Posted on 02/27/2024 9:44:32 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Attendees of a major political conference were divided on who former President Donald Trump should pick as his running mate in the 2024 presidential election, but two of the potential vice presidential candidates polled highest among the competition.
The 2024 Conservative Political Action Conference, which took place at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland, last week, concluded with a straw poll asking attendees to choose their preference among a list of potential running mates for Trump. While no candidate received a clear majority among the respondents, two candidates captured a higher share of the vote than others.
Fifteen percent of respondents signaled they wanted Trump to select South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem as his vice presidential pick, while another 15% preferred entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy. Trump confirmed that he was considering both Noem and Ramaswamy, one of his formal rivals for the 2024 Republican nomination, in an interview with Fox News’ Laura Ingraham last week. If selected to join Trump on a victorious Republican ticket, Ramaswamy would become the first Hindu to serve as vice president.
None of the other choices broke 10% support in the straw poll. The third most popular potential running mate, former Democrat congresswoman and presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard, secured 9% support. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., the chair of the House Republican Conference, and Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., another one of Trump’s former rivals for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, each took 8%. Like Ramaswamy, Gabbard would become the first Hindu vice president if elected.
Scott would become the first African American man to serve as vice president if a hypothetical Trump-Scott ticket won the 2024 presidential election. While Trump suggested that he would consider both Gabbard and Scott during his interview with Ingraham last week, Stefanik’s name was not floated during Trump’s interview with Ingraham last week. Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., another potential running mate whose name came up during their conversation, received 7% support in the straw poll.
Like Scott, Donalds would become the first African American man to serve as vice president if elected. Kari Lake, the unsuccessful Republican gubernatorial nominee in Arizona’s 2022 election and current U.S. Senate candidate, picked up 6% support in the straw poll. Three additional potential running mates for Trump secured 5% support: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson and Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
While DeSantis’ name came up during Trump’s conversation with Ingraham, the Florida governor and former Republican presidential candidate denied that he had any interest in serving as vice president. Carson, like Scott and Donalds, would become the first African American man to win the vice presidency if he joins the ticket with a victorious Trump.
Tucker Carlson, a former Fox News opinion host, was the favorite of 4% of CPAC attendees. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., currently running for president as an independent, picked up 3% support. The other candidates listed in the straw poll each received 2% support: Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, Trump’s only remaining major rival for the Republican presidential nomination, and Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio.
With the exception of Carson and Kennedy, all of the candidates included in the straw poll are at least 10 years younger than Trump. The former president will be 78 on Election Day 2024, and should he win the election, he will be 82 by the time his second non-consecutive term expires on Jan. 20, 2029.
Besides Vance and DeSantis, all vice presidential candidates included in the straw poll are either women and/or a religious or racial minority.
In addition to asking CPAC attendees who they wanted Trump to pick as his vice presidential nominee, the straw poll asked respondents who they supported in the lingering contest between Trump and Haley.
Unsurprisingly, Trump won by an overwhelming margin, capturing 94% support to Haley’s 5%. The RealClearPolitics average of polls taken between Jan. 31 and Feb. 22 shows Trump leading by a similarly large margin among Republican primary voters. Specifically, 77.3% of Republican voters prefer Trump, while 15.1% plan on supporting Haley.
The 2024 presidential election is now slightly more than eight months away. The winner of the Republican presidential primary is expected to face Democrat Joe Biden in November’s general election. The RealClearPolitics average of polls taken between Jan. 29 and Feb. 22 examining voters’ preferences ahead of the election shows Trump leading Biden by 2.1 percentage points. Meanwhile, the RealClearPolitics average of polls conducted between Jan. 17 and Feb. 19 shows Haley beating Biden by 4.9 percentage points.
He will need a real fighter....I’m on KARI LAKE’S Team.......
That’s who I would have voted for too, although it might be a little difficult running for the senate and vice president at the same time.
Nobody votes because of who the Veep is..............
I would agree.
Ramaswamy is potentially acceptable to me.
Noem is a NO, as I perceive her as a finger in the air type, no matter how good looking she is.
