He IS dumb, but yeah, George has way more charm than he.
I have never decided on whom to vote for in a presidential election based on who the candidate selected as their running mate. For my edifcation, how much does it really matter who Trump selects as his running mate?
To @Odesio’s point, I think it’s two matters of concern. First, does the person they select offer any additional chances of them getting elected (ie we want him to pick someone horrible/useless so they don’t improve his chances). Second, how terrible for America (and possibly the world) is the person he selects in the not-insubstantial possibility that Trump dies in office or is removed from office due to health, incarceration, or other means.
So yeah, in a normal election cycle, the pick of the Vice-Pres is far down the list of Give-a-damn. In these dark days though, well…
Also, the VP is often a voice in the ear of the President if their relationship is good, and if the VP is a terrible person like Dick Cheney…
Though none of this all applies to Trump, since he really only listens to Trump.
MTG is up there. As is Tucker.
But, really, we are so screwed at that point, that it probably doesn’t matter.
Conventional wisdom is that a good choice cannot help the ticket, but a bad one (Sarah Palin, Thomas Eagleton) can hurt.
Anyone who Trump picks will have something for Democratic opposition research to work with. So it may be a matter of finding the veep who will hurt Trump the least.
One idea is that Trump needs a woman to reduce his gender gap. Maybe.
In Trump’s case, a bad pick is someone to his right. So a heartbeat-abortion-law governor would be a bad pick – unless maybe they swallow some pride and say what is good for North Dakota and Arkansas is wrong for the nation.
Stefanik would be a good pick because AFAIK she hasn’t lately taken positions to Trump’s right (although she yesterday took a position on overthrowing the constitutional order that is to Mike Pence’s right).
Sanders, if she mellows on abortion, would be another good one. She may have the best skill set for keeping out of Trump’s way.
I cannot see Trump picking a woman as running mate under any circumstances. In his mind women are good for one thing and one thing only: Arm candy to prove how virile one is. That’s why he’s on his third one; they kept hitting their expiration date.
It’s surely not being vice-president.
I think there’s a very good chance it’ll be Tim Scott. He’s basically a black Mike Pence - he has no charisma, no personality, is completely inoffensive and noncontroversial, and he kills two birds with one stone by providing all of this (for the same voters who liked Pence in 2016) and also being a minority
Trump is a misogynist to his core, but greed and ‘winning’ rule his world. If the polling indicates that the only way he can beat Biden is with a woman VP, he’ll do it. He won’t respect her or accept her in any decision-making role. And he’ll belittle and humiliate her if she dares speak her mind in any way that isn’t subservient to Trump, but he will happily use her. Don’t forget that this is the man who hired women for senior positions in the Trump Org because he reckoned they had to work twice as hard as male hires.
Exactly.
An ideolog would refuse to run with a woman as VP. Trump is the opposite, he’s a populist. He’ll do whatever he thinks will get him elected again.
Sounds like the definition of a VP.
Yeah but nobody would ever
Never mind.
Can you see him picking a woman for the Supreme Court?
Earlier in the thread I said it would be Elise Stefanik because of her rabid devotion to Trump and it could still be a possibility. However, I will say I now think the inside track has to go to Tim Scott. His endorsement of DJT before the NH primary was so pathetically obsequious and he has the insipidly spineless nature of Pence to make him pretty much the perfect Veep for DJT. And given the apparent slip by Kellyanne Conway I am even more confident he will be the choice. A Southern black man will have a definite appeal to Trump strategists too.
I was going to say Lara Trump, but I just saw a news story that seems to indicate that he’s going to give her Ronna McDaniel’s old job.
I still think loyalty is Trump’s only qualification and I don’t think he’s going to listen to other Republicans, he probably thinks that was his biggest mistake in his first term.
All he wants is someone that will back him by doing whatever he tells them to do, no matter how illegal. I really don’t think Mike Pence was this huge advocate of democracy, I think he didn’t want to be arrested for trying to overthrow the government.
I think that means a family member, or someone that’s demonstrated life long loyalty to him, like a Dan Scavino.
She was recommended by the Federalist Society and she was blonde – good enough for him.
Trump hires women:
You are correct that “If the polling indicates that the only way he can beat Biden is with a woman VP, he’ll do it.” And if the polling says it doesn’t matter if he picks a woman, he still may. There is a lot that’s bad about DJT, but reluctance to hire women is not one of them.
Trump did elevate Alina Habba to a fairly prominent position as his political and legal mouthpiece. I’m not saying he’s a friend of the National Organization for Women or something, but he doesn’t mind putting women in some positions of importance.
Hire? Yes. Hurt? Yes. It’s whatever will benefit Don. He’ll dump his VP in an instant if she isn’t useful. It’s not a mark of tolerance, it’s what will work.
That’s not how elected positions work.