With one year to go before a presidential election, the Republican candidates are ramping up their presence in Iowa for the January presidential caucuses. Most of them have been in the state for months already, either in person or by way of their persistent, local media advertisements.
Now's a good time for my one-sentence review of the viable contenders, each trying their best to appeal to the farthest right of the far right political spectrum, which now dominates the entire GOP. Not going to comment on the four-time indicted, democracy-hating, malignant narcissist former president who's also running (from something as much as for something).
Ron DeSantis -- An Ivy League educated, military veteran who offsets that by being a demagogue who's consistently awkward when campaigning in person.
Nikki Haley -- The only one who occasionally says some moderate-sounding things, which is probably why she's concentrating more on the New Hampshire primary.
Tim Scott -- Something oft-putting for Iowans about about a single, soft-spoken, southern black man trying to show everyone how conservative he is.
Vivek Ramaswamy -- An annoying, weird, egotistical rich guy who everybody agrees is the least likeable candidate, which isn't great for him.
Chris Christie -- Credit to him for being the only candidate to call out the ex-president and his MAGA cult, but he's really just playing the role of spoiler.
Mike Pence -- He's dropped out, and he may have temporarily saved democracy by doing his job as VP, but wanted to say how much he deserved the disdain he received from all sides.
