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The Punch-Down Primary

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“With Donald Trump holding a commanding lead on the rest of the 2024 GOP field, you’d think everyone else would focus on the frontrunner. And with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis being the only Republican within striking distance of Trump, you’d think the former president would train his attention on him,” the Daily Beast reports.

“But there’s a dynamic developing among Republican candidates—one in which GOP longshots avoid potentially ostracizing Trump supporters, and Trump doesn’t focus exclusively on trashing DeSantis.”

“Call it the punch-down primary, where candidates are all going after competitors who are polling well beneath them.”

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About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.

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