With the 2022 midterm elections right around the proverbial corner, interest, speculation, and urgency continue to grow over the 2024 presidential election, as well — particularly given an anticipated beatdown of Congressional Democrats next year, courtesy of the total disaster known as Joe Biden.

Will the addled occupant of the White House seek re-election, as some in his party believe, or will he bow out, as others in his party pray to God he will? And what about the Republicans?

Former President Donald Trump appears to be all but a lock to run — to a large degree, I think, to vindicate the claim that the “fraudulent” 2020 election was “stolen” from him. An “I told you so,” of sorts.

Beyond that, I sometimes wonder why he’d do it. Why he’d subject himself to four more years of Trump Derangement Syndrome — this time even more hysterical — vs. hanging out at Mar-a-Lago playing golf, and doing whatever the h*ll else he wants to do in his waning years. Power? Sure. They all want power.

I voted for Trump in both 2016 and 2020, and I will vote for him in 2024 if he is the Republican nominee. That said, as I always say, about now, I am not going to relitigate the 2020 election in the article. If you are predisposed to do so, by all means, knock yourself out in the comment section. All good.

Assuming Trump does run, then what? As it relates to other potential Republican presidential hopefuls, I mean. Surely folks like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, and Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton would have the political sense to “sit this one out,” and look to future elections if aspirations remain.

But what about other hopefuls who might lack the political sense to sit this one out? Those who, for whatever reason, are incapable of envisioning the shellacking they’d take if they dared to challenge Trump, both at the hands of Donald himself and the legions of MAGA loyalists?

Glad you asked. Let me toss out a name. Or two.

As RedState reported last week former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, once touted as a rising star in the Republican Party — pre-Trump, pre-demise of the Bush-Romney wing of the party — has been telling anyone who’ll listen it’s time for the party to move past Trump and Trumpism and focus on the future, not the past. Needless to say, Christie knows just the guy who can become the savior of the Republican Party:

Chris Christie.

Christie has been trotting out to every microphone and TV camera he can find of late, hawking his new book, “Republican Rescue: Saving the Party from Truth Deniers, Conspiracy Theorists, and the Dangerous Policies of Joe Biden,” which comes out this week. Check out a few excerpts from the book’s promo:

Enough with the infighting, the truth-denying, the wild conspiracy claims, the looking backward, and the refusal to focus on the dangerous Biden agenda. Here’s Chris Christie’s urgent guide for recapturing Republican glory and winning elections again…

Chris Christie has always been known for speaking his mind. Now that the depressing 2020 election is finally behind us, he shares his bold insights on how a battered Republican Party can soar into the future and start winning big elections again.

In Republican Rescue, Christie reveals exactly how absurd grievances and self-inflicted wounds sabotaged Donald Trump’s many successes and allowed Democrats to capture the White House, the House, and Senate in two years.

Christie dissects the last year of the Trump administration—which provoked nothing but conspiracy theories and infighting—and he lays out an honest and hopeful vision, explaining how Republicans can capture the future and save America from today’s damaging Democratic excesses.

You think that’s bad, you should read some of the crap I cut out.

As reported by The Guardian on Saturday, Christie wrote extensively about the 2020 presidential election and its aftermath, including this little incendiary tidbit — with a not-too-vailed jab at Trump:

“[Republicans] need to renounce the conspiracy theories and truth deniers, the ones who know better and the ones who are just plain nuts.”

I’m not a campaign advisor, but calling a substantial percentage if not the majority of the Republican Party “just plain nuts” ranks right up there with Hillary’s “basket of deplorables,” which wasn’t a surprise coming from that hack, but coming from a guy who fancies himself as the future of the Republican Party? Yeah, no.

Christie also wrote, as transcribed by The Guardian:

“We need to give our supporters facts that will help put all these fantasies to rest, so everyone can focus with clear minds on the issues that really matter. We need to quit wasting our time, our energy and our credibility on claims that won’t ever convince anyone or bring fresh converts onboard.”

OK, here’s where it gets interesting. And crazy. And whatever else one chooses to call it.

Matt Lewis, a former conservative columnist for The Daily Caller who now writes for Daily Beast, believes Christie could be a formidable candidate against Trump in 2024 but also that primaries but also that — Do not take a drink right now — a Chis Christie/Liz Cheney ticket in 2024 could take out Trump altogether.

Chris Christie and Liz Cheney could hold the keys to derailing Trump’s reelection hopes: conservative columnist https://t.co/awKGiw84PN

— Raw Story (@RawStory) November 14, 2021

In a Saturday column titled “Could Chris Christie and Liz Cheney Take Trump Down?”, Lewis argued that Christie and Cheney “could pose a more formidable challenge” than the candidates Trump faced in 2016.

What if Donald Trump has to fight a grudge match against Liz Cheney and Chris Christie on his way to a second term? This scenario is probably more likely than you might think—one with significant consequences.

Both Cheney and Christie are tough pugilists, and both are in the news flirting with a presidential run. In a sense, they are already running against him.

This past week, Cheney traveled to Manchester, New Hampshire, and delivered a “standing ovation” speech that was interpreted by CNN as “testing the waters” for a presidential bid.

During the speech, she staked out conservative ground criticizing Joe Biden and Trump, saying the latter is at war “with the rule of law and the Constitution.”

Lewis conceded that if If the election were held today, Trump would likely win the election — a safe bet, given that a recent Morning Consult poll found that  82 percent of Republican voters view Trump favorably, 47 percent would back him in the primaries, and no other potential candidate received more than 13 percent.

That said, the poll also found that 59 percent of all voters say Trump should not run in 2024.

I have believed, from the moment Donald and Melania Trump rode down the escalator in Trump Tower on June 16, 2015, to announce the most improbable presidential run in modern history at the time that the only person capable of beating Donald Trump has been Donald Trump. In some respects, I still do.

And, as we have seen ever since, with a yeoman’s assist from the sock-puppet media. Time will tell.

Anyway, today is the last day to become a RedState VIP member at 40 percent off the regular subscription price, RedStaters. Check out the details:

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