Larry Hogan's Impossible Dream?

Plus: Who would you forgive?

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Apparently something terrible happened to our culture over the weekend. While most of us were enjoying guac, chips, beer, and yet another entertaining NFL game — the 7th consecutive fantastic playoff game of the season— TPUSA’s Charlie Kirk was tweeting:

It was yet another reminder that full-time grifting for Conservativism Inc. is… exhausting. (Although “League of Sexual Anarchy” sounds like a great Netflix series.)

**

Happy Monday.

Our word of the day is quixotic, which Merriam-Webster defines somewhat unkindly:

Because we are feeling more optimistic this morning, we prefer the Man of La Mancha version (which for some reason has gotten stuck in my head this morning).

To dream the impossible dream
To fight the unbeatable foe
To bear with unbearable sorrow
To run where the brave dare not go

I am of course, referring to Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, who hinted yesterday that he might make a 2024 presidential run and said he believes “there is a pretty large lane of sane Republicans and they're looking for a voice.”

Principles First @Principles_1st

🚨🚨 #PrinciplesFirst alert: Gov. @LarryHogan (R-MD): “The Republican Party that I believe in stands for freedom and truth, not a circular firing squad that attacks people who don't swear 100% fealty to the Dear Leader.”

I regret to tell you that there are jaded skeptics.

Josh Jordan @NumbersMuncher

There is absolutely no lane of "sane Republicans" that can get *anyone* through a GOP primary that does not work heavily in the MAGA crowd.

Jan Wolfe @JanNWolfe

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan dropping hints he'll run for president in 2024 as a Republican. "I believe that there is a pretty large lane of sane Republicans and they're looking for a voice," he says. https://t.co/zrmJvQdt8A

Joe Walsh @WalshFreedom

Larry Hogan is wrong here. Dead wrong. There is no “anti-Trump lane” in this GOP. There is no “sane NeverTrump lane.” It doesn’t exist. And those of us who publicly oppose Trumpism need to wake up to this fact and create something new.

The Recount @therecount

Gov. Larry Hogan (R-MD) says he would consider a 2024 presidential run: "We're certainly gonna take a look at it after January of 2023." "I believe that there is a pretty large lane of sane Republicans and they're looking for a voice." https://t.co/8ZJ5VafJsI

And I expect the professional Eeyores on this site — and I name no names here — to have a similar reaction. And they won’t be wrong.

But, this also seems a good time to remind ourselves that we are going to have to make a series of difficult choices in the near future about hope, realism, redemption, and principles.

Let’s start with the balance of hope and realism. Polls, history, and our own eyes tell us that there is a vanishingly small constituency for sanity in the still-Trump-dominated GOP. But despair is not really a viable strategy, as seductive as it might feel, and Hogan seems to be stepping up where so many others have whiffed (looking at you, Ben Sasse).

So, even though the odds are overwhelming…. Huzzah?