# Who will be Trump's VP? \[plus\] Trump's Vice-President choice? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [January 20, 2016, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-trumps-vp-plus-trumps-vice-president-choice/751179 "2016-01-20T17:51:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/do_not_taunt/32/2968_2.png) [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Do_Not_Taunt)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-trumps-vp-plus-trumps-vice-president-choice/751179/141 "2016-04-13T17:45:58Z")
> [@Nema98](#): > > I always maintained in previous threads about potential VP candidates that Donald Trump would choose as running mate someone who is a career politician. He needs that experience and his answers have all alluded to it. > > Forget stupid answers that mentioned Ben Carson, or some fellow billionaire like Mark Cuban. Not all tickets have to have a balance, but a Trump led ticket truly needs a politician to balance that out. > > New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is also fitting that bill. While I actually think Christie is a pretty reasonable probability, you’re making the same error here that it seemed like Chronos was making above. Specifically, you’re making an implied argument that Trump will carefully consider the pros and cons of choosing his running mate, and make a rational choice that will maximize his chance of winning. I simply reject that premise. There is nothing about his candidacy so far to suggest that he operates that way. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-trumps-vp-plus-trumps-vice-president-choice/751179/142 "2016-04-13T17:49:53Z")
I’ve posted this before in another thread. [Rep. Ken Buck](https://buck.house.gov/). ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-trumps-vp-plus-trumps-vice-president-choice/751179/143 "2016-04-13T22:49:52Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > John McCain didn’t pick Joe Lieberman as his VP in part because his advisors warned him the convention would balk. He was determined to be maverick-y no matter what. Historical cases were more extreme. Lincoln had never even \*met \*Hannibal Hamlin until the 1860 convention. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-trumps-vp-plus-trumps-vice-president-choice/751179/144 "2016-04-14T01:35:48Z")
> [@Nema98](#): > > I think the nominee personally chooses his/her running mate aND it is not decided by delegates. > > Fairly positive about that. But [you’d be wrong](http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2016/03/24/open_convention_could_upend_vp_selection_process_130085.html), even if in recent times the decision by the delegates has been pro forma. (And likely still would be.) As they stand the rules require the vice presidential nominee to be affirmed by the delegates. Usually that has been affirming the standard bearers pre-selected choice, but that is not required. And who knows how the rules could be rewritten from that on the fly! > [@](#): > > … campaigns in the modern era vet potential candidates extensively, interview them, and weigh all political pros and cons. > > A nominee-in-waiting then announces his decision with a tightly scripted rollout, timed to build toward a triumphant joint appearance at the party convention. Mitt Romney, for example, announced Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan as his running mate in Norfolk, Va. – using the USS Wisconsin as a dramatic backdrop – roughly three weeks before the national convention in Tampa, Fla. > > In that gathering, and at all others in recent memory, the vice presidential pick has been affirmed by acclamation. But the current rules would subject a vice presidential choice to the same nominating process as the presidential nominee: If there is more than one candidate for the office, a roll call vote of delegates is taken. However, the rules are often rewritten prior to each convention, so it cannot be known at this stage whether this procedure would be used in an open convention. > > Meanwhile, there is no playbook to guide the proceedings. ---
**Author:** ![Yersenia\_Pestis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e495f1/32.png) [@Yersenia\_Pestis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yersenia_Pestis)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2016, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-trumps-vp-plus-trumps-vice-president-choice/751179/145 "2016-04-30T00:57:28Z")
The obvious answer: Sarah Palin ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2016, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-trumps-vp-plus-trumps-vice-president-choice/751179/146 "2016-04-30T01:19:14Z")
> [@Nema98](#): > > I think the nominee personally chooses his/her running mate aND it is not decided by delegates. > > Fairly positive about that. One party - I think it is the Republicans - has a relatively new rule where, if there is only one name placed into nomination for VP (almost invariably, the Presidential nominee’s choice), there is a voice vote to accept it “by acclimation.” The other does something very similar, but they go through the motions of starting a roll call; Alabama, the first state, yields to another state (usually the state most associated with the VP candidate, I think), which asks the chair for a voice vote similar to the one the Republicans do. Note that neither party does this for the Presidential candidate, even when it’s the incumbent (e.g. Democrats in 2012), as they want to have one full roll call to give each state an opportunity to tout its own candidates for Congress and Governor. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2016, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-trumps-vp-plus-trumps-vice-president-choice/751179/147 "2016-04-30T03:39:58Z")
Ronald McDonald, only Trump will ‘rebrand’ him to Donald McRonald. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2016, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-trumps-vp-plus-trumps-vice-president-choice/751179/148 "2016-04-30T03:54:29Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > …Historical cases were more extreme. Lincoln had never even \*met \*Hannibal Hamlin until the 1860 convention. I was just reading about that, as it happens. They served in Congress together and, at the time they were nominated on the Republican ticket, neither was sure whether they had met before. Once they got together in Chicago after the election, however, both agreed that they _had_ met before, and recalled hearing speeches by the other. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2016, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-trumps-vp-plus-trumps-vice-president-choice/751179/149 "2016-04-30T05:16:54Z")
