Here we go again. If Trump has to replace Pence as VP, who does he pick?

[Lincoln Republican]

Ivanka will be living in DC, so them both being residents of NY State wouldn't hurt him in 2020. I could see him doing it. And yes, we're talking about Trump, this is a serious answer.

Also, I think Trump might designate Ivanka as First Lady. There have been other cases in the past where the First Lady was actually the niece or daughter of the President.

Can a male be First Lady?  Why the hell do we need this office anyway?  What a waste of my money.

A male would be First Gentleman.

I have read that Michelle Obama's budget as First Lady is about 1.6 million dollars/year.

The First Lady receives no government pay herself.

[Lincoln Republican]

This is an unlikely situation but I'll play along. I think he'd avoid someone who would be seen as a "Washington insider," so I'd expect a governor or perhaps a youngish/recently elected Senator who shares some of his more hardline views. My shortlist and one wildcard pick:

Scott Walker
Tom Cotton
Matt Bevin
Rick Scott
Joni Ernst
Mary Fallin
Joe Manchin

Manchin is my wildcard pick because his ideological profile isn't terribly different from Trump's, it would open up an additional seat for Senate Republicans, and Manchin could avoid a tough campaign in a state that went over 70% red in 2016. The caveat here being that he would need to change parties. The rest of the picks would maintain his outsider credentials and wouldn't face too difficult a confirmation process.

Thank you for making a serious contribution to this discussion.

Some interesting, and some credible names here, some more so than others.

[ag]

You have proven nothing.

All you have done is put your interpretation to my statements.

Show me where I ever stated in this thread that Paul Ryan is of "clearly inferior capabilities".  You can't.

You yourself are the one who has stated about Trump and Ryan "Why would he pick somebody who could be seen as his credible replacement "

By you making this statement, you yourself are agreeing with me that Ryan is credible.

Show me where I ever stated in this thread that I "despise President Trump".  You can't.

These are your words, not mine.

And by the way, when Trump is sworn into office on January 20, he will be the President of the United States, all the United States, and not the President representing my party.

As for my statements, what is relevant are my statements in this thread, not something I may have said months ago.  

I said that Ryan is credible: sure, he is. I also said that this is the reason why he cannot be nominated: being of "clearly inferior capability" is a necessary condition for such an appointment (unless it comes from the family). You told me, I gave the great reason why Ryan should be appointed. Well, the main qualification for the appointment I gave was being incapable of doing the job. In every normal understanding of your response I can think of this means we disagree on this very fact: I think Ryan could make a credible president, and that is why he cannot be appointed, while you believe that he is, indeed, of inferior capability and, thus, may be nominated.

Perhaps, you meant something else and just had a problem expressing yourself (ever since you have become a Trumpista you are getting to be increasingly incoherent: clear sign of a continuous rape of your own thought process you are forced to be doing), but this is what you said.

I am amused to observe the emphatic repudiation of everything you have said in the past. I hope, the Minitrue of the new administration will take that into consideration. Are you that scared?

You have always despised Donald Trump. I guess, adding the word "President" changes that for you. It changes nothing about the man, though. Oh, yeah, Trump will be the president of the USA. Fortunately, I am not an American.

For me, Paul Ryan is clearly one of the most credible, articulate, and intelligent people in public life today.

I see you are still running away from my challenge, because you know your accusations are baseless.  I have challenged you twice now, and twice you have evaded the issue at hand, and thrown personal insults at me.  But whatever.

I have directly quoted you the lines in which you, effectively (for any reasonable interpretation of your words), called Ryan unqualified. How is that "running away from the challenge"?

Now, I have no doubt you respect Paul Ryan and had no intention of calling him an incompetent. Nor have I had any doubts about that from the beginning. My point from the very beginning has been that you have become incoherent in your expression. For a poster that used to make a lot of sense, remarkably incoherent. Given the degree of mental violence you have to be doing to yourself to accept Donald Trump, I am not surprised. But, I must admit, I am saddened that somebody would do this to himself.

And stop this bull about "challenge" or whatever. You know full well, that what I am saying is true. I am not accusing you of anything: I am just feeling your pain

[Lincoln Republican]

First of all, I will avoid attacking you with personal insults, even though you have attacked me with personal insults on several occasions.  But whatever.

