# Who/what kind of person will succeed Trump as leader of GOP? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [January 3, 2020, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-what-kind-of-person-will-succeed-trump-as-leader-of-gop/845874 "2020-01-03T12:48:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2020, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-what-kind-of-person-will-succeed-trump-as-leader-of-gop/845874/21 "2020-01-03T19:00:42Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > The problem with changing demographics is that they are all concentrated in areas that are already blue. > > In 2004 the democrat won California by about 1.2 million votes. In 2016 the democrat won by over 4 million votes. Those extra votes don’t mean anything since the state is already blue. Yes that is true and I think it means we might see a lot more of a Dem winning the popular vote but losing in the EC. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2020, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-what-kind-of-person-will-succeed-trump-as-leader-of-gop/845874/22 "2020-01-03T19:48:39Z")
I think a couple of us are oversimplifying demographic changes a little. It’s not just about California. The rising generations of voters are overwhelmingly liberal and they’re not restricted to the west coast. Growth in Atlanta and other southern cities is making southern states less and less red with almost every election. Hispanics are growing as a percentage of the population all across the south, not just Texas. Yes, demographics ain’t destiny. Hispanics could veer right in ensuing generations, for example. But for the immediate decade to come, Republicans are up against it when it comes to demographics and it will bring out the very worst in them. [Democracy isn’t having a great decade as it is](https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/28/world/democracy-21st-century-analysis-intl/index.html) and the GOP is perfectly happy to stoke the idea that “anything goes if it is for a worthy cause.” ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2020, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-what-kind-of-person-will-succeed-trump-as-leader-of-gop/845874/23 "2020-01-03T20:06:25Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > The real question becomes not ‘how will succeed Trump’ but rather ‘will the Republican party continue to succeed with Trump’? > > If the success continues they’ll find another demogogue who uses roughly the same playbook. > > If in 2020 they get their ass handed to them for a second straight election cycle there’ll be attempts to find a leader who pulls back on the demogoguery. A return to a more pro-business, less crazy approach. > > The problem with the second scenario is that the existing party has set up their electorate/primary system in such a way that the craziest among them control who makes the ballot and, if there’s a sea change and the Trump brand becomes a negative, then they could be looking at some real time in the wilderness. I have a feeling that in some sense, even though they’ve got control of the Presidency and Senate at the moment, they’ve got the tiger by the tail because they’ve gone all-in on the people who support Trump and people like him. But the problem is that changing demographics are against that- younger generations are more liberal and less white, and a lot of middle-aged people may have voted for him without realizing quite how hateful Trump and the current GOP is, and may seek to rectify that. So what I think will happen is that they’ll go all in on that until it doesn’t work, then flail around a bit trying to figure out what’s going on, and then return a lot more moderate. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2020, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-what-kind-of-person-will-succeed-trump-as-leader-of-gop/845874/24 "2020-01-03T20:18:47Z")
I think they are likely to swing back to some kind of religious figure. “This guy also hates immigration, not because of the color of their skin but because of “jobs” (wink-wink); and he’s built a successful megachurch that’s earned him millions of dollars! Plus, he actually stands for family values, like that Jesus invented guns to bless us all with piping hot lead!” ---
**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:** [January 3, 2020, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-what-kind-of-person-will-succeed-trump-as-leader-of-gop/845874/25 "2020-01-03T21:49:36Z")
> [@BeepKillBeep](#): > > I think it very unlikely they’re going to wrecked in this upcoming election. I predict the presidential election, regardless of winner, to be razor thin again. The margins will be small. They will probably be even smaller than the last election, which from a statistical point of view was almost a tie. Trump still has 40 something percent approval rating. It is madness. How can it not be zero??? Who is still supporting this guy? How? I don’t get it. But it doesn’t matter, the fact is he has enough support to make the election close, win or lose. The GOP will do fine in the Senate. They might lose some seats in Congress. > > I think the Republicans will replace Trump with another Trump. I think they’re very concerned that if the put up a normal Republican, they’ll be accused by their own base as selling out on the Trump ideals. Does that get sidestepped if Pence becomes an incumbent running for re-election? ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2020, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-what-kind-of-person-will-succeed-trump-as-leader-of-gop/845874/26 "2020-01-03T21:59:35Z")