Rubio would be one of Trump’s best choices, young and choosing a hispanic would help qwell the “racist” claims. But I can’t see any way Rubio would accept, he too smart to jump onto what is almost certainly going to be a losing ticket in the general. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2016, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-trumps-vp-plus-trumps-vice-president-choice/751179/150 "2016-04-30T07:32:13Z")
I think the GOP will decide to give some support to a Trump candidacy. Even if they think he has no chance to win, they’ll want to put up a decent show to maintain good chances for Congressional and state-house races. So I expect to see a heavy-weight mainstream Republican get the V.P. nod — Kasich perhaps, or Christie, either of whom will have 2 years of a governor’s job left if they lose. I don’t think Trump was rude to Kasich during the debates. (I was surprised upthread by someone who called Kasich a “moderate” answer to Trump’s extremism. Trump is well to the “left” on most important issues by modern GOP standards, while Kasich, if he’d won the nomination, would be the most extreme candidate since Barry Goldwater.) Trump and his managers have said, almost in so many words, that Trump’s flatulence has been an act and he plans to shift toward sanity for the general election. I think he’ll want to highlight that by pairing with an experienced conservative politician. At this point I’m starting to worry about a Trump victory in November. He’ll presumably lose Hispanic states like Florida, but it won’t matter if he can win Pennsylvania. _ **Can he?** _ ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2016, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-trumps-vp-plus-trumps-vice-president-choice/751179/151 "2016-04-30T13:37:23Z")
> [@Nema98](#): > > I always maintained in previous threads about potential VP candidates that Donald Trump would choose as running mate someone who is a career politician. He needs that experience and his answers have all alluded to it. > > Forget stupid answers that mentioned Ben Carson, or some fellow billionaire like Mark Cuban. Not all tickets have to have a balance, but a Trump led ticket truly needs a politician to balance that out. > > New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is also fitting that bill. Chris Christie wouldn’t fit in anything that wasn’t made out of a couple of schooner mainsails. But his attempts at sucking up to Trump are beyond pathetic, sort of like the world’s largest, saddest lap dog. How far he’s fallen since the days when he appeared to be constructively bipartisan and a promising candidate in his own right. I don’t know what’s going to happen with Trump but I’m reminded of Dubya looking for a VP after his nomination in 2000. He appointed this guy named Dick Cheney to head up the search committee and report back with a list of candidates, and after scouring the nation high and low Cheney came back to Dubya and announced that he’d found the best possible candidate in the entire nation to be his VP, and Dubya should sit down and prepare to be surprised. So I’m betting that in a similar vein Trump will consider that the job of VP in his administration will require a person of such prodigious talent and unquestionable genius that the only person fit for the job is Trump himself, so he will announce that in an unprecedented move Trump is nominating himself for veep and will be doing both jobs. “I’m the only one who can do it,” he will say. “The other candidates are terrible.” ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2016, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-trumps-vp-plus-trumps-vice-president-choice/751179/152 "2016-04-30T13:57:17Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **septimus** : > > (I was surprised upthread by someone who called Kasich a “moderate” answer to Trump’s extremism. Trump is well to the “left” on most important issues by modern GOP standards, while Kasich, if he’d won the nomination, would be the most extreme candidate since Barry Goldwater.) It’s a confusion between ideology and partisanship. Kasich is pretty far right if you look at his positions and goals. But if you look at his methods for achieving those goals, he’s willing to work with anyone, including Democrats, if they’ll work with him. He’s ideologically extreme, but relatively nonpartisan. Trump, by contrast, isn’t nearly as ideologically extreme on most issues, but he’s not willing to work with _anyone_, not even his supposed party-mates. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2016, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-trumps-vp-plus-trumps-vice-president-choice/751179/153 "2016-04-30T14:26:30Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Trump, by contrast, isn’t nearly as ideologically extreme on most issues, but he’s not willing to work with _anyone_, not even his supposed party-mates. Trump has no useful record on which to base that claim. While I doubt he’ll be ideologically extreme, he may end up being the most nonpartisan President in history. I’ll guess we’ll see after he and Kasich roll to victory this November! ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2016, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-trumps-vp-plus-trumps-vice-president-choice/751179/154 "2016-04-30T14:43:10Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Trump has no useful record on which to base that claim. While I doubt he’ll be ideologically extreme, he may end up being the most nonpartisan President in history. I’ll guess we’ll see after he and Kasich roll to victory this November! His path to victory is pretty easy. All he has to do is convince all the Hispanics, blacks and women not to vote. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2016, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-trumps-vp-plus-trumps-vice-president-choice/751179/155 "2016-04-30T14:53:31Z")
