# US Presidential Election: what is the weirdest scenario you can imagine **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [April 24, 2020, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-presidential-election-what-is-the-weirdest-scenario-you-can-imagine/852521 "2020-04-24T20:45:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2020, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-presidential-election-what-is-the-weirdest-scenario-you-can-imagine/852521/21 "2020-04-25T20:13:16Z")
> [@Tabco](#): > > I thought that the president’s (and VP’s) terms were not necessarily connected to the election? > > Even if the election were postponed or nullified, wouldn’t the term still end in January 2021? That is what he Constitution literally says. It doesn’t say a term ends with the next election; it says the term lasts four years. Trump’s term concludes on January 20, 2021. If no Presidential or Vice Presidential election has been held, then on January 20, 2021, according to the Presidential Succession Act, the Speaker of the House would become the President and would be President until January 20, 2025. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2020, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-presidential-election-what-is-the-weirdest-scenario-you-can-imagine/852521/22 "2020-04-25T20:18:04Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > If no Presidential or Vice Presidential election has been held, then on January 20, 2021, according to the Presidential Succession Act, the Speaker of the House would become the President and would be President until January 20, 2025. She’ll have to make her way past loyalist guards surrounding the Gilded (formerly White) House. That assumes she escapes alive from protective custody. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2020, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-presidential-election-what-is-the-weirdest-scenario-you-can-imagine/852521/23 "2020-04-25T20:36:10Z")
I’m sure Trumpists would lose their shit, but why would she have to go there if it’s surrounded by a mob? Of course, we are assuming she was Speaker. The Congressional term begins a few weeks earlier, so it could be someone else. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2020, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-presidential-election-what-is-the-weirdest-scenario-you-can-imagine/852521/24 "2020-04-25T20:49:34Z")
The weirdest scenario I can imagine is that which has been put forth many times but semi-jokingly: Chump loses but insists it was rigged and refuses to leave the White House, necessitating his removal by force. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2020, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-presidential-election-what-is-the-weirdest-scenario-you-can-imagine/852521/25 "2020-04-25T21:18:47Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Both Trump and Biden die between now and November. Not impossible, IMNSHO. Okay; that two-death scenario isn’t, in your NSHO, impossible. So how about this: instead of Trump and Biden dying in their seventies, Ginsburg and Breyer plausibly die in their _eighties_ — which could, in turn, spark the not-impossible scenario in which a lame-duck Trump swiftly puts up two Supreme Court nominees. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2020, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-presidential-election-what-is-the-weirdest-scenario-you-can-imagine/852521/26 "2020-04-25T22:07:58Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > If no Presidential or Vice Presidential election has been held, then on January 20, 2021, according to the Presidential Succession Act, the Speaker of the House would become the President and would be President until January 20, 2025. If no presidential election was held, then no congressional elections would have been held, so who would be Speaker of the (empty) House? ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2020, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-presidential-election-what-is-the-weirdest-scenario-you-can-imagine/852521/27 "2020-04-25T23:15:00Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Worst election is: The outcome is truly unknowable. Just too much shadiness. Ballots being tampered or destroyed or never arriving in the mail, a Florida-2000 narrow outcome in multiple swing states, and the Supreme Court has to step in with some 5-4 ruling. It probably wouldn’t be the Courts that step in; it would be the House. And Republicans would likely win. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2020, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-presidential-election-what-is-the-weirdest-scenario-you-can-imagine/852521/28 "2020-04-25T23:30:22Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > If no Presidential or Vice Presidential election has been held, then on January 20, 2021, according to the Presidential Succession Act, the Speaker of the House would become the President and would be President until January 20, 2025. Not necessarily. A contested election would have the potential to get weird, and extremely destabilizing and dangerous rather quickly. The Constitution’s 20th Amendment says that the vice-president elect would be the next in line if there is no resolution. The Senate - Republican-controlled - would vote for Mike Pence. He would become president until the House, controlled by a Democratic party but for the purposes of this election it’s controlled by the Republicans because they have the majority of state delegations. A contested election favors Republicans. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2020, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-presidential-election-what-is-the-weirdest-scenario-you-can-imagine/852521/29 "2020-04-25T23:55:13Z")
Even under the ridiculous scenario that elections are suspended, legislatures could start appointing their own slate of electors per Bush v. Gore. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2020, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-presidential-election-what-is-the-weirdest-scenario-you-can-imagine/852521/30 "2020-04-26T01:22:32Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2020, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-presidential-election-what-is-the-weirdest-scenario-you-can-imagine/852521/31 "2020-04-26T02:24:26Z")
250,000 dead in the USA by the end of August. Trump will sign an EO to ‘suspend’ the election. If states don’t comply, he will declare martial law. What the military might make of this is a bit up in the air. Oh, that’s not the weirdest scenario. That’s what I predict. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2020, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-presidential-election-what-is-the-weirdest-scenario-you-can-imagine/852521/32 "2020-04-26T02:45:59Z")
