If crazy really won, the Republicans would let us have elections.
That pesky popular vote is bad optics.
Nah, Palin is definitely not Trump’s best possible running mate. Trump/DeSantis would unify the remaining Republican party much better, and DeSantis is viewed far more favorably than Republican and Republican-aligned voters than Palin is. It is fairly unlikely DeSantis will agree to be Trump’s running mate, I think he shrewdly recognizes he has two paths–one is to challenge Trump and win the nomination in '24, the other is to sit on the sidelines if he thinks he can’t beat Trump, and run in '28.
@Martin_Hyde nailed it. DeSantis is pure evil, but evil in service of the billionaire wing of the R party. As opposed to Trump who’s in service to, well, Trump & maybe his kids.
I totally agree with the OP that a Trump Palin ticket will be the greatest reality/comedy show in US politics for generations. Wild Alaska meets The Kardashians.
That’d be very very entertaining. But not what will get out the R vote in the few districts that are truly competitive and will decide our future.
I have been retired since 2016 from the “Let’s promote the most obviously inept, corrupt Republican in the hope of an easy win” team.
So were you a Democrat or Republican in 2016? This seems to allow both possibilities.
But, the party has a ‘what do we do now?’ problem. They have nailed the Supreme Court, defeated Roe v Wade and advanced gun issues nationwide. They admittedly have no platform.
Then there’s the ‘what will Trump do?’ problem. If Trump runs DeSantis has to grovel for whatever he can salvage. If the party rejects Trump, he may run a write in campaign. He can’t win but he’d get all the attention and spoil the Republican vote. Big return with little effort. Trump’s kind of deal.
On the other hand Trump/Palin has massive name recognition. Trump can fill McCain’s shoes and win where McCain failed. There is no burden of policies, issues or platform. The only tension between them would be who draws the largest crowds. Two butterflies flitting from blossom to blossom pollinating whatever they encounter.
Biden and Harris are competent, experienced candidates. Both are more familiar with higher echelon offices than is any challenger. Both are quite capable of defeating any opponent in a debate.
But neither is charismatic. Neither can lean into the mike and lead a crowd in MAGA chants. .Neither can lie without hesitation. Both are ideal bureaucrats, neither is an ideal candidate.
Neither Trump or Palin is qualified for any office. Neither derived useful experience from the offices they have held. But both are charismatic. Neither is a slave to truth. Both can excite crowds. Both are ideal candidates.
It’s not an easy win, but it keeps the Republican Party on the field and in the media spotlight.
The only advantage I can see of a Trump/Palin ticket is that people might think twice about removing Trump from office, given that doing so would be giving the presidency to one of the very few people who would be even worse.
So Trump himself might see as making him assassination-proof.
Unique job insurance.
It’s called the Quayle Maneuver.
Not exactly. They have a very clear platform. Just not one they’re saying out loud in measured tones and policy papers. It’s delivered either sotto voce or shouted by the chanting crowd.
Their platform is to defund or disband the regulators. To insert oligarchic criminals at all levels of the federal bureaucracy. To decimate taxes on the wealthy. To utterly politicize the Justice department & the federal Courts all the way to SCOTUS, which ensures that the Law is whatever the R president du jour wants it to be. And to emplace similar partisan people in power in the electoral apparatus of most states, and certainly any / all battleground states, to ensure that their one party rule seems to be occurring on the up and up, not the result of rampant cheating in every imaginable way. IMO their platform is crystal clear. And enormously attractive to their know-nothing “base” and to their corporate and billionaire wings. It’s the educated “country club” Rs who’re being left in the cold by these shenanigans.
Yes. That is a big problem. Trump will do whatever he wants and do it impulsively. The rest of the R party “apparatus” has negligible influence on him, while he, through his many placemen in that apparatus, and the amazing money spigot he controls from his deluded followers, have massive influence on the party.
I’m not so sure he’d do a write-in if he lost the nomination. For sure he’d say the nomination was stolen and try to sell that narrative to the last minute. Given how malleable the party’s internal processes are, that might carry the day.
But if it doesn’t, the reason for him to not try the write-in is not from any concern about him splitting the R vote. But rather it’d be him listening to his inner circle telling him it’d be a year of his rapidly aging life spent pursuing a failed dream that he/they will not win. Better to be a potential kingmaker than a proven has-been. Instead work to get more corrupt placemen deeper into the halls of power and let Trump Jr. collect it all in 2028.
Trump’s better at tic tac toe than chess, but he might buy this approach. Or his health might force it.
I’ve never been conviced that’s a real thing. It assumes that potential assassins or their powerful backers (If any) have the best interests of the country at heart. Perhaps there’s an assassin who does, but I have yet to see one.
[Foghorn Leghorn]
That’s a joke, Son. Ah say that’s a joke!
