# How Should Pelosi Conduct the Presidency? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 3, 2019, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-pelosi-conduct-the-presidency/841194 "2019-10-03T06:07:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2019, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-pelosi-conduct-the-presidency/841194/41 "2019-10-04T20:57:07Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > I beginning to think we need a forum named “Reality” so some of us can avoid these threads. I like this idea. A forum where no wild “what if” fantasies are allowed. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2019, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-pelosi-conduct-the-presidency/841194/42 "2019-10-04T21:27:33Z")
> [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](#): > > I should also point out, there is no chance of it happening anyway. The Senate will not vote to remove a Republican from office if it means Pelosi becomes President. Removing one president from office would be viewed as sufficient rebuke to criminality that they would not feel compelled to repeat the gesture very soon. Yeah… you can expect standard both-sides/enlightened centrist logic on this one. “WHOA WHOA WHOA, we let you impeach and remove one obviously criminal president, that means it’s our turn to keep one. You must respect playground rules. By the way it means we’re automatically impeaching the next president you elect. Fair is fair.” I know I won’t get my way, but impeachment isn’t enough, I want retributive justice against Trump, the Trump children, Barr, Sessions, McConnell, Nunes, as well as second-tier lackeys like Giuliani, Nunes, Lewandowski who kept this dumpster fire on the rails up until the moment Trump confessed on camera. I also want to know who paid Brett Kavanaugh’s $200K debt for baseball tickets. I need to know that. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2019, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-pelosi-conduct-the-presidency/841194/43 "2019-10-04T21:33:18Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > … I also want to know who paid Brett Kavanaugh’s $200K debt for baseball tickets. I need to know that. [He already told you](https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/12/politics/brett-kavanaugh-baseball-ticket-debt-washington-nationals/index.html): > [@](#): > > “Everyone in the group paid me for their tickets based on the cost of the tickets, to the dollar,” Kavanaugh told senators in written questions for the record submitted Wednesday night. “No one overpaid or underpaid me for tickets. No loans were given in either direction.” ---
**Author:** ![Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tired_and_Cranky)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2019, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-pelosi-conduct-the-presidency/841194/44 "2019-10-04T21:55:43Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > [He already told you](https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/12/politics/brett-kavanaugh-baseball-ticket-debt-washington-nationals/index.html): This is the most cogent and informative post I have ever seen of yours on any topic and I really appreciate it. There’s enough to dislike about Kavanaugh without peddling seemingly baseless conspiracy theories about baseball ticket debt. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2019, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-pelosi-conduct-the-presidency/841194/45 "2019-10-04T22:27:13Z")
$200,000 worth of baseball tickets. Okay then. That’s obviously normal. > [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > With Moscow Mitch running the senate, she would not even be able to get a cabinet approved. Pursue a progressive agenda? Hah! There’s no need anymore. Just appoint people as “acting” everything. Moscow Mitch can’t (credibly) complain. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2019, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-pelosi-conduct-the-presidency/841194/46 "2019-10-05T00:00:10Z")
I mean, I know this board skews left, but damn, people. Pelosi as president? Are you high? ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2019, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-pelosi-conduct-the-presidency/841194/47 "2019-10-05T03:17:04Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > [He already told you](https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/12/politics/brett-kavanaugh-baseball-ticket-debt-washington-nationals/index.html): He told an unsubstantiated story without names or receipts. I find it no more convincing that his other similarly unsubstantiated stores. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2019, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-pelosi-conduct-the-presidency/841194/48 "2019-10-05T05:35:55Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > A-HFS? America-Hating FuckSticK. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2019, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-pelosi-conduct-the-presidency/841194/49 "2019-10-05T05:52:36Z")
