Trump platform: Revenge, ego

It’s been an exciting time for me. Mitt Romney and I agree: there are too many candidates for president in the Republican primaries. They split the “anybody but Trump” vote.

Romney said recently, “Our party and our country need a nominee with character, driven by something greater than revenge and ego, preferably from the next generation.”

No one has taken his advice yet, so be careful when you come out of your Hy Vee. You could stumble over one of the dozen or more already in the race. Getting them out, despite having no chance, is hard, often simply impossible. For a few people, running for president is as satisfying as a pit stop on a long road trip.

I’ve known six men who have run for president over 20 times altogether. All lost. One I met only a couple times was a Republican who lost twelve times — 1944 to 1992. Another was a Trotskyist who ran three times and, in his first run 1948, received 13,613 votes of about 50 million cast. Unlike the others, he never expected to win, and I set him aside.

I think Hubert Humphrey, George McGovern, Eugene McCarthy, and Walter Mondale (who ran only once) would have been far better presidents than those who beat hem.

The one Republican, Harold Stassen, ran every election from 1948 to 1988. He had been a decent governor of Minnesota and president of the University of Pennsylvania. He was not stupid.

Why do they run again and again? It’s hard work: constant travel, often taking off and landing several times a day. You smile until your jaws ache. You spend more time begging for money than praying for eternal life which would only mean more campaigns. It is masochistic with unlikely pleasure at the end.

Some among the 2024 crop of Republicans are well known in their own neighborhoods. I have tried to find a common thread of what inspired them all. I think each had a mother who said, “If you finish your broccoli, you could be president.” Beyond that, I’m stumped.

My clinical interest has been stirred by a three -term Democratic congressman who has announced he is exploring a run against President Joe Biden because so many of his donors are urging him to.

Dean Phillips is from a rich family, well educated, and has done a good job in the House. He will go from promising to laughingstock quickly.

We can expect to see him here before the 2024 caucus. We can also expect Doug Hurd, Asa Hutchinson, Vivek Ramaswamy, and a couple others whose names I don’t remember.

Long-shot, self-anointed do win. Jimmy Carter is the best example by going from virtual anonymity to a Nobel Prize.

Some of the dozen Republicans running against Trump are accomplished, but little known. Some others are simply little known.

If Mitt Romney’s advice is spurned and Donald Trump is not in jail, the election will probably depend on Republicans who will not vote for Trump and will stay home or vote for Joe Biden or any other Democratic candidate.

If Donald Trump is able to run, Iowa Republicans should follow the advice of Mitt Romney. Pick someone else now.

Norman Sherman of Coralville has worked extensively in politics, including as Vice President Hubert Humphrey’s press secretary.