New York Times: “Since Mr. Trump plucked Mr. Pence from the governorship of Indiana to serve as socially conservative ballast on a thrice-married real estate mogul’s ticket, Mr. Pence has grown accustomed to performing such acrobatics, maneuvering around or dialing back in private what Mr. Trump bellows in public.”

“The cumulative effect of Mr. Pence’s conduct is to create around him a kind of artificial bubble of relative normalcy, in which the vice president avoids Mr. Trump’s most explosive and divisive behavior mostly by pretending it does not exist.”

Politico: “Nikki Haley has long been suspected of angling for a future White House run. So it wasn’t surprising when the former UN ambassador reached out to President Donald Trump recently to ask to speak during next week’s Republican National Convention.”

“The president agreed — and in recent weeks, he has remarked privately about the throng of potential 2024 aspirants who’ve made requests for coveted speaking slots. Trump’s reelection is up in the air, but Republicans with national aspirations are already maneuvering to be the GOP’s standard bearer in four years — an under-the-radar campaign that will burst into the open at the convention.”

Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) is lining up support to chair the National Republican Senatorial Committee for the 2022 midterms — “a plum post that would put him in close contact with top Republican donors and finance chairs around the country as he mulls a potential presidential run in 2024,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Scott has discussed the post with his Republican colleagues, who will vote on the next chair following the November election.”

“A group of Democrats want the party to make changes that could lead to a new presidential primary calendar and the elimination of caucuses after the messy Iowa caucus earlier this year,” Bloomberg reports.

James Hohmann: “Sen. Ted Cruz warned GOP colleagues and White House emissaries during a private lunch on Tuesday that conservative voters could revolt in November if Republicans spend too much on the next phase of coronavirus relief efforts. After voting for $3 trillion in new spending and revenue reductions to combat the contagion and its economic consequences, some lawmakers are saying they cannot support a new package if its price tag exceeds $1 trillion. Cruz asked Senate Republicans, ‘What in the hell are we doing?'”

“Meanwhile, Sen. Tom Cotton suggested at the lunch that the GOP needs to be willing to keep racking up debt to maintain power. He argued that the full conference needs to focus on protecting their most vulnerable members. Cotton postulated that Democrats would spend more money if they win the Senate majority in November and, therefore, it is cheaper in the long run to allow the size of the spending package to grow with more goodies to benefit incumbents who are up for reelection.”

“Cruz and Cotton are among the small clique of ambitious Republican senators in their 40s who have been laying the groundwork to run for president in 2024, along with Sens. Marco Rubio and Josh Hawley. The dueling stances Cruz and Cotton staked out behind closed doors offer an early taste of the ideological battles we can expect as Republicans increasingly vie to take the torch from President Trump.”

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will visit Iowa on Friday, following months of speculation over his possible future political aspirations, The Hill reports.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) tells The Hill he may run for president in 2024.

Said Christie: “I feel like there are a lot of atmospheric things that happened in the lead up to the 2016 race, especially the Bridgegate matter which now has been dismissed by the United States Supreme Court in a 9-0 vote that there was no crime committed there. And yet the media and others convicted people before they even had a trial, and it materially affected my ability to run for president.”

He added: “Now that we’ve had that cleared away and it’s no longer a controversy, you know, from my perspective, maybe 2024 is time to try to go after that job again.”

Politico: “Tucker Carlson’s audience is booming — and so is chatter that the popular Fox News host will parlay his TV perch into a run for president in 2024.”

After resigning in disgrace two years ago, former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens (R) filed paperwork to run for an unspecified statewide office in 2024, the Kansas City Star reports.

Gabriel Sherman: “According to two sources, Kushner is trying to recruit Mike Pence’s former chief of staff Nick Ayers to take a senior campaign role. In 2018, Kushner recruited Ayers to replace John Kelly as Trump’s chief of staff. Ayers turned down the offer, and sources said he has no interest in joining the Trump campaign. One person close to Ayers told me he’s aligning himself with Nikki Haley to lead her potential 2024 campaign.”

Said a source: “He views Haley as the right train to be on.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders told the Washington Post that he is “very, very unlikely” to run for president again in 2024.

He added: “I think next time around you’re going to see another candidate carrying the progressive banner.”

“Arkansas Republican Tom Cotton, a freshman senator up for reelection in November, launched a highly unusual new TV ad this week,” Politico reports.

“The content was standard, pro-Trump, anti-Democrat fare. What was very atypical was that it aired hundreds of miles from his home state, in Ohio.”

“As it turns out, the ad had nothing to do with Cotton’s current campaign, and everything to do with the one he’s eyeing four years from now — for the White House. He and Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) are running commercials aimed at raising their profiles in key electoral battlegrounds and — perhaps more important — ingratiating themselves with President Trump and his supporters, who could prove critical in any future Republican presidential primary contest.”

“Sen. Tom Cotton is headed to New Hampshire, the nation’s first primary state, to cultivate support for a potential 2024 president bid, planning to campaign for a Republican Senate candidate and raise money for the party,” the Washington Examiner reports.

Politico: “They’re visiting early primary states, reaching out to major donors, and — in one instance — even running commercials in Iowa. But perhaps the most overt display of ambition is on display this week here at the Conservative Political Action Conference, a rite of passage for White House aspirants eager to audition before thousands of activists whose support can be critical down the line.”

“Those with the most prominent speaking roles — a list that includes the likes of Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz — are regarded as likely 2024 contenders. At Wednesday evening’s opening reception, former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley was mobbed by fans, including a woman who wore a ‘Nikki 2024’ baseball cap. Haley took a picture with the woman and signed the hat.”

“Vice President Mike Pence, already the administration’s point-person with conservatives, evangelicals and advocates for religious freedom, is building up his team to keep them close as the president dives into the 2020 reelection,” the Washington Examiner reports.

“Stacey Abrams has her sights set on the White House, and the former minority leader of the Georgia House of Representatives is already laying the groundwork for a future campaign,” McClatchy reports.

Said Abrams: “I will run for president when it’s appropriate, and I don’t know when that is.”

“Between now and the 2024 presidential election much could change for Abrams, 46, and on the political landscape. She has been seen as a potential running mate for the 2020 Democratic presidential nominee for nearly as long as there has been a campaign. She has also signaled that she could challenge Kemp again for the governor’s mansion in 2022.”