An argument for Tom Cotton.
Personally I think all the speculation and thin-spread attention is just evidence that Trump doesn’t have anything resembling a coherent decision process. Not that this will be news to anyone who’s been paying attention.
Did Burgum actually send the $1 donors the $20 gift cards?
Because stiffing the donors would be a really Trumpian thing to do.
Senators in swing states are more important in the senate. For instance J.D. Vance in Ohio. The other senator is a democrat. Ohio has a history of voting in either party for senate. Both parties are fighting for the majority and can’t afford to lose a seat. (Ohio has a republican governor who would appoint a replacement but then there would be a special election)
Of course Trump could tell the strategists to go fuck themselves but it would be a bad move.
As if that ever stopped him.
Aside of Sherod Brown, Ohio hasn’t voted for a Democratic Senator since John Glenn’s last campaign in 1992. JD Vance ran a terrible campaign against as a seasoned, well-funded opponent and still won by six points. There’s almost no chance of a Democrat not named Sherod Brown winning an Ohio Senate race in the next few years. I don’t know if it will or won’t be JD, but the status of his seat is a minor concern.
You’ll get no argument from me.
And as I’m sure someone upthread must have said, Trump will undoubtedly string all the Potentials along for as many months as he possibly can. That way he can count on them all to fundraise for him, advocate for him to the media, and appear behind him in court in hilarious Mini-Me red tie-and-blue-suit outfits.
I’m not sure about Sherod Brown, but Sherrod Brown is the only Democrat elected state wide in Ohio in quite a while. /nitpick
Okay.
Worst twin names ever!
Seriously. Even his motherr can’t tell them apart.
I’ve been saying that Trump cannot pick someone who he can truly trust, because no such person exists. But former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has by now burnt so many bridges that I suspect he would not ever dare cross DJT. And he’s the ultimate own the libs pick. You heard it here first:
Trump scores Kilpatrick endorsement as he courts Black voters in Detroit
Rubio has got the proper “suck-updedness” and lack of pride and integrity that suits Trump. If I were betting, that’s my pick.
However, I also am skeptical that Trump isn’t going to pick someone White.
A few months back, the conventional wisdom seemed to be that Trump would pick a woman, with a white male unlikely.
Then Noem admitted to killing a dog, and the conventional wisdom switched to a white male being likely.
The first tier names now are different from those when Noem headed the list, with the exception of Tim Scott always being near-top.
This is smoke and mirrors. Other than Noem being a worse pick because of the dog thing, I don’t think anything really happened that would make any seriously possible pick more or less likely. What’s probably happening is that Trumpworld mentions different names to gin up speculation such as seen here.
Trump wants the pick to be a surprise. So, unless DJT really is in serious mental decline, which I question, it probably will be someone Trumpworld avoids, or has stopped, mentioning.
Trump likes controversy Byron Donald’s would be quite controversial!
Rubio really wants to be President, and Donny would dislike that kind of ambition. Scott can just stare at him with Pence-like love and admiration.
Trump knows that his core would never accept a woman and/or an African-American. They are allowed to fawn over him and be examples of those group’s supposed support of him, but that is definitely as far as it will go.
I disagree -somewhat-, so I’ll just quote myself from last month on this subject:
[ I apologize for not catching the chocking typo earlier, since I have the chance ]
Note that I said “would respond better” not absolutely well on a white woman who meets the above values, which is different from enthusiasm. But I could see it work the base, to have a female VP who is utterly subservient that they could point to and tell their female relations to emulate: Never question, never intrude, never have their own opinion, just do as they’re told. (internally shuddering).
But yeah, still stand by the “no black man” for the reasons quoted above.
Although, for the record, chaos is something Trump seems to enjoy creating and taking advantage of. Because when things are chaotic and uncertain, someone with tendency to speak with absolute certainty when others are trying to honestly evaluate the circumstances are highly attractive to less rational members of the population. Creating chaos in his own organization is mighty stupid from an external POV, but it works to keep -him- as the focus of all attention and from being reduced to a figurehead, so who knows what he’ll finally pick!
At this point I would not be surprised by two possibilities:
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Trump picks someone without checking with them first, and then they politely decline.
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Trump picks Eric, after which the MAGA faithful go wild with enthusiasm, and the rest of the country throws up in their mouth.
Trump won’t pick Eric. He’s dumb even by Trump family standards, And 45 knows it. Her might pick Don Jr, but never Eric.
By Republican logic, Eric shouldn’t be eligible since one of his parents wasn’t born in the US. I still think Rubio is a long (or is it short) shot. I can’t see Donnie running with a pipsqueak. I think Burgum is more likely than the others.