I do believe, however, that with the shock to your system of Trump being unexpectedly elected President, that your judgment and objectivism have become, shall I say, not up to your usual impeccable standards.

And let me say that I am absolutely flattered that you think enough of the credibility and veracity of my posting history that you would take all that time and all that effort to go back and investigate my input.  And let me assure you, in case you are worried, yes, all my posts are still there.

During the course of the campaign, as you must know due to your diligence in bringing up and reading my posting history, you will be aware that I have been very critical of Hillary, very critical of Trump, very critical of Hillary.

The truth is, later in the campaign, I, like millions of Republicans, "came home".  In spite of all his many faults, Trump is still preferable to Hillary.  And the voters, in the states that swung this election to Trump, agreed with me.

And this thread is for discussing who Trump should appoint as Vice President should Pence resign, not about my mental state as perceived by yourself.

May I suggest, if you wish to continue your current line of attack, that you start your own thread, call it "Winfield Is Crazy" or whatever you like, and vent there.

Thank you, and all the best to you in your future endeavors.

[ag]

First of all, I will avoid attacking you with personal insults, even though you have attacked me with personal insults on several occasions. 

I am not attacking you, nor am I insulting you. I am just expressing sadness, that an intelligent human being for purely partisan (not even ideological!) reasons is willing to do something like this to himself.  You know that Trump stands for everything you hate and despise, you know that Hillary Clinton was far closer to your own worldview both ideologically and morally, and, yet, for reasons of pure partisanship (that is, for reasons not dissimilar to those trivialities that drive sports fans) you are consciously raping your own mind and soul. No, you are not crazy: just lacking of self-respect.

And, for gods' sake, are you really expecting me to believe that you started this topic with an intention of a serious discussion?

[Lincoln Republican]

Well, almost 63,000,000 people ended up supporting Donald Trump.

Hillary Clinton is not exactly a well spring of virtue and moral rectitude.

And quite honestly, I am not in the least concerned with what  your personal opinion of me may be.

[Pericles]

Nicking Haley I think. She's acceptable to the establishment and those less inclined to support Trump. She's also a minority and a woman. Haley I think is being groomed as a  potential successor in the future,  her UN Ambassadorship gives her foreign policy experience and could be  a stepping stone for Secretary of State in Trump's second term. She is qualified, covers up weaknesses for Trump, and unusual easily confirmable. Not sure but it is something to think about.

[Beet]

In retrospect, Pence was a great pick. A bland, nondescript figure who wouldn't overshadow Trump, yet provided the anchor and tie between him and the traditional GOP. Someone like Greg Abbott of Texas would step into that role nicely.

[Lincoln Republican]

Nicking Haley I think. She's acceptable to the establishment and those less inclined to support Trump. She's also a minority and a woman. Haley I think is being groomed as a  potential successor in the future,  her UN Ambassadorship gives her foreign policy experience and could be  a stepping stone for Secretary of State in Trump's second term. She is qualified, covers up weaknesses for Trump, and unusual easily confirmable. Not sure but it is something to think about.

Thank you for your very well thought out very well presented statement.

I believe that Haley is one of the ones to watch as a future leader in the Republican Party.

[Lincoln Republican]

In retrospect, Pence was a great pick. A bland, nondescript figure who wouldn't overshadow Trump, yet provided the anchor and tie between him and the traditional GOP. Someone like Greg Abbott of Texas would step into that role nicely.

Thank you for your input.

I completely agree, Pence was a great pick.  He did his job well in the campaign, and I have every confidence that he will be a competent, hard working, and very effective Vice President.  He has the ability and the experience to move the administration agenda through Congress.

Your suggestion of Greg Abbot is interesting.  He is for sure clearly a capable and effective leader, who has overcome tremendous obstacles to get to where he is today, Governor of one of the largest states in the union.

[ag]

Well, almost 63,000,000 people ended up supporting Donald Trump.

Hillary Clinton is not exactly a well spring of virtue and moral rectitude.

And quite honestly, I am not in the least concerned with what  your personal opinion of me may be.

Well, I will remind you these posts when you endorse Trump´s impeachment

[Lincoln Republican]

Well, almost 63,000,000 people ended up supporting Donald Trump.