[/Foghorn Leghorn]
I 100% agree w you about the nutters. Whatever they may be “thinking” about, the Veep-soon-to-be POTUS ain’t it.
But if you (any you) believes in at least the possibility of shadowy cabals, like the CIA & the Mob colluding to off JFK, those are rational actors making plots to advance rational ends. Evil ends, but rational ends nonetheless. And the choice of a Veep might bear on those plans.
OTOH, a strong President picking a weak or easily controllable Veep (e.g. Quayle, at least arguably) might be the possible best gift to a coup plotting group. IOW the plotters think “We can’t turn GHWB, but we can sure turn Quayle to our Evil Scheme. Now we just need to shoot GHWB to put our plan into effect.” In that case the “insurance” has backfired.
Well, it assumes that the assassin is working for “them”, who want to kill the president “for reasons”, but “they” decide not to do it, because VP Idiot would become the new president.
Of course, this fails the common sense test, because if “they” are willing to kill the president, why wouldn’t “they” also kill the VP, if they didn’t like him either?
Once you’ve posited the existence of the Evil Cabal, you have to allow for them to be really Evil, not just “plot hole conveniently” evil.
You forgot their one other objective (well for most of them anyway), to create a Theocracy in America that is devoted to “Good Christian Values” like anti-abortion, prayer in schools, and an AR-15 in every pot! The fact that their views are completely heterodox and contrary to the traditional teachings of their faith doesn’t matter because they can outlaw Sharia Law.
This where a perfect storm may benefit the Democratic cause. Trump is motivated simply by selfish whim, DeSantis is driven by ambition. They are both raging bulls eager to battle toward victory at any cost (as to them, like a bull in the ring- loss means death and slaughter).
If Trump was cleaver enough (which means by way too much) to announce a Trump/Palin ticket from the start of the primary season, it will give him much to talk about: “We are an experienced team ready to finish what I started eight years ago”. But what might really drive him would be-- Look at what the ratings will be!! We will own the air waves again, we will own the radio waves, our rallies will be enormous, she is still pretty hot for an old broad, and unspoken and unacknowledged reason- our lack of knowledge and sophistication is our greatest feature, the base knows it and loves it!!!
If that ticket gains some early momentum (but I am sure our very mature press will ignore the dog and pony show to cover meetings about land use by the Interior Department) DeSantis may contact Noem and the two of them may say “who better to fight fire with fire?!?!?” There is little or no Republican infrastructure, and McConnell, Graham, and Rubio will not even try to stop either train wreck (Cruz will because he believes he still has a shot).
I would love to see months and months of a Trump/Palin vs. DeSantis/Noem flame war. “We have both been chief executives.” “Yea, well so have we!” “Our states both voted Republican, you both lost your elections!” “You bastard! I MADE you! You begged for my endorsement!” We passed education bills and outlawed CRT!!" “I secured the border – and I am going to do it again!!”
If I believed in a supreme being I would pray for this scenario every day! The Republican base (even the country club set I was depressed to learn recently) is pretty simple minded and completely devoid of the ability to think for themselves. They need to be led, that is why they are sheep – and if Hannity and Carlson come out on opposite sides (they won’t because Rupert Murdoch tells them what their opinions are), if Steve Bannon and Dinesh D’Sousa contradict each other . . . This hypothetical situation which is far too good to hope for, could drag on for months.
Do any of the reactionary mob of Trump supporters seem ready to give up and support a rival? Does either of the Governors or their followers seem like they would avoid escalation? The Republican Party would literally beat itself to near extinction (and don’t expect any elder statesman to jump in and rescue the party- the closest they have is McConnell and he doesn’t even take the bullets aimed at him, he sure isn’t going to take one of anyone else). If this miracle becomes reality, all the Democrats have to do is sit down and be quiet and try to keep from shooting themselves in the foot (which aught to be pretty easy since they will never have to draw their sidearm). The Trump camp will promise a nationwide ban on abortion. DeSantis will promise to outlaw any and all gun regulation. Both sides will pledge to abolish the EPA. They will continue to crawl further and further toward the base guaranteeing a general election loss.
And all it takes is Trump announcing Palin as a running mate early on, and DeSantis deciding to fight fire with fire. The thing is - both of those tickets have huge appeal to the right people from their perspective. There is realistic potential for either ticket in these interesting times.
If it does not happen in real life, I hope Chris Buckley writes a hilarious and powerful novel about it.
Might happen, since Trump believes an announcement will shield him from the Jan 6 Committee.
I think he’d prefer Ivanka for a running mate.
And let’s not forget the current state of GOP discussion of elections - no matter which side wins the primary, it’s a safe bet the other will start crying “Fraud!”. A few months of that going back and forth won’t help much with getting voters on the losing side to support the winners.
I think he has made it quite clear that he would prefer Ivanka for a bedmate.