Who will be the next president? Who will next get to sit behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office? While the news is filled with wars, rumors of wars and updates on the Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce romance, the slog to Election Day 2024 continues. Snack on this little Campaign Trail Mix. 

Trial in Colorado to Try to Keep Former President Trump Off The Ballot

If you can’t beat ‘em, sue ‘em. A trial begins Monday in a lawsuit to keep former President Donald Trump off the Colorado ballot. The latest lawfare attack on Trump, brought by six Colorado residents and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, argues that Trump is ineligible to be on the ballot under the 14^th Amendment. That his challenge to the 2020 election was an “insurrection,” thus he’s disqualified under Section Three, which prohibits anyone who took an oath to uphold the Constitution and then “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” from holding office in the United States.

Courts in several other states, including Florida, Pennsylvania and Michigan have laughed off similar lawsuits, but the Democratic judge in Colorado has rejected all motions thus far to dismiss the case.

Show Me The Documents: Comer Wants Proof Joe Biden Loaned His Bro $200,000

This should have been a massive story, but alas. On March 1, 2018, a health care company on the ropes called Americore wired $200,000 to James Biden, after James pitched that his last name, “Biden,” could ‘open doors’ to Middle East investment. That very same day, James cuts Joe a personal check for $200,000.

Team Biden insists James was just paying Joe back for a personal loan. House Oversight Chairman James Comer is requesting Joe Biden turn over documents proving that there had been a loan and all proper IRS filings were made. Comer says he hasn’t seen any evidence yet in Biden’s bank records.

Whether it was a loan or not, James Biden’s March 1, 2018, check to Joe Biden aptly demonstrates one way he personally benefited from his family’s shady influence peddling of his name and their access to him. Even if the transaction in question was part of a loan agreement, we are troubled that Joe Biden’s ability to recoup funds depended on his brother’s cashing-in on the Biden brand 

Margot Cleveland at The Federalist argued that, at the very least, Joe Biden profited to the detriment of Americore’s many creditors.

In another timely coincidence, remember how Hunter squeezed a Chinese business associate to close a nearly $10 million deal a year while “sitting here with my father”? Did everything but put a severed horse head in the guy’s bed? The Daily Mail reports that just weeks after those WhatsApp threats, Joe Biden dropped nearly $2.75 million cash for his Rehoboth Beach crib.  Coincidence. Again a coincidence. 

Meanwhile, new House Speaker Mike Johnson said Sunday it is “very likely” Biden committed impeachable offenses in connection with the assorted Biden family pay-to-play schemes with foreign countries while VP. But “We’re going to follow the truth wherever it leads,” and do so in a methodical, by-the-book way.  Johnson confirmed this could include a subpoena sent to Hunter Biden himself.

Now, out of the legal battles and onto the trail …

Joe Biden won’t be on the primary ballot in New Hampshire. Biden and the DNC were pushing to ditch New Hampshire’s “first in the nation” primary tradition in favor of South Carolina. New Hampshire ignored the DNC and scheduled its primary for January 23. As AP reports, “Rather than flout the rules he urged the national party to adopt, Biden chose to stay off the ballot in New Hampshire.” (Perhaps his decision also has something to do with the fact he finished fifth in New Hampshire in 2020.)  

Former VP Mike Pence Drops Out

Admitting “this is not my time,” former Vice President Mike Pence abruptly dropped out of the GOP race Saturday, his effort to topple his old boss having gone nowhere. Pence did himself no favors with the way he ran. Rather than build on Trump Administration successes and pitch himself as Trump’s natural successor — all of the policies, none of the circus — Pence spent much of his time distancing himself from Trump and sounding like a biting and arrogant Washington insider. Who will forget his bristling, testy interview with Tucker Carlson? Who knew Pence “bristled”? 

You’d think he would have learned from Al Gore, who worked so hard to distance himself from Bill Clinton in 2000, he ended up as a bad, shrill documentarian rather than the 43^rd president. We pray and suspect Pence will move forward in a much healthier direction. 

Longshots businessman Perry Johnson and radio talk show host Larry Elder dropped out last week as well. Both endorsed Trump. Pence? No doubt Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis are wooing him like a prized high school recruit.

Nikki Haley “Breaking Through”?

Months ago, when Gov. DeSantis was riding high, I suggested he forget about Trump for a while. He was going to have his hands full with former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. Sure enough, Haley has been rising in the polls, making noise at the debates, and out-performing DeSantis on the campaign trail. In fact, her surge now has her almost neck-and-neck with DeSantis in the Not-Trump race. Polling shows the duo now tied in Iowa.

 “She’s breaking through at the right moment,” GOP strategist Mike Murphy told Politico. “Everything else has been ridiculous preseason coverage, like baseball teams at summer training … I think it all starts now.”

The 3^rd GOP Debate takes place in Miami November 8. Expect Haley to feel the Miami heat. Trump won’t be there again. He and his commanding lead will be holding a rally 15 miles away in Hialeah.

Independent Candidate Cornel West Goes All in For “Free Palestine,” Holds Anti-Semitic Banner

Independent candidate Cornel West held a banner depicting “Zionism” as a snake during a “pro-Palestinian” rally Saturday in Los Angeles, Breitbart is reporting.  West insists that “love for the Palestinian people does not imply hatred of Jewish people.” He’s just against the “occupation”… though Gaza hasn’t been occupied since 2005.

Yet, according to Breitbart, West took part in the rally, which featured “explicit calls to eliminate Israel — a genocidal goal — and to arm Palestinian Hamas “fighters” (i.e. terrorists).”

Gavin Newsom Goes to China … Mows Down Child

Hey, Gavin. You’re supposed to be hugging children, not mugging them.

Gavin Newsom insists he’s not running for president in 2024. He just plays a guy running for president on TV. Last week, the California governor abandoned the stink and crime of his streets to hang out with Xi in China.

He also managed to run over a little Chinese kid in a pick-up basketball game in a clip that’s gone viral.

Governor Newsom completely runs over a small kid while playing basketball in China: pic.twitter.com/saPohVhzEq

— TheBlaze (@theblaze) October 29, 2023

Newsom knows all about charging. Charging higher taxes, that is. You can see the GOP attack ads already. This is what Newsom’s policies would do to the “little guy.”

Al Perrotta is the Managing Editor of The Stream, co-author, with John Zmirak, of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Immigration and co-author of the counter-terrorism memoir Hostile Intent: Protecting Yourself Against Terrorism.