I’ve seen it suggested that Tucker Carlson could be da guy. (Forget Hannity. Too clownish.) ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2020, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-what-kind-of-person-will-succeed-trump-as-leader-of-gop/845874/27 "2020-01-03T22:10:51Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Does that get sidestepped if Pence becomes an incumbent running for re-election? I hadn’t considered that. Trump is not a healthy man regardless of what his physical says. There’s some non-zero probability he’s suffering from a neurological disorder. If nothing else, then he’s not physically healthy. If (and I’m not wishing for this) Trump dies in office and Pence becomes president, then I cannot imagine the Republicans turning away from Pence. That actually might be a path to some normalization of the GOP. As strange as that might sound because Pence is a theocrat. How did we get to the point where Pence is could be considered a more central, normal figure? Oh man, bizarre. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2020, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-what-kind-of-person-will-succeed-trump-as-leader-of-gop/845874/28 "2020-01-03T22:32:42Z")
If Trump and the Republicans lose in 2020, then the party will hopefully decide it’s a repudiation of irrational politics and choose more reasonable candidates. They’ll probably still be conservatives but at least they’ll be presentable in public. If they pull off a win, then it’ll be seen as an affirmation of Trumpism. In that case, Trump will be in a position to designate his political heir. ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2020, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-what-kind-of-person-will-succeed-trump-as-leader-of-gop/845874/29 "2020-01-03T22:50:19Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > If Trump and the Republicans lose in 2020, then the party will hopefully decide it’s a repudiation of irrational politics and choose more reasonable candidates. They’ll probably still be conservatives but at least they’ll be presentable in public. > > If they pull off a win, then it’ll be seen as an affirmation of Trumpism. In that case, Trump will be in a position to designate his political heir. I don’t think a narrow loss will do it mainly as a narrow loss will indicate that the Republican base wants more Trump. A major defeat; however, would indicate that Trumpian politics is no longer a winning move. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2020, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-what-kind-of-person-will-succeed-trump-as-leader-of-gop/845874/30 "2020-01-03T23:43:39Z")
I still don’t think a smarter, more restrained Trump would succeed (in the same way) as the current President. A not insignificant portion of Trump’s current voters would have contempt for him not “telling it like it is,” or being part of the swamp, or just say “who?” So I’d lean towards the Nugent side, if those are the only options. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2020, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-what-kind-of-person-will-succeed-trump-as-leader-of-gop/845874/31 "2020-01-04T01:12:57Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > It’ll probably be a younger, more competent version of Trump. Someone like Tom Cotton, who can push most of the same buttons Trump did, but doesn’t Tweet like a teenager and has a much better grasp of domestic/international politics. Watching Matt Gaetz in the impeachment hearings I thought he fit the bill of a next generation trump. * * * But I think that regardless of how lockstep the republican party is now behind trumpish “values”, the transition to a new leader will be full of uncertainties. Trump presses a few buttons, and since no-one will be exactly the same as him (thank god), the new leader will just press some of the same buttons, and it could make a big difference to the direction of the party. Maybe (s)he is also an ignorant bigot in the same popular way that trump is, but less focused on media / twitter and more inclined to follow the law? Maybe (s)he’s the opposite of that? A lot of different ways it could go. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2020, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-what-kind-of-person-will-succeed-trump-as-leader-of-gop/845874/32 "2020-01-04T01:36:34Z")
