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Donald Trump was welcomed like a returning messiah when he delivered his first post-presidential speech last weekend.
The scene was the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando, Florida, and the reaction among grassroots Republican activists was fervent.
It left an immediate impression that Mr Trump must surely run for, and win, the party’s nomination for the 2024 election.
But there were also signs that the enthusiasm was as much for “Trumpism” as for the man himself, opening up the possibility that someone else might take up the torch.
‘Trumpism’ endures
A poll taken at CPAC showed 95 per cent of attendees wanted the Republican Party to keep pursuing Mr Trump’s agenda.
But significantly less – 68 per cent – said they wanted Mr Trump himself to run. And 55 per cent said they would choose him as the nominee.
That is still a high level, and the pollster, Jim McLaughlin, said Mr Trump was “literally the most popular figure we have ever had in the conservative movement.”
But critics seized on it to suggest that Mr Trump’s personal standing within his own movement was falling.
John Bolton, his former national security adviser, called it “pathetic” and “a mark of how far he [Mr Trump] has fallen already.”
It is only natural that, particularly younger, conservative activists are looking around at the next generation of politicians, assessing who would do the best job of advancing “Trumpism”.
Who could be next?
At CPAC two new contenders stood out.
Both were current state governors who made speeches that struck a chord and launched them into the national spotlight.
Ron DeSantis, the 42-year-old governor of Florida, and Kristi Noem, 49, the governor of South Dakota, have much in common.
In addition to being state governors, they have both previously served as members of Congress, meaning they have executive and legislative experience.
They are also both extremely loyal to Mr Trump, and fought to keep their states, including businesses and schools, open during the pandemic.
The Trump admirer: Ron DeSantis
Due in no small part to Mr DeSantis’s policies people and businesses have been fleeing the Democrat cities of New York and San Francisco for Florida, where the housing market is booming.
Mr DeSantis, a lawyer and graduate of both Yale and Harvard, was elected narrowly in 2018, but his popularity in Florida is rising.
In his recent “state of the state” address he called Florida “a beacon of light to those who yearn for freedom.”
At CPAC he condemned the “failed Republican establishment of yesteryear” and said it must never be allowed back.
His admiration for Mr Trump is unquestioned.
During his 2018 campaign for governor Mr DeSantis ran a campaign advert in which he taught one of his young children how to “build a wall” with blocks, and read Mr Trump’s book “The Art of the Deal” to his four-month-old.
The unknown: Kristi Noem
Addressing CPAC, Ms Noem started her speech by saying: “I’m sure a year ago none of you knew who I was…”
She was right, but they know who she is now.
Ms Noem has become a heroine for Americans who opposed restrictions during the pandemic.
In South Dakota she refused to order a lockdown, or force people to wear masks, settling instead for telling them to “wash your hands and make good decisions.”
In August the annual 10-day Sturgis Motorcycle Rally went ahead in South Dakota, attracting nearly 500,000 people, without enforcement of social distancing or masks.
Researchers later claimed it was a superspreader event linked to hundreds of thousands of cases of Covid-19.
Ms Noem disputed that, saying: “This report is not science, it’s fiction.”
In her early 20s Ms Noem left college to run the family ranch after her father died in an accident.
After later being elected to Congress she continued her studies online, earning her political science degree in 2011.
But what about 2024?
Neither Ms Noem nor Mr DeSantis would ever challenge Mr Trump, who they consider a political mentor.
But Mr Trump himself has yet to commit to running in 2024, and the longer he goes without doing so, the more support will gather around younger pretenders.
He triggered more speculation at CPAC by talking at length about “Trumpism” as a movement, laying out what he considered it to be, and how it is “only just beginning”.
The obvious inference was that, at some point, the movement he founded will have a new leader.
If there is a vacancy Mr DeSantis and Ms Noem will be on the shortlist to fill it.
The post Heirs emerge as Republicans search for the new Trump appeared first on The Telegraph.