I don’t expect a blunt instrument like martial law; rather, I expect chaos. It’s the chaos, sowing doubts about the legitimacy of the outcome, that matters. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2020, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-presidential-election-what-is-the-weirdest-scenario-you-can-imagine/852521/33 "2020-04-26T03:53:04Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > 250,000 dead in the USA by the end of August. … We are probably not going to maintain the current rate of loss. Most likely closer to half what you predict. Which is still a lot – we will all know someone who has been done in by it – but, what is the threshold for extreme measures? ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2020, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-presidential-election-what-is-the-weirdest-scenario-you-can-imagine/852521/34 "2020-04-26T06:54:20Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > The weirdest scenario I can imagine is that which has been put forth many times but semi-jokingly: Chump loses but insists it was rigged and refuses to leave the White House, necessitating his removal by force. To me, that’s actually the most likely scenario. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2020, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-presidential-election-what-is-the-weirdest-scenario-you-can-imagine/852521/35 "2020-04-26T13:01:17Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > We are probably not going to maintain the current rate of loss. Most likely closer to half what you predict. Which is still a lot – we will all know someone who has been done in by it – but, what is the threshold for extreme measures? I donno. We are talking about ‘opening up’. People are protesting about staying home. No vaccine in sight. I totally understand that businesses are dying and people are going broke. Looking at the numbers I suspect that the death rate in the US is gonna go up as business re-opens. Unless… many of us already have/had it with out any real ill effects. We just don’t know. From WHO “There is currently no evidence that people who have recovered from COVID-19 are protected from a second infection, the World Health Organization warned Saturday as the worldwide death toll topped 200,000.” ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2020, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-presidential-election-what-is-the-weirdest-scenario-you-can-imagine/852521/36 "2020-04-26T13:05:07Z")
Jesus comes to take His people home the day before the election, the rest is left with unanimously elected Trump. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2020, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-presidential-election-what-is-the-weirdest-scenario-you-can-imagine/852521/37 "2020-04-26T14:02:02Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > To me, that’s actually the most likely scenario. Not sure if it’s the most likely, but it’s probably his best bet to win. The interesting development to watch is not just how the current crisis affect Trump’s popularity but the entire Republican party’s popularity up and down the ballot. If previously safe senate races begin to look worrying, you might possibly see the GOP abandon Trump. I didn’t think this was possible, but the party as a whole seems committed to doubling down on stupid, which could have consequences. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2020, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-presidential-election-what-is-the-weirdest-scenario-you-can-imagine/852521/38 "2020-04-26T20:40:16Z")
> [@RioRico](#): > > Bad fantasy scenario: Trimp the Chimp finds workable excuse to declare emergency and martial law, detaining all dissidents i.e. opponents, with troops deployed at all local election offices to oversee the shutdown - and fuck the Posse Comitatus Act. > > Variants: Trimp’s minions work up various excuses. Virus if nothing else pops up. Whichever Kim is in power in DPRK nukes Honolulu, Seattle, or Mar-a-Lago. Deep-cover Mexican agents swarm from the fields and meat plants to overwhelm government offices and armories. Or COVID starts infecting petroleum exports. Yikes! Cancel the election! > > Weird stuff: Fiendish residents of the Hollow Earth (it ain’t flat, folks) swarm up with even worse results than a Zombie Apocalypse because their brains still work. They steal all the absentee ballots and vote for Sarah Palin, their human heroine. Meanwhile, radioactive fleas infest voting machines and switch votes to Taylor Swift. Few humans complain. I foresee a successful career in writing for you! ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2020, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-presidential-election-what-is-the-weirdest-scenario-you-can-imagine/852521/39 "2020-04-26T20:45:44Z")
All the scenarios are weird. 1. Vote by mail is ordered. The election is close, and the errors in the mail system swamp the vote difference and cause the losing party to have a fit, and the U.S. has another ‘crisis’. Also, there will be ample opportunity to claim shenanigans on both sides. 2. People are ordered to the polls as usual, but it’s the lowest election turnout in history by a mile. The losing party cries foul, and we’re back into a ‘crisis’. 3. Trump tries to postpone the election, and the other party has a fit. Crisis. Am I leaving anything out? Exactly what scenario is there that _won’t_ end in a contested election and further breakdown of the social order? Because this next election is not going to be normal, and it WILL be close. Therefore, a contested election is all but certain. Weird events that could happen include Biden dropping out before the convention for health reasons, and the Democrats parachute in what they think will be a ringer. Someone like Andrew Cuomo or Gavin Newsom, both of whom are experiencing career-high popularity. Trump probably won’t dump Pence, but if Trump had a heart attack before the convention, would the RNC pick Pence? We could see another wildcard Republican. The election could be between two people who aren’t even on the radar screen right now. Unlikely, but this is the Year of the Jackpot, so anything could happen. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2020, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-presidential-election-what-is-the-weirdest-scenario-you-can-imagine/852521/40 "2020-04-26T21:45:55Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > … People are ordered to the polls as usual, but it’s the lowest election turnout in history by a mile.… historically, that would be [a hell of a mile](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1792_United_States_presidential_election) – 1792, when only male land-owners were allowed to vote, yet the turnout was 6.3% [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-presidential-election-what-is-the-weirdest-scenario-you-can-imagine/852521.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-presidential-election-what-is-the-weirdest-scenario-you-can-imagine/852521.md?page=3)