too rare in a presidential campaign: a decision to put principle before ambition.