The best word I can think of to describe the second GOP presidential primary debate on Wednesday is “underwhelming.”
There were no standout candidates, and the atmosphere felt more like a competition on who had the best think tank-researched attack line, rather than who had the best policy solutions.
Most of the time, the interruptions and talking over each other made it difficult to figure out what was really going on.
Absolute chaos at the GOP debate tonight.
If they were trying to make themselves look like the mature alternatives to Trump…
They’ve failed.
Instead, it looks like a Fox News ratings meeting. pic.twitter.com/wDP8wrBCRa
— Matt Schlapp (@mschlapp) September 28, 2023
The only evident outcome of the debate was that support for former President Trump actually increased. A poll taken the day after the debate by Morning Consult, a company that tracks the national ratings of elected leaders, shows a five-point increase for the former president, with 63 percent of potential GOP voters now supporting him, up from 58 percent Monday.
“Does anyone see a VP in that group? I don’t think so” – Donald Trump
The GOP Primary is over. pic.twitter.com/eyEFvmMrYS
— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) September 28, 2023
In the midst of this chaos, some in the anti-Trump faction of the GOP are scrambling to find another candidate to face off against Trump in the primaries.
And according to some accounts, they may be setting their sights on Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
Youngkin became a huge name in the Republican party when he defeated Democrat Terry McAuliffe in the governor’s race in a state where President Joe Biden had won by 10 points. His victory is often attributed to his stance on parental rights and culture wars.
The “Red Vest Retreat” (named for the ubiquitous fleece vest the candidate wore during his 2021 campaign) is a closed gathering of major Republican donors planning to meet in October to rally behind Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
The event is ostensibly focused on winning control of the Virginia General Assembly, but according to an opinion piece in the Washington Post by Robert Costa, chief election and campaign correspondent for CBS News, the event is unofficially being used as an opportunity to “push, if not shove,” Youngkin into the Republican presidential race.
Youngkin’s potential run is seen as a last-minute addition to the presidential race, as donors and anti-Trump Republicans are considering ways to support and prepare for a national campaign.
Costa described this desperate push for a new candidate as a “portrait of the powerlessness so many Republicans feel as Trump plows ahead, shrugging off criminal indictments and outrage over rhetoric they fear is growing dark and dangerous.”
Opinion by Robert Costa: Drafting Youngkin as a last-minute addition to the sclerotic Republican presidential field is something that has lingered for months as a donor fantasy. https://t.co/ByEZxF0dK6
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) September 29, 2023
According to Costa, two well-known names quietly supporting a Youngkin bid are former United States Attorney General William “Bill” Barr and Rupert Murdoch, chairman emeritus of Fox Corporation and News Corp.
According to the Post, Youngkin is keeping his options open, using the term “optionality” to describe his approach.
In an appearance on CBS News, Costa said Youngkin “didn’t open the door” to a presidential run, “but he didn’t close the door, either.”
According to the Post article, Youngkin has concerns about Trump’s potential attacks on him, should he decide to join the race.
One person close to Youngkin told Costa, “Glenn cringes when he thinks about what Trump would do.”
A late entry may cause even more chaos in an already overpopulated GOP primary field, adding to the infighting and making the choice of those not already committed to Trump even more difficult.
It looks a lot like a Hail Mary from a minority in the Republican party who want to see Trump out of power, apparently even at the risk of losing the general election.
A Washington Post-ABC poll released Sept. 24 showed Biden trailing Trump by a whopping 10 percentage points.
With margins like this, why would genuine Republicans want to throw an unknown into the mix, unless the reasons were more personal?
It seems more likely that an additional candidate in the mix would only water down the weak support some of the other candidates, like DeSantis, who is currently in second place, have in the race.
At this point, Trump seems untouchable.
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