Tim Scott’s campaign announced Tuesday that he has qualified to be on the stage at the RNC’s third presidential primary debate in Miami next week.
He was struggling to meet the requirement of gathering enough individual donations needed to qualify for the event, his campaign announced.
“We’re excited about the response our campaign has received from conservatives across the country looking for a positive, optimistic message,” Scott said in a statement shared by the campaign on Tuesday. “Republicans are ready to elect faith-filled leadership to take on the biggest challenges facing our nation today.”
Having already reached the 4% polling threshold required for the debate stage, Scott revealed during an interview on Mark Levin’s radio show last Thursday that he needed a few thousand more donations to solidify his position. On Tuesday, Scott’s campaign said that he had successfully secured those donations over the weekend.
Scott “will be on the debate stage,” his campaign staff said.
That is good news for Tim Scott but not so much for the other candidates. The other GOP candidates who will be on the debate stage on November 8 at Miami’s Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts for the third RNC debate are Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Chris Christie. Former President Trump will not participate in the debate, as he skipped the first and second debates. I’m not sure yet if Trump will hold an alternative event.
I admit, I was looking forward to a debate that had only a few candidates on the stage. The first and second debates spiraled out of control. The candidates spoke over each other. There wasn’t much time for each candidate to speak. Scott will make candidate number 5 on the stage. That is still very manageable.
This news comes on the heels of the Scott campaign announcing a new strategy that centers around aggressive campaigning in Iowa. Just a couple of weeks ago I asked if Tim Scott or Mike Pence would be the first to drop out of the race. Pence was when he suspended his campaign last Saturday.
After next week’s debate, Scott plans to campaign every week in Iowa. The latest poll on Real Clear Politics shows Trump with a 39% lead overall at 56%. DeSantis is at 17%, Haley 8%, Ramaswamy 5%, Scott 1%, Christie 1%, Hutchinson 1%, and Burgum 0. The poll is by Economist/YouGov. Tim Scott is a very likeable guy, a happy warrior. But, he just isn’t catching on. He’d be a solid choice for vice president.
I am not one to call for candidates to get out of a primary race until people begin voting. However, in this case, 2023-24 is unusual in that we have a frontrunner in the primary – Trump – who is running as the incumbent, though he is not. He has not done much campaigning and he is mired in legal challenges. We really don’t know where all that goes but we do know that Trump’s legal problems have allowed him to remain at the top and sometimes increase his ranking. What would happen if Trump was found guilty in one of his trials and sentenced before the presidential election? We are in unchartered territory.
If I had my druthers, though, I would suggest that Scott, Christie, Hutchinson, and Burgum drop out in the very near future. Hutchinson said that he is going to give his campaign until Thanksgiving before making any decisions but since he has not qualified for the third debate, he should get the hint. I don’t look for Christie to do anything until after the New Hampshire primary. He’s put all his eggs in that basket in order to stop Trump’s momentum at the very beginning of the primary season. Plus, Christie is popular in New Hampshire. Christie is currently in 4th place in New Hampshire. His strategy isn’t paying off.
I’d like for the field to winnow after the debate. Let primary voters concentrate on Trump, DeSantis, and Haley because that is where I think we are going. Ramaswamy’s unfavorable ratings are growing though he isn’t losing ground in polls yet. It will catch up to him, maybe after the debate, depending on his performance.
Scott’s campaign has plenty of money, even if he isn’t gaining traction.
Still, few 2024 GOP presidential candidates can rival the senator’s fundraising prowess. Apart from Trump, Scott holds the most available cash on hand, with about $13.3 million in his war chest, according to data from the Federal Elections Commission. This is partially attributed to his successful fundraising efforts during his 2022 reelection campaign.
And despite the decision of Scott’s allied super PAC to pull the plug on its fall TV ad spending, citing a lack of focus from the electorate for an alternative to the Trump legacy, Scott’s staff said the campaign is fully funded until the South Carolina primary in February.
As I said, people like him. He’s a happy warrior.
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