Anyway, to answer the OP: In the unlikely scenario that Pelosi becomes president, she’d only have it for a few months - so her job is best to just be a “caretaker” in the White House. I don’t think she would be a very electable candidate in her own right, so she shouldn’t bother with trying to be the (D) nominee for 2020. Let’s say Trump and Pence are both impeached and deposed in June 2020. She then gets the White House for seven months. During those seven months, she should just concern herself with being a “bus driver” for the nation while propping up and supporting the (D) nominee as much as she can (be it Bernie, Warren or Biden) until the (D) nominee wins the election. Then hand over the reins. Of course, this cautious approach risks a backlash should a Republican win in 2020 - Pelosi would be soundly castigated by her own Democratic party, in hindsight, for having played things timid during the few blue months when the D’s had the presidency. But if she were to get over-active, she could start a catfight in her own party that would lead to in-fighting. ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2019, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-pelosi-conduct-the-presidency/841194/50 "2019-10-05T06:25:12Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > …I think you understand it _now_. But based on your OP I don’t think you understood it _then_. I disagree. But I don’t want to argue about this. > [@](#): > > That both Trump and Pence both are probably are guilty of impeachable offenses should come as no surprise to anyone. The crimes do speak for themselves. This has nothing to do with your OP. Well I’m not on trial here. Can you believe that the premise behind suggesting impeaching Trump and Pence simultaneously is because I suspect they are both guilty of impeachable offenses? But I don’t want to argue about this. > [@](#): > > I don’t even know what you are talking about now. I don’t believe in eternal souls. I don’t believe in “eternal soul scorecards.” Nothing is going to “leave a mark.” I don’t know where you’re from, but where I am from there are lots of what I call High Horse Republicans. They subscribe to the more fundamentalist denominations and are haughty and imperious towards lesser beings who have the wrong religion. I’m digressing a bit- I think the ethics of their religion is mostly ok (some of it is actually anti-social, but I don’t want to argue about that), though I also think one of my core virtues, intellectual honesty, is _not_ a literalist Christian value (because how do honest adults insist on the veracity of talking snakes, faith healing, those kinds of things). Well, my values prevent me from becoming pathologically full of crap like the High Horse Republicans have become. So, they can take that! > [@](#): > > So why did you bring it up in the first place? I made some comments, I threw that “make noise” bit in there, you objected, and I concede the point. But on the bigger point, about surrender, I think I hold ground. Because, if the POTUS and the Veep are both guilty of impeachable crimes, then both need to be removed from office. That people can’t seem to even imagine the scenario in which the law is applied strikes me as a problem. Politics? It doesn’t trump the law. Religion? See the 1st Amendment. Presidential succession? There’s no debate. All of this is obvious and straightforward. It strikes me as surrender that people allow their minds to be so completely led away from what should be the proper outcome of the law. Maybe it would help if I framed it as a John Lennon song: > [@](#): > > _Imagine laws are followed. > An easy thing to do. > No Ukraine to lie for, > Pelosi’s POTUS, too._ This isn’t the “101 reasons why the law might be discarded” or “How unlikely is this scenario?” thread (though I appreciate the odds calculation). The thread differs from a pure fantasy like “What if cats had proboscises?” because it deals with the actual outcome the law demands. It feels like gaslighting that people are treating me like I’m crazy for talking about it. But I don’t want to argue about that. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2019, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-pelosi-conduct-the-presidency/841194/51 "2019-10-05T07:17:09Z")
1. Impeachment: I-day cometh. House approves articles of impeachment for both POTUS and VP. 2. Trial by Senate: T-day cometh. Enough damning evidence persuades even GOPs to vote GUILTY. 3. Removal by… who??? Who empties the Oval Office when Tramp refuses to leave? Who has a leash? I fear the articles or trial may not occur, not if the lawless thug wields The Power first. I’ve always feared the Tramp impeachment process because it leaves him too much time to work too much evil. He will NOT go quietly - hold no fantasies there. He WILL do whatever he thinks will keep him from dying in prison. A lugury exile? Not likely. A hot war? Don’t doubt it. Yes, I’m paranoid. But am I paranoid enough? ---
**Author:** ![Fentoine\_Lum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b77776/32.png) [@Fentoine\_Lum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fentoine_Lum)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-pelosi-conduct-the-presidency/841194/52 "2019-10-06T20:25:50Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > I am starting to see Pence implicated in the Ukraine impeachment scandal. If Trump and Pence get impeached simultaneously, Speaker Pelosi is 3rd in line to become president. > > How should she handle the office? I can see spiking-the-football Nancy: “McConnell stole a SCOTUS nomination, and now we are stealing the White House!” It would be provocative to call it “stealing” since the whole process is entirely legal and avoidable if the current occupants don’t commit high crimes and misdemeanors, and also because incredulous Magas would not be able to do anything whatsoever about it. > > I can see Ford Nancy: “I humbly accept that I was not elected to this office, and therefore am not planning any major policy initiatives.” But, yeah right. > > I can see I’m Still the Same Old Nancy: Talks the same. Acts the same. Dresses the same. Just like she is as Speaker. But, if she leads an impeachment investigation that results in yoinking the White House away from the pubbies and installing herself there, it will go down as one of the most famous political moves of all time. She’s not an egomaniac I don’t think, but it is hard to imagine acting as if nothing big just happened. > > I can devise wrong hypotheticals, but right this moment anyway I am not imagining how that actually could/should play out. Maybe some dopers want to take a crack at it. She should put herself out to pasture, she’s served the donor class very well. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-pelosi-conduct-the-presidency/841194/53 "2019-10-06T20:29:33Z")
> [@Fentoine\_Lum](#): > > She should put herself out to pasture, she’s served the donor class very well. There’s a thread in Cafe Society on the death of rock drummer Ginger Baker. I think he might have been part of the donor class. Why don’t you go post in _that_ thread? ---
