GOP presidential candidates are trying a variety of attacks on former President Donald Trump, but none is chipping away at his front-runner status in the nation's polls one month before the first Republican debate opens in Milwaukee.
The plays against Trump range from that of his former Vice Ppresident Mike Pence, who says Trump was "wrong" when he attempted to push him into overturning the 2020 election results, to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who accuses Trump of running too far left, but the polls still have Trump as the runaway front-runner, reports The Washington Post.
One reason may be that the field of candidates is too wide, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, says.
"What's the opposite of cohesive? There's too many of them," the Texas Republican said. He hasn't endorsed any of the candidates, but he does question whether Trump can win in the general election.
Some strategists are pointing out that Trump is in front but it's still too early, as several months remain before the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses.
They say that the race could change, considering Trump's legal battles in two states and televised debates that are coming.
Trump has been indicted in New York and Georgia and is under investigation in Georgia over allegedly trying to overturn the election in 2020. He's also the subject of a Justice Department investigation over the Jan. 6, 2021 protests at the U.S. Capitol.
But even with the charges that have been filed and the potential for more, Trump's numbers are still topping the polls and donors are sending millions of dollars to his campaign.
In Iowa, where candidates are converging to sell their campaigns, people are listening but are still considering voting for Trump, the Post reports.
Some candidates, like DeSantis, are arguing that the GOP needs to stop the "culture of losing" and Nikki Haley is warning voters against complaining "about what you see in a general if you don't play in this caucus."
But the polls show that many primary voters think Trump is their best chance of bringing down President Joe Biden.
In May, a Monmouth University poll showed that more than 60% of GOP voters believe Trump is "probably or definitely" the strongest choice to beat Biden, and the Trump campaign points out that some national polls are showing him ahead of Biden.
Meanwhile, some candidates are taking an indirect approach against Trump, such as Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., who told Fox News that primary voters are "starving for a message filled with optimism, hope, anchored in conservative values with a backbone."
Vivek Ramaswamy is waging a campaign that plays on the "America First" agenda from Trump but suggests that as Trump has already been president, he's not a Beltway outsider anymore. However, Ramaswamy has called on his fellow candidates to pledge to pardon Trump, should one of them win the general election.
Haley, meanwhile, who was the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations for two years under Trump, is centering her attacks on DeSantis rather than Trump and claims he showed "moral weakness" against China while he was president.
Trump's campaign, meanwhile, is continuing to gather endorsements. Tuesday, Michigan's entire GOP congressional delegation endorsed him and thousands are still coming to his rallies.
Some Republican strategists, though, say anything can still happen.
GOP pollster Whit Ayres said he divides GOP primary voters into different categories, with "Never Trump" voters, as 10% of the party; "Always Trumpers," as 35% of the party; and "Maybe Trump voters," as 55% of the party.
Ayers said that Trump's opponents need to go after the "Maybe Trump" voters, rather than just the "Never Trump" ones.
Senate Minority Whip John Thune of South Dakota, who is backing Scott, says the candidates will need to present a case against Trump by showing what they can offer as an alternative to four more years of him in the White House, and that they're going to have to "become more aggressive."