Candidate Romney

An old advertising adage says, “Steak before the sizzle misses the excitement.”

Hawley the Flame Thrower

Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, politically speaking, if not morally speaking, blew his chances for 2024. First, he quickly became shadowed by Ted Cruz, purveyor of political game-playing. Second, he missed the “sizzle” to expand the above metaphor. Coming on the dawn of a resuscitated Georgia electoral process, Hawley blatantly cued up voter suppression. Lastly, WHO IS JOSH HAWLEY? Pundits were left to thumb through his Prep School yearbooks, to get a fix on Hawley’s priorities. Timing, deliberation and moral fiber are not among them.

Update: Hawley’s January 6 fist pump in the direction of the assaulting protestors as he was crossing the Capitol Building Plaza went viral on social media.

Which leaves Sen. Mitt Romney to pick up the adult GOP post-Trump detritus.

Romney the Great White Hope

Romney will be Biden’s age, currently, when Romney declares in 2024. Romney the former founder of Bain Capital, Massachusetts Governor, Presidential candidate and Junior Senator from Utah. Presumably, Romney moved his family from Massachusetts to Utah when a Senate seat became vacant.

Romney received sustained applause tonight, during the Electoral College certification Senate vote. Hawley’s speech supporting de-certification of the Electoral College results was received with awkward silence.

What’s left of the Republican Party will have to choose between the party of Romney and the party of Trump. Many, many primaries and contested election outcomes are the GOP’s immediate future: not a political party, but the ghost of one.

January 6