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‘It Has To Be Jim’ · Commentary - TJ Meadows

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: It's got to be Jim. I heard that line all weekend,
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: at lunch, grabbing coffee, sitting in a waiting room, watching football,
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: exchanging texts. It came up in almost every political conversation
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: I had. And the non-Team Morrissey conservatives already thinking about
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: 2028 aren't necessarily saying it's because they dislike the other
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: names being floated. They're saying it because they believe the
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: only realistic way to defeat Governor Patrick Morrissey I like so-and-so,
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: but if a bunch of people get in, Morrissey wins
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: by default. That was the second most quoted line of
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: the weekend. The thinking is simple. Justice clears the field.
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: If he runs, the expectation among many Republicans I've talked
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: with is that other serious contenders stay out. Why does
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: that matter? Because a crowded primary risks recreating 2024 when
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: Morrissey won a four-way Republican primary with roughly one-third of
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: the vote. Call it the Morrissey third. Voters believed to
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: be firmly in his camp regardless of who else runs.
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: So far, State Treasurer Larry Pack is the notable potential
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  Speaker 1: challenger who has publicly said he won't run if justice does.
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: Pack says, He'll support Justice instead. Could Justice simply endorse
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: someone else and clear the field that way? History suggests
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: that's no guarantee. Justice endorsed more capital in the crowded
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: 2024 primary. Morrissey won anyway. Then there's money. Morrissey has
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: proven he can raise it. And Club for Growth president
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: David McIntosh told me the organization spent $ 13. 1 million supporting
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: Morrissey last time and is prepared to spend what it
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: takes tomorrow. if he's challenged again. Justice would bring something different.
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: His name recognition, two terms as governor, and political durability
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: could reduce the amount of money needed simply to introduce
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: or reintroduce himself to voters. And as a sitting United
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: States senator, he has access to political and fundraising networks
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: of his own. So does it really have to be Jim?
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: That's for others to reckon with, and no disrespect is
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: intended toward anyone else considering a run. But this much
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: is clear. Among Republicans whose singular objective is defeating Patrick Morrissey,
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: the conversation is increasingly centered on one scenario. Jim Justice
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: versus Patrick Morrissey, one-on-one. Justice says he'll make his decision soon.
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: And when he does, if he does, my bet is
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: the rest of the field clears.