SURPRISE: Two South Dakota senators make a stunning endorsement
GOP politicians in the Senate are not running to be first in line to support the man who has a double-digit lead over every competitor for the 2024 GOP nomination.
Indeed, over the weekend, the powerful Republican Senator John Thune (R-SD) turned away from Trump without regard to his clear lead in the polls.
Instead, Thune joined his fellow South Dakotan Sen. Mike Rounds and threw his support in for Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) who is polling at one percent — with a mere six percent stating that Scott is even worth “considering” as a candidate.
It is a bold move considering that Trump is polling at 58%, approximately 30 points over the officially unannounced candidate Ron DeSantis, according to a CBS News poll.
Obviously, it’s early — and change is certain, but that’s the current landscape.
Politico explored the dynamic and did not see the turn away from Trump as surprising:
“But Thune is making good on his hopes of turning the GOP away from Trump and presenting a more forward-looking vision for the party. Thune recoiled from Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, famously declaring that his election challenge would go down on the Senate floor like a “shot dog.” That drew a political threat from Trump, but Thune easily won reelection last year.”
It is unknown if Thune was ever a “never-Trumper” — but he sure is now.
Thune’s selection is interesting on several levels.
Obviously, Thune respects Scott, who the Politico report notes is popular among the Republican Senate caucus.
Second, the early endorsement, coming two days prior to Scott’s formal announcement on Monday, seems timed to force other GOP senators to consider turning away from Trump as someone who is dangerous with little hope to win the general election.
Scott is also a safe endorsement. In Trump and DeSantis, the race has two leaders vastly outpacing all other declared candidates.
If either of the top two wins, it’s unlikely that they will remember that Thune endorsed someone who may not come close.
But Scott might gain support and has as good a shot at winning as anyone not named Trump or DeSantis.
The GOP has suffered from the inability to win moderates because they are properly perceived as racist extremists.
Scott, who is black, could blunt some of that odorous element clinging to the GOP.
He is also a talented politician who found a way to support Trump while also keeping enough distance to not be seen as a Senator Lindsey Graham (the other South Carolina GOP senator), Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI), Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), or Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH).
As early as last November, Sen. Thune cited many of Scott’s strengths that may have flown under the national political radar by stating that Scott has “obviously helped a lot of people around the country in the last year, raised a lot of money and built a lot of relationships that can be very useful if he does” run.
Well. Senator Tim Scott will announce his presidential run on Monday and will hope to get a bounce from officially entering the race.
Meanwhile, Senator Thune made a strong symbolic statement to others in his party: it is okay — indeed, maybe necessary — to turn away from Trump, stop relitigating 2020, and move towards the future.
I can be reached at jasonmiciak@gmail.com and @JasonMiciak
