Will Glenn Run?

Plus: D.C. home rule splits Democrats, Florida’s legislative session begins, and Larry Hogan discusses his decision not to run for president.

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Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin speaks at a rally in Triangle, Virginia, last November. (Photo by Sarah Silbiger / Getty Images.)

Happy Wednesday! Marianne Williamson launched her bid for the Democratic presidential nomination only a few days ago, and she’s got a ways to go. A Morning Consult poll this week found Biden clinging to a 73-point lead over his challenger—for now.

Up to Speed

  • January 6 is back in the news after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy gave Tucker Carlson thousands of hours of previously unseen footage from the Capitol riot. A bevy of Republican senators pushed back on Carlson’s narrative this week after the Fox News host played down the seriousness of the attack on his show. Capitol Police Chief Thomas Manger decried Carlson’s “offensive and misleading conclusions” in a letter obtained by NBC News.
  • Former President Donald Trump, by contrast, took to Truth Social to demand the government “LET THE JANUARY 6 PRISONERS GO,” arguing that “THEY WERE CONVICTED, OR ARE AWAITING TRIAL, BASED ON A GIANT LIE, A RADICAL LEFT CON JOB.” Trump added that members of the congressional committee that investigated January 6 “should be tried for Fraud and Treason.”
  • Oklahoma voters on Tuesday overwhelmingly voted down a measure that would have legalized recreational cannabis use statewide. The state’s loose and widely used medical marijuana program, which was implemented by referendum in 2018 and does not require proof of a pre-existing medical condition, was not affected by the vote.

Republicans Study the Youngkin 2024 Tea Leaves 

Glenn Youngkin, who rose to prominence after defeating Democratic former Gov. Terry McAuliffe in 2021, has done just enough to keep the embers of a potential 2024 bid glowing. Yet the Republicans closest to the Virginia governor aren’t sure he intends to run—or wants to.

Republican donors who attended a meet-and-greet with Youngkin in New York last week exited the event believing the governor is inclined to stand down. Youngkin did not rule out running. But the governor left the impression that any possible campaign was months away—that he is hyper-focused on running Virginia and wants time to assess the 2024 primary field.

“He did not sound like an all-in candidate,” a Republican insider present for the Manhattan gathering said. “He’s sort of testing the waters.”

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  1. Avatar photo
    Ben Connelly

    I like Youngkin as a governor and hope he focuses on VA for a while instead of running for president. He’s done a good job so far, but he’s still too inexperienced to be president.

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    Stephanie

    I have a suggestion for the omnipresent grammar police, and that is to address your red ink to the folks who wrote the article.

    I speak only for myself. It puts me off, and I've done my share of copyediting. If I see someone writing "between you and I," I am able to control myself.

    However, other people may enjoy it.

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  3. Avatar photo
    David Eggleston

    Well, unlike Rubio, Youngkin’s actually campaigning, instead of just relying on social media engagement, and as a Virginian, I’d sure like governor who actually, you know, governs. He’s been an absentee chief executive since he was sworn in. While in the past, a Republican could swing that in the Commonwealth, there’s just such a dearth of talented administrators and operatives in the Virginia GOP that we’re left with the bottom of the barrel making the day-to-day decisions while Glenn campaigns across the country. Most Virginia Republicans I talk to would prefer he run a tight administration and then run for Senate against Tim Kaine.

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    MatthewRobin

    Oh no, Florida public schools can't teach kindergarten children about sexuality and Florida school aged children will hear that biological sex is immutable. We truly live in the end times.

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  5. Jim S

    The more I hear about the authoritarian insanity that is the Ron DeSantis playbook the more this Democrat prays for a Trump victory in the GOP primary.

    Sorry Republicans, your ‘cure’ is 10 times worse than the original disease.

    And to be clear that supposition holds even if Trump wins a second term. There are worse things in this world than the Cheeto Messiah.

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  6. Ksunday

    I would disagree Mastriano conceded quickly. For several days he demurred and the finally conceded the evening of Sunday, five days after the election. He was prodded by several leaders in his party to do so in part due to concerns not doing so would instigate the stop the steal crowd.

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  7. Kyle C

    Just wanted to mention that DeSantis won by 19.4%, so it would be over 19 or nearly 20, not nearly 19.

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  8. Stormer93

    Much as I would love to have Youngkin (return to "normal" politics) or Hogan (true leadership) as president, principled conservatives need to acknowledge that nobody in this lane has a chance of getting the nomination, let alone being elected. The best we can hope for is a step in the right direction with DeSantis, whom I think is smarter than he makes himself seem at times. As I see it, no one else really has a shot of overtaking the abomination that is Donald Trump. I think Trump would lose, but that's not a guarantee. Better to take as few chances as possible.

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  9. Acre00

    I really think DeSantis risks overplaying his hand this year. Part of what makes him more acceptable than Trump to some people is that he picks the right fights with the right people, but doesn't go over the line doing so. He talks about his policies like they're extreme but makes the policies themselves relatively moderate, and in doing so makes his critics seem unhinged and unreasonable, like they're the extreme ones. The education bill, for example, is pretty reasonable on its face; most people don't want schools teaching 2nd graders about gender identity

    But based on what this article presents as this coming legislative session, he seems to be tip-toeing right up to the line. To use the education bill as an example again, forbidding schools from using preferred pronouns is a lot less popular, coming off as more harassing than protective (at least to me). He's also had some high profile misfires lately, like bussing immigrants from Texas to Martha's Vineyard under allegedly false pretenses.

    He seems like he's loosing his balance on the fence post.

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    1. Avatar photo
      TerrBear

      Great point. What if he set up "Sister Soljiah" moment just prior to announcing? He knocks down the hardest of the hard views and enters with renewed and relatively better coverage separating him from an extremist foil while portraying himself as more reasonable than expected. "Surprise! I'm not nuts like you said I was (and Trump still is)!"

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    2. Jaybrown

      He does show signs of peaking too early. He may be underestimating how fast people tire of performative politics these days, even if he does it with a wink. He needs to rein in some of the yahoos in the FL legislature too, instead of appearing to support them.

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  10. Craig Berry

    Wow, I’m only 4 behind Williamson. I feel like if I can move past her and make it a one-on-one with Biden I got me a shot. I feel like my campaign slogan- “A Troubled Man for Troubled Times”- will resonate.

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