**Author:** ![Fentoine\_Lum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b77776/32.png) [@Fentoine\_Lum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fentoine_Lum)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-pelosi-conduct-the-presidency/841194/54 "2019-10-06T20:35:17Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > There’s a thread in Cafe Society on the death of rock drummer Ginger Baker. I think he might have been part of the donor class. Why don’t you go post in _that_ thread? Because my creator did not place me here to serve you? Find yourself a safe space. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-pelosi-conduct-the-presidency/841194/55 "2019-10-06T20:46:05Z")
This has nothing to do with “safe spaces,” and everything to do with paying attention to the purpose of a thread. It’s right there in the title of any thread — explained further in something we call the “OP,” for “opening post.” We also use OP to refer to the person who started that particular thread. It’s just a good thing to keep in mind, to make this message board work better for everyone involved. I’ve made the mistake of hijacking threads before. It happens. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2019, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-pelosi-conduct-the-presidency/841194/56 "2019-10-07T02:57:01Z")
You cannot persuade Republican senators to remove Trump and Pence from office unless there’s already a satisfactory Republican VP waiting in the wings. If the outcome will be President Pelosi, then the Senate simply will not get to the 2/3 required. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2019, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-pelosi-conduct-the-presidency/841194/57 "2019-10-07T13:57:51Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > You cannot persuade Republican senators to remove Trump and Pence from office unless there’s already a satisfactory Republican VP waiting in the wings. If the outcome will be President Pelosi, then the Senate simply will not get to the 2/3 required. True. But “satisfactory” means satisfactory to \*both \*parties - a Republican, yes, but a responsible adult, and probably just a caretaker rather than a candidate to avoid the appearance of anointment. The 2020 election dynamics cannot be ignored, and the transition process would have to be choreographed like Agnew-Ford was. The problem then is, with both Trump and Pence out of the picture, who \*would \*the candidates be? Who would be sure not to be one and would still look like a responsible adult, as well as having the stamina and alertness to do the job even on a caretaker basis? ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2019, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-pelosi-conduct-the-presidency/841194/58 "2019-10-07T14:22:54Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > True. But “satisfactory” means satisfactory to \*both \*parties - a Republican, yes, but a responsible adult, and probably just a caretaker rather than a candidate to avoid the appearance of anointment. The 2020 election dynamics cannot be ignored, and the transition process would have to be choreographed like Agnew-Ford was. > > The problem then is, with both Trump and Pence out of the picture, who \*would \*the candidates be? Who would be sure not to be one and would still look like a responsible adult, as well as having the stamina and alertness to do the job even on a caretaker basis? Someone like Robert Gates would probably suffice. ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2019, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-pelosi-conduct-the-presidency/841194/59 "2019-10-07T18:49:30Z")
I have seen it said on this board that impeaching Trump would deprive the Dems of their biggest advantage, namely, running against Trump. If we accept that, and if all the noises translate into solid articles of impeachment against both Trump and Pence, then a double impeachment (if that is even an option) is the answer. Expose all their crimes, and expose the GOP as pro-crime if they don’t convict. If they aren’t pro-crime, the only outcome is President Pelosi. Of course, we’d have to explain to all our children that justice is merely a word, the law only applies to little people and plan your lives accordingly (I know I am preparing to do that). But this way, the Dems do their Constitutional duty and keep the political benefits of the GOP lurching into election season with that orange turd tied around their necks. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2019, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-pelosi-conduct-the-presidency/841194/60 "2019-10-07T19:23:13Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Why would a Republican-controlled Senate vote to remove the last Republican standing between Pelosi and the presidency while she’s stonewalling a VP pick? I’m not sure if this means you agree with me, or that you didn’t read the post you were responding to. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-pelosi-conduct-the-presidency/841194.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-pelosi-conduct-the-presidency/841194.md?page=4)