# Who will be Trump's running mate? (J. D. Vance Has Been Chosen) **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [January 22, 2024, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-trumps-running-mate-j-d-vance-has-been-chosen/996511 "2024-01-22T20:48:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 72
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-trumps-running-mate-j-d-vance-has-been-chosen/996511/1422 "2024-08-18T21:11:51Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > I’m thinking: Ivanka I think even _he’d_ know enough to pick someone the public likes this time around. > [@Sherrerd](#): > > Or possibly, if Ivanka refuses: who but Marjorie Taylor Greene? Again, I don’t think she has that much support with the general public, and no one would consider putting her one heartbeat away from the presidency. He needs to pick somebody popular, but not more likable than himself. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-trumps-running-mate-j-d-vance-has-been-chosen/996511/1423 "2024-08-18T21:16:43Z")
Truml doesn’t care about your polls or your memes. Those are all “fake” in his mind. The only reason he would try to dump Vance is if he thought Vance was “disloyal” to him. Right now, in Trump’s mind, Vance is doing flawlessly - he’s praising Trump every chance he gets and being his attack dog. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-trumps-running-mate-j-d-vance-has-been-chosen/996511/1424 "2024-08-18T21:28:24Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Right now, in Trump’s mind, Vance is doing flawlessly - he’s praising Trump every chance he gets and being his attack dog. I think at some point soon he may use Vance as the scapegoat for why he’s not doing better, filling up venues, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-trumps-running-mate-j-d-vance-has-been-chosen/996511/1425 "2024-08-18T21:30:08Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > think at some point soon he may use Vance as the scapegoat for why he’s not doing better, filling up venues What do you mean he’s not filling venues? That’s fake. You’re thinking like a sane person. You can’t do that if you want to understand Trump. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-trumps-running-mate-j-d-vance-has-been-chosen/996511/1426 "2024-08-18T21:32:58Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > He needs to pick somebody popular, but not more likable than himself. Sure, but Greene IS popular with Trump’s base–and he’s already shown that he likes catering to the base and dislikes having to think about any other group of voters. I’d add to your list of “popular” and “not more likable than himself”—_ **Able to grab headlines AND turn all attention back to Trump** _. If discarding Vance and choosing Greene or Gym Jordan or Marco Rubio would accomplish all that, Donald would go there. The amount of attention being paid to Donald as of today is INSUFFICIENT. > [@Smapti](#): > > Truml doesn’t care about your polls or your memes. Those are all “fake” in his mind. I don’t doubt that Donald manages to argue away the validity of polls he doesn’t like----but he DOES pay attention to polls. They matter a lot to him and he cares plenty about looking good in them. One data point: > ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-trumps-running-mate-j-d-vance-has-been-chosen/996511/1427 "2024-08-18T21:34:48Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > What do you mean he’s not filling venues? That’s fake. He clearly knows and understands he’s not filling up venues, that’s why he obsesses over Kamala out-filling him. At some point he’ll have to blame someone. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-trumps-running-mate-j-d-vance-has-been-chosen/996511/1428 "2024-08-18T21:36:43Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > Sure, but Greene IS popular with Trump’s base Yeah, but literally everybody who would vote for MTG is already voting for trump. She adds nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-trumps-running-mate-j-d-vance-has-been-chosen/996511/1429 "2024-08-18T21:40:55Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Yeah, but literally everybody who would vote for MTG is already voting for trump. She adds nothing. The same was true of the Vance pick, wasn’t it? The more sinister shadow on this discussion is the GOP plan to install Donald as President via messing with the local election returns, leaving neither candidate with 270 Electoral College votes and thereby throwing the election to the House (which will vote by state delegation, meaning a GOP win). In other words, it doesn’t matter WHO Trump’s VP pick might be. > **[Trump’s Contingent-cy Plan - Sabato's Crystal Ball](https://centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/trumps-contingent-cy-plan/)** > > GOP remains highly favored if no presidential candidate gets 270 electoral votes and the House decides the presidency ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-trumps-running-mate-j-d-vance-has-been-chosen/996511/1430 "2024-08-18T21:50:00Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > He clearly knows and understands he’s not filling up venues Does he? > **['We had to turn away 11,500 people!' Trump melts down over 'empty seats'...](https://www.rawstory.com/trump-melts-down-empty-seats-kamala/)** > > Donald Trump was focusing on crowd sizes again on Sunday. > > Specifically, Trump is pushing back on report that showed video of people getting up and leaving as the former president was still on stage speaking. People were starting to "trickle out" of... ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-trumps-running-mate-j-d-vance-has-been-chosen/996511/1431 "2024-08-18T21:53:54Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > The more sinister shadow on this discussion is the GOP plan to install Donald as President via messing with the local election returns, leaving neither candidate with 270 Electoral College votes and thereby throwing the election to the House (which will vote by state delegation, meaning a GOP win). Again, **that is not the law**. There is no magic “270” number. That’s misinformation. The law is that one candidate has to get a majority of the votes, and any votes that aren’t certified lower the number needed for the majority. To force a vote to the House, you either need a tie or for a third candidate to get enough votes nobody has the lead. This has been brought up and debunked numerous times on this board. And it has nothing to do with the VP candidate. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-trumps-running-mate-j-d-vance-has-been-chosen/996511/1432 "2024-08-18T22:06:49Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > This has been brought up and debunked numerous times on this board. _What_ has been brought up and debunked? Obviously my summary used “270” NOT as a “magic number” but as shorthand for ‘a majority of the Electoral College votes.’ If a supposed claim that 270 is a “magic number” is what you think you’ve “debunked,” you are wrong. Try again. And in the meantime: > [@](#): > > …A contingent election—one in which no presidential candidate wins an Electoral College majority, thus requiring the newly-elected House of Representatives to pick the presidential winner in January 2025—is both very unlikely to happen but also possible to imagine. > …One does not need to come up with crazy Electoral College contortions, like a red Vermont or a blue Idaho, to propose plausible tied Electoral College scenarios: In fact, one could just restrict one’s self to playing around with different iterations of the seven key presidential battlegrounds (Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin) … ^From the Sabato article linked in my post–well worth a read. Additionally: > [@](#): > > …[Georgia] state officials announced a new rule to require county officials across Georgia to conduct a “reasonable inquiry” before they can certify results. > > That is a permission slip for subversion. > > …In 2020, the election deniers were improvisational and slapdash. Now they are systematic, organized, and well funded. Trump already falsely claims that millions of noncitizens are preparing to vote. House Speaker Mike Johnson asserts that “we all know, intuitively, that a lot of illegals are voting in federal elections. But,” he admits, “it’s not been something that is easily provable.” … For election officials to pull these shenanigans would indeed be illegal in many states as of today–but as we’ve seen with the example of Georgia, creative Republicans are finding ways around that illegality. And we see not only Trump but Mike Johnson encouraging this by spreading the lies about supposedly rampant non-citizen voting. > **[Election Deniers on the March in Georgia](https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/election-deniers-march-georgia)** > > A new state rule previews the plan to reverse the 2024 presidential results. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-trumps-running-mate-j-d-vance-has-been-chosen/996511/1433 "2024-08-18T22:10:55Z")
The Twelfth Amendment states that, “The person having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed. . .” There are still unsettled question how it’s determined what constitutes “the whole number of Electors appointed.” If Congress at the January 6 electoral count rejects a state’s electors, do they still count as having been “appointed?” ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-trumps-running-mate-j-d-vance-has-been-chosen/996511/1434 "2024-08-18T22:11:58Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Yeah, but literally everybody who would vote for MTG is already voting for trump. She adds nothing. > [@Sherrerd](#): > > The same was true of the Vance pick, wasn’t it? But that wasn’t known at the time. He wasn’t seen as a total creep with a couch obsession, just a toadie. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-trumps-running-mate-j-d-vance-has-been-chosen/996511/1435 "2024-08-18T22:14:04Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > He clearly knows and understands he’s not filling up venues > [@Smapti](#): > > Does he? He knows that’s not true. That’s him lying to his public to save face. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-trumps-running-mate-j-d-vance-has-been-chosen/996511/1436 "2024-08-18T22:16:29Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > But that wasn’t known at the time. He wasn’t seen as a total creep with a couch obsession, just a toadie. I don’t know that it’s worth arguing over. To prove one side or another we’d need cites from right-wing venues in which, when the pick was announced, people said things like ‘good on Trump for not going Latino or Female, he doesn’t need Those People’s votes anyway.’ Or possibly cites to mainstream pundits who noted that Trump could have attempted to broaden his coalition with a candidate that would appeal to moderates or such, but instead went with the ultra-MAGA choice (Vance). Meh. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-trumps-running-mate-j-d-vance-has-been-chosen/996511/1437 "2024-08-18T22:17:59Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > I don’t know that it’s worth arguing over. You’re right, we’ve wasted too many brain cells on them already. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-trumps-running-mate-j-d-vance-has-been-chosen/996511/1438 "2024-08-18T22:21:13Z")
> [@flurb](#): > > There are still unsettled question how it’s determined what constitutes “the whole number of Electors appointed.” If Congress at the January 6 electoral count rejects a state’s electors, do they still count as having been “appointed?” No. They don’t. > **[3 U.S. Code § 15 - Counting electoral votes in Congress](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/3/15)** > Determination of majority.— > > If the number of electors lawfully appointed by any State pursuant to a certificate of ascertainment of appointment of electors that is issued under section 5 is fewer than the number of electors to which the State is entitled under section 3, or if an objection the grounds for which are described in subsection (d)(2)(B)(ii)(I) has been sustained, the total number of electors appointed for the purpose of determining a majority of the whole number of electors appointed as required by the [Twelfth Amendment](https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution) to the Constitution shall be reduced by the number of electors whom the[State](https://www.law.cornell.edu/definitions/uscode.php?width=840&height=800&iframe=true&def_id=3-USC-80204913-1227756146&term_occur=999&term_src=title:3:chapter:1:section:15)has failed to appoint or as to whom the objection was sustained. I’ve posted this multiple times on the board. If any votes aren’t certified they just reduce the majority. I’m still not sure what this has to do with JD Vance or any theoretical replacement. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-trumps-running-mate-j-d-vance-has-been-chosen/996511/1439 "2024-08-18T22:21:18Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > You’re right, we’ve wasted too many brain cells on them already. Yeah. (Late in the day though it is here, I think I Need Coffee…wonder where that idea came from… ) ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-trumps-running-mate-j-d-vance-has-been-chosen/996511/1440 "2024-08-18T22:27:44Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > If any votes aren’t certified they just reduce the majority. And somehow this makes a tie impossible? 🙄 I brought this up in connection with this thread’s topic–who Trump’s VP pick is. My point was that with the GOP’s plans for throwing the election to the House, it doesn’t matter a whit whether Trump retains Vance or throws him overboard in favor of the Pharma Bro. I would suggest we take this discussion to the thread I believe is most relevant: > [@How can Donald Trump win at this point?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/4): > > Yeah, the most likely way for Trump to win is a sudden onslaught of overconfidence and complacency among Democratic voters. Enjoy the moment, but keep the tension on. [[Lawrence Gowan - Keep The Tension On (With Lyrics)] ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qh6na7HWZOg) (If there’s a better thread, let me know.) ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-trumps-running-mate-j-d-vance-has-been-chosen/996511/1441 "2024-08-18T22:29:49Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > I’ve posted this multiple times on the board. If any votes aren’t certified they just reduce the majority. I stand corrected – I see that this was one of the updates to the Electoral Count Act that were passed by Congress in 2022. You’re doing yeoman’s work in posting this multiple times on the board. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-trumps-running-mate-j-d-vance-has-been-chosen/996511.md?page=71) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-trumps-running-mate-j-d-vance-has-been-chosen/996511.md?page=73)