Chris Crucial: A dark horse emerges in the VP race
PLUS: Trump picks a favorite in GOP leadership fight
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1. A Veep?: On Thursday afternoon, Congressional Republicans announced that Alabama Sen. Katie Boyd Britt would deliver the GOP response to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union speech next month.
“I am truly honored and grateful for the opportunity to speak directly to my fellow Americans on March 7,” Britt said via tweet. “We’ll have a candid conversation about the future of our nation — and I’ll outline the Republican vision to secure the American Dream for generations to come.”
Who the minority party picks to respond to the SOTU is always intriguing — and deeply strategic. It is, without question, the most-watched political speech in a given year — and when that many eyeballs are on it, every little thing matters.
The pick is even more important in a year like this one, with a presidential race in the offing. And picking Britt should, for people paying attention, make clear that she belongs on the list of politicians who might wind up as Donald Trump’s vice president.
Britt has been widely regarded — by both parties — as a rising star since she was elected to the Senate in 2022. While she was not initially endorsed by Trump, he did throw his backing to her in a runoff against former Rep. Mo Brooks. She won handily — and cruised to a general election victory. (This is Alabama we are talking about, people.)
Within 6 months of being sworn in, Britt was added to GOP Senate Leader Mitch McConnell’s advisory team — a remarkable ascension for such a newly-minted Senator.
There’s much to recommend Britt. A young woman (she’s 42), she looks and sounds very different than Donald Trump (and Joe Biden). She is an able performer on TV. And, she is far less well known (at the moment) than people like Tim Scott and Elise Stefanik — meaning her chances of outshining Trump if she shares the ticket with him are minimal. (And, yes, that absolutely matters to him.)
(Credit where credit is due: More than a month ago, Mark Halperin, who writes the “Wide World of News” Substack first made the affirmative case for why Britt made the most sense as Trump’s VP pick.)
There is NO way that the selection of Britt to deliver the Republican response was made ignorant of the veepstakes. In fact, I would argue that she was picked because there is a significant element within the party (not clear whether Trump is part of that group) who WANT him to pick her.
Here’s what I can tell you: When I do my updated VP rankings next week, Britt will definitely have spot on the list.
2. Trump weighs in on Senate leadership fight: Remember how I told you yesterday in this newsletter that none of the three contenders for Mitch McConnell’s job were natural Trumpers?
I give you this — as reported by POLITICO today:
Former President Donald Trump is encouraging Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) to run for GOP leader — a move that would significantly shake up the race to succeed Mitch McConnell later this year.
So, yeah.
Daines has spent the past year (mostly successfully) navigating the chasm between establishment Republicans in the Senate and Trump. Daines has done so by assiduously courting Trump — as documented in this Washington Post story.
To be clear: The Montana Republican, who currently runs the Senate GOP campaign arm, was noncommittal today about a bid for the top job in party leadership. But he absolutely didn’t rule it out. Plus, let’s just say Daines spearheads the campaign this fall that takes back the Senate for Republicans. Not a bad springboard to the top job, right?
We also know how much influence Trump can (and is willing) to have in these congressional leadership fights. Trump refused to rescue then Speaker Kevin McCarthy amid a rebellion among those most loyal to the former president in the House. Trump tanked the Speaker bid of Minnesota Rep. Tom Emmer within hours of the House GOP Conference choosing him. And Trump’s endorsement of then little known Rep. Mike Johnson helped assure that the Louisianan would be the next Speaker.
To be clear: I am not saying that Daines will be the next leader. But I DO continue to believe that the three current choices — John Thune, John Cornyn and John Barrasso — are not sufficiently Trump-y to satisfy the former president and his loyal base.
Which suggests, at least to me, that the field is not entirely set just yet.
3. SCOTUS hands Trump a major political win: I touched on this in last night’s newsletter but the decision by the Supreme Court late Wednesday to hear Trump’s case that as president he should have total and complete immunity is an absolute legal and political earthquake.
I went into much more detail on why in this video I made for my YouTube channel.
NOTABLE QUOTABLE
“Democrats hate me because of the court, and Republicans hate me because of Trump.” — Mitch McConnell, in conversations with friends
ONE GOOD CHART
This election is one between a candidate people are convinced is too old and a candidate who people are convinced is corrupt. This chart, via Bloomberg, tells the story.
SONG OF THE DAY
You may know Jeremiah Frates as a multi-instrumentalist in the band The Lumineers. What you may not know is that Frates put out one of my favorite solo records of the last few years — entitled “Piano Piano” — in 2021. He’s back with a follow-up to that album, which comes out March 29. This song — a cover of Radiohead’s “No Surprises” featuring the amazing Gregory Alan Isakov on vocals — will be on that album.
Kudos to Sarah Longwell, she’s had Britt on her short list for possible VP for months.
I remember when Rubio gave the Republican response. It didn’t go well. Last time it was Sarah Huckabee Sanders. That also didn’t go well. The more we see some people the less we like them.