It’s Really Early, But Is Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke Running for President in 2024?

...Politico reported on May 4, 2018 that “Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has hired Iowa Republican political consultant Chuck Laudner for a position with the National Park Service, an Interior spokeswoman confirmed today. Interior hired Laudner 'a few weeks ago,' spokeswoman Heather Swift said, though she did not say what his job he had taken.” Politico reported that Laudner was an advisor to the Trump campaign in my home state of Iowa and he had also worked on Sen. Rick Santorum’s (R-PA) campaign in 2012. Laudner is a well-known political figure in Iowa and is a former Executive Director of the Republican party of Iowa. CARTOONS | Steve Kelley View Cartoon Now, taken alone, this might just be considered a situation where a long-time campaign official wanted to make the transition into politics. But there is more. I wrote in the Des Moines Register on April 3, 2018 that “a polling firm has been calling Iowa Republican voters to test Zinke’s name recognition for a possible run, presumably in 2024. This shows that the White House sweepstakes has started very early, and that Zinke is known in D.C. as somebody with White House ambitions.” Now this gets very interesting. It might be a brilliant move to start in 2018 with ambitions for 2024, or it might get President Trump angry if he sees that one of his own Cabinet members are already measuring the drapes of the Oval Office... It remains to be seen just how far Sec. Zinke is prepared to go, but he is definitely tickling the fields of Iowa. Will he hit a home run or wind up grounding out on the “Field of Dreams” like so manner others? We shall see...MORE