By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
Northern Missouri Congressman Sam Graves has a few he likes, but he hasn’t decided who he favors in the Republican presidential primary race.
Graves says the first debate didn’t reveal that much, because the stage was too crowded.
“It’s hard in a first debate, because you have so many candidates up there it’s hard for them to really get their ideas and thoughts out,” Graves tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post.
Graves says those ideas will become clearer as the field narrows.
“As we go forward, we’re going to see fewer and fewer and fewer candidates on the stage and that’s when I will probably pay more attention than any other time, because that’s when they’ll be able to get more of their ideas and what they stand for out,” Graves says.
Graves expects the Iowa Caucuses to whittle the field down.
“It will absolutely whittle the field quite a little bit and New Hampshire,” Graves says. “In fact, all the early states, that will narrow things considerably. And just the simple weight of running nationwide that’s going to have an impact, too. I know some of the candidates are struggling just to keep their fundraising numbers up and their poll numbers up. So, it will whittle down pretty fast.”
Graves does have his favorites.
“I really like DeSantis. I do like Nikki. Ramaswamy, I like him as well,” Graves says. “So, I’m paying attention to those.”
Early speculation had Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as a strong challenger to former President Donald Trump, but that has materialized as successive indictments seems to only solidify Trump’s status as the frontrunner in the Republican presidential primary. Former South Carolina Governor and United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley has received positive marks for her debate performance. Businessman Vivek Ramaswamy has aligned himself most closely with the Trump agenda.
Graves says while each has strengths, he isn’t sure any is strong enough to catch former Trump, the clear frontrunner for the Republican nomination.
“I mean it’s hard to tell,” Graves says. “We’ve got a lot of water to cross under the bridge between now and then. So, we’ll just have to see what happens.”
South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and former Vice President Mike Pence also are considered strong candidates for the Republican nomination. Dark horses in the contest include former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchison, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum.
Graves says he will support whoever the Republican nominee turns out to be.