United States Politics: ∆τ_i*ε*φ*m_i<0 where ε=4 and φ=0.25

[benji]

And benji made fun of the way this guy looks.

Why Doug Burgum Could Surprise In The 2024 Republican Primary

So why does Burgum think he has a shot at the White House? Maybe because he’s gone from anonymous dark horse to Republican primary winner once before. In 2016, everyone assumed that then-North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem would be the state’s next governor. He led Burgum 59 percent to 10 percent in a February poll of the GOP primary, and he received the official endorsement of the North Dakota Republican Party at the party convention in April. But in the June primary, Burgum defeated Stenehjem 59 percent to 39 percent.

How did he pull it off? A big part of it was money. Burgum is a software executive — and a very successful one. He was an early investor in Great Plains Software, which he sold to Microsoft in 2001 for $1.1 billion. With the help of one William Gates of Seattle, Washington, he outraised Stenehjem at least $966,000 to $752,000 in that 2016 primary. And we say “at least” because that number doesn’t include whatever Burgum self-funded — at the time, North Dakota law didn’t require candidates to disclose contributions they made to their own campaign.

Burgum is reportedly going to use the same playbook in 2024: A source told ABC News that he will self-fund his presidential campaign. Considering that his net worth as of last year was reportedly more than $1 billion, he could probably pump several million dollars into the race without breaking a sweat. And that would immediately make him one of the primary’s top fundraisers. It was a couple months ago, but as of March 31, only two Republicans had raised more than $12 million or had at least that much money in the bank.