Trump, DeSantis each head for New Hampshire

NEWS AND OPINION:

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former President Donald Trump continue to occupy the political limelight when it comes to the 2024 presidential election — now 566 days away, as of Wednesday.

The pair could intersect on the campaign trail one of these days.

“The 2024 Republican primary is basically in full swing. While one of the major names hasn’t yet announced his candidacy, he’s sure acting like he’s about to launch a campaign. That candidate is Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, of course, and he’s inching closer and closer to formally entering the political ring with former President Donald Trump,” wrote Nate Ashworth, founder of ElectionCentral.com.
He cited Mr. DeSantis and his recent activities in New Hampshire.

“Just days ago, in Manchester, DeSantis spoke at a GOP fundraising dinner where his speech was interrupted by protestors on stage,” Mr. Ashworth said.

“In a move that seems not coincidental, Trump just announced a Manchester event to take place next week, on April 27,” Mr. Ashworth pointed out.

Indeed. Mr. Trump will appear on the same stage Mr. DeSantis occupied at the DoubleTree Manchester Downtown Hotel.

Some have advice for upcoming GOP presidential hopefuls hoping to get some traction in the Granite State.

“If you’re in New Hampshire and you’re running a sustained grassroots campaign and town hall-style meetings — then you’re able to slowly build up a presence with the right message. And that’s the way to penetrate the Trump-DeSantis narrative and get yourself into the top level of the presidential race,” New Hampshire GOP strategist Mike Dennehy told Politico.

“I don’t think you can come once a month for a couple of days, and have a couple of town hall meetings, and stop by a couple of diners, and have that be enough of an effort to make a difference,” he said.

A BURGEONING BATTLE

A new book has arrived with a telling title: “War on Virtue: How the Ruling Class Is Killing the American Dream.”

The author is Bill Donohue, president and CEO of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights and a former scholar at The Heritage Foundation.

“To be sure, many have achieved the American dream, and most still aspire to it. But the policies of the Left are making it increasingly difficult for millions of Americans to realize their dreams. In fact, so-called progressivism has proven to be one of the most regressive forces in the country,” Mr. Donohue wrote.

“As members of the ruling class — the elites in government, law, business, education, the media, the entertainment industry, the arts and many of the big foundations — adopt progressive policies, they are pounding nails into the coffin of the American dream,” the author said.

“Large segments of the ruling class no longer champion self-discipline, personal responsibility and perseverance for trying to climb the economic ladder; indeed, some seek to destroy these virtues. Similarly, patriotism is under attack, and the ones leading the charge often occupy positions of power,” Mr. Donohue later noted.

“War on Virtue” was published Tuesday by Sophia Institute Press. It is the author’s 10th book.

ROMNEY’S GRADE

Sen. Mitt Romney had a rather dynamic exchange Tuesday with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, homing in on what he sees as the administration’s failure to secure the southern U.S. border.

“Can you grade how secure our southern border is? An A through an F? Are we succeeding? Is it an A or is it a B, a D? Where are we in terms of the number of people coming across the border?” the Utah Republican demanded.

“For instance, we have gaps in the border wall. Why would you not want to just complete the wall, for Pete’s sake? And complete the fencing and make sure that we are — in every way we can — securing it, at least physically,” Mr. Romney told Mr. Mayorkas.

“But you’re not willing to give it a grade? I mean, I am. And it’s an F. It’s clearly an F,” the senator declared.

FOXIFIED

For the week of April 10-16, Fox News was the leading network in the entire cable TV realm, besting all news and non-news competition alike in prime time for the third week in a row.

Fox News Channel drew an average nightly prime-time audience of 2.1 million, according to Nielsen Media Research — compared with MSNBC, with 1.3 million viewers in prime time, and CNN, which had 524,000.

Fox News also emerged as the leading cable network in daytime programming with 1.3 million viewers, again besting news and non-news rivals.

As usual, “Tucker Carlson Tonight” led the ratings for the week with a nightly average of 3.4 million viewers, followed by “The Five” with 3 million.

PRIME-TIME PRIMER

Here’s a little addendum to the cable news ratings wars.

“The Whole Story,” CNN’s new prime-time offering hosted by Anderson Cooper, debuted at 8 p.m. Eastern time Sunday before an audience of 497,000 viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research.

The 8 p.m. Sunday competition fared a little better. MSNBC’s “Mehdi Hasan Show” attracted 555,000 viewers this week. Then there is “Life, Liberty and Levin” on Fox News, hosted by veteran commentator Mark Levin. Mr. Levin drew an audience of 1.4 million in that time period.

POLL DU JOUR

• 50% of U.S. adults say there was “too much media coverage” of the recent charges made against former President Donald Trump in New York City; 75% of Republicans, 52% of independents and 28% of Democrats agree.

• 54% of men and 46% of women also agree.

• 31% of U.S. adults overall say there was “the right amount of media coverage” during the events; 15% of Republicans, 31% of independents and 46% of Democrats agree.

• 26% of men and 35% of women also agree.

• 19% of U.S. adults overall say there was “not enough media coverage” during the events; 10% of Republicans, 17% of independents and 25% of Democrats agree.

• 19% of men and 18% of women also agree.

SOURCE: A CBS News/YouGov survey of 2,065 U.S. adults conducted April 12-14.

• Contact Jennifer Harper at jharper@washingtontimes.com.