The key that most FReepers forget: 90% of voters will split the vote regardless of who’s on the ticket. Seriously, you could run Mother Theresa vs. Cuthulu and they’d get a 45/45 split. Of the remaining 10% (could be a mere 5%, adjust math accordingly) to win one only need persuade 5.01% - and these are people who view both viable candidates as equal (otherwise they would be in the 90%+ category). Persuasion need not be total, it just need be a marginal preference. Classic techniques for garnering that marginal preference are (A) war, and (B) money: give ‘em a reason to not change mid-stream in something serious, and/or pay ‘em enough that they’ll be beholden to the candidate. The military is already chomping at the bit for a fight so however much our current POTUS dislikes such things he can just say “do it” out of political expediency and walk away, returning to his specialty of smokey backroom deals for buying votes via handing out large piles of money he has authority to give yet he’s not responsible for.
!!!!!
Exactamundo.
Reminds me of a line from the Clash:
If Adolf Hitler flew in today, they'd send a limousine anyway.