Posted on 07/14/2016 7:45:34 PM PDT by iowamark
The Drudge siren is blaring that Mike Pence is Trump's VP pick. I'm not sure I believe it, though, for a couple reasons.
First, if you're a master showman looking to make as big a splash as possible, at least one head fake is required. In illusionist terms, the head fake is the turn, then bringing out the real VP is the prestige. Just picking a guy, leaking the word 24 hours early, and then rolling him out is the least-showy process imaginable.
Second, Pence is probably the second-worst available pick on the board. Here's how the veep possibilities should have been ranked:
(1) Newt Gingrich: Trump needs both an attack dog and a capable defender. Every time his running mate steps outside, he's going to have to mount a defense of whatever new idiocy Trump has just said. And while there are few people as capable in attacking Clinton, there's probably no one in America who'd be able to defend and contextualize Trump the way Gingrich can.
As Rich Lowry put it, "You could shake Gingrich awake at 3 a.m., tell him Trump just came out for nationalizing the banks, and he would rattle off a five-minute riff on how it has always been the policy of the future and the country is lucky to have such a radical agent of change."
Does Gingrich have problems? Sure. But from an electoral standpoint, all of his problems are dwarfed by Trump's problems. Gingrich isn't popular, but is more popular than Trump. His personal problems are nothing compared with Trump's history. Four years ago, Gingrich was viewed as too out there to be president. Next to Trump, he's Lincoln, Adams, and FDR all rolled into one.
If the Pence leaks are real, I suspect the problem with Gingrich, from Trump's perspective, was just that: Who wouldn't prefer President Gingrich to President Trump? Love him or hate him, Gingrich is one of the towering figures of the last 50 years of American politics. He's smarter and more accomplished than Trump and has a political identity and legacy that are independent of Trump, and likely to be much more significant than Trump's. (Imagine just how ridiculous it would have been to have Gingrich walking around genuflecting before "Mr. Trump" for four months.)
I doubt that Trump could abide that in his running mate, no matter what the benefits to his cause might be.
(2) Chris Christie: In many ways, Christie would have been like a JV-level Gingrich. He's a smart and capable pol. He would have dogged Clinton everywhere she went. And worse, Christie might have gotten into Clinton's OODA loop as she tries to make her own VP selection. Christie is such a good debater that Clinton would have had to think long and hard about how her second would have handled Christie, and that might have taken some possibilities (Julián Castro certainly, Elizabeth Warren possibly) off the board for her.
Why not pick Christie? I wonder if Trump couldn't bring himself to do it because he just doesn't respect the New Jersey governor. It's hard to believe Trump really respects any of the people he beat during the primaries. And the way Christie jumped to get his shine box was…really something.
(3) Joni Ernst: The Iowa senator spent 23 years in the military, served in Iraq, has legislative experience, and yet isn't tied to the old-guard Bushian GOP. She'd appeal to some of the college-educated Republican women who are running away from Trump in droves and might even make some of them pause for a second look. She's from a state that, in theory, only leans Democratic. Think of her as Palin XL.
Too bad she had the sense to take herself out of the running publicly.
(4) Ivanka Trump: Preposterous? Only sort of. She'll be 35 in October. She is, by all accounts, smarter and more stable than her father. Of course, she's a center-left Democrat. But then, so is her dad.
The big up-sides for Ivanka are that she would have been the only running mate with the ability to actually influence the candidate's thinking. And that she's obviously the person Trump would want running with him. As history has taught us, the most workable succession plans for a strongman always involve a family dynasty. They're the only people you can really trust.
Trump/West 2016
don’t be fooled by the title.
just an opportunity to trash the republican nominee
Jonathan Last, publishing his puerile opinions on Bill Kristol’s “Weekly Standard” tells me all I need to know about this pile of crap.
The Weakly Standard
The Weekly Standard works for Hillary and al Qaeda.
Mr. Trump will decide, and hopefully ignore
whatever these frothing monkeys deem relevant.
More snark from nevertrump scum.
Jonathan Lost?
Are you voting for Trump????
The nonsence triplets have raised their ugly heads....Coulda, Shoulda and Woulda.
From the Weakly Substandard. Ok!
Exactly...
I refuse to read anything from those hack sore losers.
I do not know much about Pence but from what I have seen and heard he seems to me to be milquetoast.
Opinions are like assholes. Everybody has one...and the writer John Last is a first class arse.
Simply dripping with snide sarcasm.
The Cheap Labor Express stooges are going to be actively campaigning for Hillary before it’s over.
If Pence is the pick, it could have been worse with Newt or Christie.
Duncan D. Hunter would be my choice, but it’s Trump’s choice, so we’ll see.
Oh the Stinky Weak Standard.
Why post this Kristol butt-boy twaddle?
I was holding out for Alan West. I take that back.
I want to see Chuck Norris.
Oh goody wisdom from Bill Kristols rag
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