Mike Pence is just a bone-stock Middle America white conservative Christian. They’re not my fellow travelers when it comes to ideology, but I’m also not afraid of them. A true “theocrat” would be someone like Ted Cruz, and I _am_ a little afraid of him and guys like him. But I don’t think they’re the future of the Republican party. The future of the Republican Party - in my opinion - is 4Chan and The\_Donald on the most extreme end, and Joe Rogan and Ben Shapiro on the less extreme end. It’s a generation that views liberalism and “wokeness” in the same way that Abbie Hoffman viewed the World War II generation: a stifling cultural orthodoxy to be mocked, scorned, and ultimately dismantled. A whole new generation of young Trumpists are emerging from this milieu, completely in isolation of the religious right and the Bible Belt. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2020, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-what-kind-of-person-will-succeed-trump-as-leader-of-gop/845874/33 "2020-01-04T01:50:01Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > No love for Ivanka? Don’t be making fun of the first female president of these United States. Search your feelings. You know it to be true. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2020, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-what-kind-of-person-will-succeed-trump-as-leader-of-gop/845874/34 "2020-01-04T02:42:36Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > I think they are likely to swing back to some kind of religious figure. “This guy also hates immigration, not because of the color of their skin but because of “jobs” (wink-wink); and he’s built a successful megachurch that’s earned him millions of dollars! Plus, he actually stands for family values, like that Jesus invented guns to bless us all with piping hot lead!” Oh god, you’re right; Which means we have to consider the possibility of that schmuck Joel Osteen. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2020, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-what-kind-of-person-will-succeed-trump-as-leader-of-gop/845874/35 "2020-01-04T02:51:25Z")
> [@BeepKillBeep](#): > > I don’t think a narrow loss will do it mainly as a narrow loss will indicate that the Republican base wants more Trump. A major defeat; however, would indicate that Trumpian politics is no longer a winning move. Republican politicians don’t give a damn about what the Republican base wants. The only important thing to them is getting elected. And if their current base can’t deliver, regardless of whether it’s a narrow loss or a major defeat, they’ll just move to another group of voters. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2020, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-what-kind-of-person-will-succeed-trump-as-leader-of-gop/845874/36 "2020-01-04T02:57:16Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Well people thought it could not get worse than Bush II. > It obviously could. > > So by that standard, an actual Klansman? Steve King maybe. ---
**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:** [January 4, 2020, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-what-kind-of-person-will-succeed-trump-as-leader-of-gop/845874/37 "2020-01-04T05:07:25Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > Oh god, you’re right; Which means we have to consider the possibility of that schmuck Joel Osteen. I highly doubt it. Joel Osteen is despised among many Christian circles. There are probably many more American Christian voters who oppose Osteen and what he stands for, than oppose Trump and what he stands for. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2020, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-what-kind-of-person-will-succeed-trump-as-leader-of-gop/845874/38 "2020-01-04T15:58:24Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > I highly doubt it. Joel Osteen is despised among many Christian circles. There are probably many more American Christian voters who oppose Osteen and what he stands for, than oppose Trump and what he stands for. Well, I don’t know any current televangelist preachers except him, but it would not surprise me in the least if the GOP picked from among their ranks when seeking a new leader - some good looking, well spoken, tv savvy “man of god” who made millions preaching the prosperity gospel would seem to be an excellent Republican candidate. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2020, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-what-kind-of-person-will-succeed-trump-as-leader-of-gop/845874/39 "2020-01-04T22:11:23Z")
A current spokesperson for geriatric products would be a good fit. Who’s pushing Depends and Viagra now? ---
**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:** [January 4, 2020, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-what-kind-of-person-will-succeed-trump-as-leader-of-gop/845874/40 "2020-01-04T22:58:06Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > Well, I don’t know any current televangelist preachers except him, but it would not surprise me in the least if the GOP picked from among their ranks when seeking a new leader - some good looking, well spoken, tv savvy “man of god” who made millions preaching the prosperity gospel would seem to be an excellent Republican candidate. Then the GOP would be absolutely shooting itself in the foot. Many Christians find Trump’s brand of “Christianity” more acceptable than Osteen’s. That should tell you a thing or two about Osteen. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-what-kind-of-person-will-succeed-trump-as-leader-of-gop/845874.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-what-kind-of-person-will-succeed-trump-as-leader-of-gop/845874.md?page=3)