True, we don’t know who he’ll work with politically. But we do know who he works with in every other aspect of his life. There’s a reason why his tagline is “You’re fired!”. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2016, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-trumps-vp-plus-trumps-vice-president-choice/751179/156 "2016-04-30T18:35:05Z")
[A NYT article today](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/01/us/politics/donald-trump-vice-president.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news) about the process … > [@](#): > > It’s a time-honored tradition for politicians to deny any interest in the vice presidency. But this year, with the possibility of Donald J. Trump as the Republican nominee, they really mean it. … > > … David Winston, a veteran Republican pollster, said Mr. Trump’s first challenge in finding a running mate was lowering his unfavorability ratings of 60 percent or more, because prominent politicians would not want to join his ticket if he cannot turn those figures around. Mr. Winston dismissed the notion — put forward by some Trump advisers — that the candidate could improve his ratings by picking a woman, a Hispanic, or other figure with demographic appeal. > > “He simply won’t be able to convince any top-tier candidate to run with him if he can’t get those unfavorable numbers down,” Mr. Winston said. > > Mr. Trump’s best hope may be Republican enmity for Mrs. Clinton, some Republicans strategists said. … ---
**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:** [April 30, 2016, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-trumps-vp-plus-trumps-vice-president-choice/751179/157 "2016-04-30T22:13:41Z")
> [@Locrian](#): > > Okay… (dons devil’s advocate hat) Joe Arpaio! > > He’ll secure the NRA vote, some libertarian votes and he knows how to play the media too. Perfect match. Not so obvious if Arpaio can do any of those things all on his own. According to the tales in [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=739003), he’s a senile old fart who can’t blow his nose or behave civilly without assistance from his handlers. See, in particular, the two stories in [this post](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=17862022&postcount=72). > [@LSLGuy](#): > > I actually think Arpaio would be the head of Trump’s new secret police. So not veep. But regardless of his title I think it’s a near certainty Arpaio would have a significant power in a Trump administration, kinda like Rove and Cheney did in GWB’s. But to much more baleful effect on the country. Again, the above links suggest Arpaio doesn’t have the mental capacity for a job like this, other than as a figurehead, to be managed and presented by other “real powers” behind the scenes. As for Cheney? > [@LSLGuy](#): > > OTOH, we’ve already pretty well trashed the Middle East. I wonder which other region we’ll trash if Trump/Cheney comes to pass? :eek: America First! They’ll do America First! > [@wolfpup](#): > > I don’t know what’s going to happen with Trump but I’m reminded of Dubya looking for a VP after his nomination in 2000. He appointed this guy named Dick Cheney to head up the search committee and report back with a list of candidates, and after scouring the nation high and low Cheney came back to Dubya and announced that he’d found the best possible candidate in the entire nation to be his VP, and Dubya should sit down and prepare to be surprised. From the day Cheney “discovered” himself as W’s best VP pick, up unto this very day, I’ve always thought they had a deal right from the start. Cheney: You pick me to head up your VP search committee. I pretend to do a meaningful search, and end up choosing myself as the best pick. We’ll be an unbeatable ticket! You make me your VP, and I’ll make you President! W: Deal! ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2016, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-trumps-vp-plus-trumps-vice-president-choice/751179/158 "2016-05-06T14:25:30Z")
Carson is helping with Trump’s VP search but says he isn’t interested in the #2 post himself: [Ben Carson says he's 'not interested' in being Trump's running mate](http://www.aol.com/article/2016/05/06/ben-carson-not-interested-trumps-running-mate/21371422/) ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2016, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-trumps-vp-plus-trumps-vice-president-choice/751179/159 "2016-05-06T15:32:58Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Bad Hair attracts bad hair. It’s a natural! Well, Rick Perry DID endorse Trump yesterday, so your concept does hold true. I have a feeling Perry’s angling for either a VP or a cabinet position with that endorsement, as the rest of the Texas republican party are still butthurt that Cruz bowed out. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2016, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-trumps-vp-plus-trumps-vice-president-choice/751179/160 "2016-05-06T15:38:43Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Chris Christie wouldn’t fit in anything that wasn’t made out of a couple of schooner mainsails. But his attempts at sucking up to Trump are beyond pathetic, sort of like the world’s largest, saddest lap dog. How far he’s fallen since the days when he appeared to be constructively bipartisan and a promising candidate in his own right. > > I don’t know what’s going to happen with Trump but I’m reminded of Dubya looking for a VP after his nomination in 2000. He appointed this guy named Dick Cheney to head up the search committee and report back with a list of candidates, and after scouring the nation high and low Cheney came back to Dubya and announced that he’d found the best possible candidate in the entire nation to be his VP, and Dubya should sit down and prepare to be surprised. > > So I’m betting that in a similar vein Trump will consider that the job of VP in his administration will require a person of such prodigious talent and unquestionable genius that the only person fit for the job is Trump himself, so he will announce that in an unprecedented move Trump is nominating himself for veep and will be doing both jobs. “I’m the only one who can do it,” he will say. “The other candidates are terrible.” I doubt Trump will pick Ben Carson, but stranger things have happened. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-trumps-vp-plus-trumps-vice-president-choice/751179.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-trumps-vp-plus-trumps-vice-president-choice/751179.md?page=9)