Gabbard is a HARD NO for me, unless she does a very public and unequivocal statement of her repudiation of the Left and the Democrat Party, and every policy they have fostered and advanced.
I don’t see Kari Lake as a backstabber, and she is a real conservative. The fact that the Left hates her is just frosting on the cake. She would be my first choice.
Just put the damn names in the title so we don’t have to waste our time.
DJT is smart enough not to “ check boxes “ as the Dims do.
He knows that he must pick someone as committed to dissolving the Deep State as he is.
Otherwise, DJT will be “ eliminated “ by the Beltway bureaucracy, to anoint a weak knead successor who is easily manipulated.
Stefanik. People who want Donalds are unaware of the requirement that the candidates can’t be residents of the same state. Those who want Scott aren’t thinking things through . People who want Tulsi are missing the obvious problem with having a left winger as the no 2 to a 78 year old. People who think Kennedy is a good idea are missing the same point and, given the policy positions of Kennedy, people who support him for
Vp need to be sedated
A female might help Trump get some extra votes
Laura Loomer is my pick.
Tim Scott.
He’ll bring in the black vote and the vagina votes.
Trump is right to be “considering” 74,000,000 patriots. However the choice has already been made and set in stone.
Gun grabber gabbard is a not just no. W
I mean, the prez who believes he can infringe would be a big gabbard fan. Bumpstock ban= infringement.
What happened to big pharma number 2 Vivek? Trump the big pharma one and Vivek big pharma 2 would be great.
I like Vivek..
Regardless, I think Trump needs a VERY Strong VP. 100% behind Trump and supporting him and the vision. Somebody that he can assign something like, dismantle the EPA, Fbi, D of Ed..
And then get up in front of the cameras everyday and tell the people what they are doing. And constantly make that arguement.
It really would groom them to be Trump’s sucessor.
This VEEP thing comes off to me as some sort of “swimsuit competition” Trump sure knows how to do it.
Vivek isn’t an Art. II, §1, Cl. 5 natural born U.S. Citizen. Neither is Nikki Haley nor Tulsi Gabbard. However, things being what they are, and if the Democrats win back Congress next year and try to use 14A §3 to remove Trump from the presidency, I think Allen West would be Trump’s best pick for VP.
Lieutenant Colonel (Ret) Allen West is a Christian constitutional conservative, combat veteran, former Member of the US Congress from Florida, the Executive Director for The American Constitutional Rights Union, and former Texas GOP Chair.
Can I get an Amen from my brothers and sisters?
The first five above offer nothing to a ticket-
and Vivek ain’t a NBC.
Go big or go home.
Need someone with knowledge of the Deep State, one who knows where the bodies are who can clean house, OR a No BS Border Czar for VP and just turn ‘em loose to start Operation Wetback II.
I like most the big names that have been mentioned. They are all talented and have assets to bring to the table. But I think Trump has to make an electoral college pick - think how Clinton Gore pulled off a “southern strategy” by putting two southerners on the ticket to get some of the red states to flip. This is a different time and Trump has in own challenges on the EC map. Some considerations.
Would Noem or Lake help him win a state (Lake, maybe will help Arizona, Noem’s state is not really in play and only has a small number of EC votes) AND would they help Trump pick up some of the soccer mom white women votes in other states?
Vivek I like his energy and out of the box thinking about how government can be reformed. But he doesn’t add anything I can think of to an electoral victory.
Tim Scott doesn’t move the needle in SC that state is not in play. But can an African American Republican move the needle with AA voters nationwide? GOP has been gaining ground among AA men more or less each election. Would Scott say double the number of AA men voters and some women? A lot of people tend to vote for their aspirations at least as much as their needs - and a successful Black man in high power is what many aspire to. They would want an example. He might help in Georgia which is too purple. It should be more red.
And then you need to look at each of their vulnerabilities. They have to be ready to step into the #1 spot.
I’m sure there are experts who will way overthink all this and more. Whichever person he picks, I think he could do well to actually start to stack his Cabinet during the campaign. Campaign on a slate so to speak with a unified thematic message so they look like they are ready to govern and make neeeded changes on day one.
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