Governor DeSantis (R-GA) has been working hard to be the GOP Presidential nominee and de facto leader of the GOP, but I’m liking the chances of Governor Kemp (R-GA), who has chosen not to go head-to-head with the former President this time around, at least not yet. I’m guessing Kemp will run in 2028, once he’s finished disposing of the former President by letting him dangle from a yard-arm.
During a remarkable press conference, Gov. Brian Kemp quashed the idea of a special legislative session pushed by former President Donald Trump and his allies to oust Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis after she charged them with a vast conspiracy to reverse his 2020 defeat.
And the governor on Thursday also dismissed talk of backing efforts to reprimand Willis, either through legislative hearings that seek to slash state funding to her office or a newly empowered panel that can sanction wayward prosecutors or remove them from office.
The second-term Republican said he hasn’t “seen any evidence” that Willis has violated her oath of office, even though he voiced concerns about whether she was motivated by politics to pursue the 41-count indictment.
“The bottom line is that in the state of Georgia as long as I’m governor, we’re going to follow the law and the Constitution, regardless of who it helps and harms politically,” Kemp said. “Over the last few years, some inside and outside of this building may have forgotten that. But I can assure you that I have not.” [The Atlanta Journal-Constitution]
While his refusal to come to Trump’s aid is putatively motivated by legal considerations, Trump’s disgust with Kemp and his refusal to find, illegal as it would be, just 11,000 more votes for Trump back in November of 2020 is well-known, and no doubt Kemp did not like the idea that he should risk his legal neck for Trump’s gain.
This move is, I think, an attempt to appeal to independents by showcasing Kemp’s respect for the law, while telling the MAGA base that supports Trump that he has no choice in the matter. Governor DeSantis (R-FL), Trump’s biggest rival, has not yet really done much to gain the support of independents, instead choosing to attempt to fracture the Trump MAGA base, with little perceptible progress.
I think Kemp’s approach is more plausible that DeSantis’. In fact, while Kemp has thrown a lot of doubt on the idea of running for the 2024 nomination, from what I’ve read he hasn’t shut that door completely. If Trump plunges in the polls due to criminal conviction, or revelations concerning his alleged riches, we may see Kemp take the big step.
Of course, Kemp does have weaknesses. Both Georgia Senators are Democrats, and no doubt Kemp will be saddled with the blame of not coming up with better candidates, although GOP protocol would have hardly permitted promoting relative unknowns over the two sitting Republican Senators, Loeffler and Perdue. And the loss of Atlanta to Democratic forces will also be a point of contention.
But these are not terminal conditions for Kemp. Keep an eye on him. His ethics are unlikely to be so stiff as to hinder a run. After all, he did not recuse himself from his Secretary of State position during his first run for the governor of Georgia against Stacey Abrams, which he indisputably should have.
Is he smarter than the other GOP governors? This is where the power lies for the GOP Presidential runs, not in the Senate and certainly not in the House.
Time will tell.
