Mark Sanford has announced that he is officially considering a run for president that would pit him against Trump in the Republican primary:
POST AND COURIER – Mark Sanford, the former South Carolina congressman ousted from office after President Donald Trump urged voters to reject him, is considering a run for president.
Sanford, in an exclusive interview Tuesday with The Post and Courier, confirmed he will take the next month to formulate whether he will mount a potential run against Trump as a way of pushing a national debate about America’s mounting debt, deficit and government spending.
He would run as a Republican.
“Sometimes in life you’ve got to say what you’ve got to say, whether there’s an audience or not for that message,” Sanford said. “I feel convicted.”
He may run, but the odds are stacked against him…
If he does get in the race, Sanford faces mammoth odds of getting any traction within the Republican Party.
State GOPs would have to agree to hold primaries or caucuses pitting their current White House occupant against an upstart.
So far, only former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld has formally announced a challenge versus Trump.
Just as Hogan did earlier this year, Sanford wants to ensure that a run for president is viable. If not, he won’t run and he’ll just set up a think tank…
Since leaving office in January, Sanford said he has been privately mulling whether to run for the nation’s highest office. He described the internal debate as a drumbeat that never went away.
“I’m a Republican. I think the Republican Party has lost its way on debt, spending and financial matters,” he said.
Sanford conceded he had been waiting to see if any other high-profile Republicans, such as former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, would primary the president.
If he finds a presidential run is not viable, Sanford said he might pursue setting up a think tank aimed at addressing the deficit.
He’s not wrong about the Republican Party on debts and spending and I think that out of all those who’ve considered going down this primary road, Sanford would have the best chance out of them all. However, I still don’t think he’s high profile enough to mount a serious challenge to Trump.
I’m of two minds on this. Sanford will no doubt get a lot of attention from the Never Trump crowd now that he’s made his intentions clear and I think he could potentially raise a lot of money. But at the end of the day, I’m still not sure that will be enough for him to get into the race. Because for someone like him to beat Trump right now is like trying to climb Mount Everest.