Hillary Clinton is not exactly a well spring of virtue and moral rectitude.

And quite honestly, I am not in the least concerned with what  your personal opinion of me may be.

Well, I will remind you these posts when you endorse Trump´s impeachment

Ah, if Trump ends up getting impeached, then the nation will be in the very capable hands of Mike Pence, and I would be perfectly fine with that.

And if Trump is found guilty of an impeachable offence, or of impeachable offences, then of course he should be impeached, which, under those circumstances, I would support his impeachment.

If Trump commits no impeachable offence or offences, then the American public should unite in their support for their President and get behind him while he does his job.

[ag]

Well, almost 63,000,000 people ended up supporting Donald Trump.

Hillary Clinton is not exactly a well spring of virtue and moral rectitude.

And quite honestly, I am not in the least concerned with what  your personal opinion of me may be.

Well, I will remind you these posts when you endorse Trump´s impeachment

Ah, if Trump ends up getting impeached, then the nation will be in the very capable hands of Mike Pence, and I would be perfectly fine with that.

And if Trump is found guilty of an impeachable offence, or of impeachable offences, then of course he should be impeached, which, under those circumstances, I would support his impeachment.

If Trump commits no impeachable offence or offences, then the American public should unite in their support for their President and get behind him while he does his job.

I would agree that if Trump commits no impeachable offence he should not be impeached - though this business about "getting behind the president" sounds funny, especially at peacetime (though, perhaps, you think you are already at war?) But you know as well as I do that, given Trump's personality, the only chance he commits no impeachable offence is if he goes into a coma within the next couple months.

[ag]

Anyway, here is an interesting substantive variation on your question. VP has to be confirmed by a majority vote in both houses. If in 2018 Dems take over the House or merely draw in the Senate (I know, either is not very likely, but not outside the realm of possible) a vacancy in the vice-presidency would have to be acceptable to the opposition. Especially funny, of course, would be the Senate tie - without the VP there is nobody to break it

So, who could be the Dem-acceptable VP?

[Lincoln Republican]

Anyway, here is an interesting substantive variation on your question. VP has to be confirmed by a majority vote in both houses. If in 2018 Dems take over the House or merely draw in the Senate (I know, either is not very likely, but not outside the realm of possible) a vacancy in the vice-presidency would have to be acceptable to the opposition. Especially funny, of course, would be the Senate tie - without the VP there is nobody to break it

So, who could be the Dem-acceptable VP?

Ah, good point for speculative purposes.

Who indeed?

Don't forget, in 1973, Republican House Minority Leader Gerald Ford was confirmed overwhelmingly by both the House and the Senate, including overwhelmingly by the Democrats in both the House and the Senate.

Clearly, the new Vice President would have to be a Republican, as this is a Republican administration and the President is a Republican.

So since this is your scenario, please provide this forum with your suggestions as to which Republicans would be acceptable to both Republicans and Democrats.

[ag]

Anyway, here is an interesting substantive variation on your question. VP has to be confirmed by a majority vote in both houses. If in 2018 Dems take over the House or merely draw in the Senate (I know, either is not very likely, but not outside the realm of possible) a vacancy in the vice-presidency would have to be acceptable to the opposition. Especially funny, of course, would be the Senate tie - without the VP there is nobody to break it

So, who could be the Dem-acceptable VP?

Ah, good point for speculative purposes.

Who indeed?

Don't forget, in 1973, Republican House Minority Leader Gerald Ford was confirmed overwhelmingly by both the House and the Senate, including overwhelmingly by the Democrats in both the House and the Senate.

Clearly, the new Vice President would have to be a Republican, as this is a Republican administration and the President is a Republican.

So since this is your scenario, please provide this forum with your suggestions as to which Republicans would be acceptable to both Republicans and Democrats.

Given the sort of relationship one would expect between the Dems and Trump, it would have to be somebody who is a) old (and, hence, will not run) and b) openly on record as hating Trump. Still, it would have to be somebody reasonably credible to take over for a few months after the Trump impeachment. Preferably a senator, ideally from a somewhat competitive state (to prevent the ballance switch). I guess, perhaps, McCain could fit the bill, especially if he is going to say something very nasty about Trump during the confirmation hearings; though, of course, the need for the Republican replacement would be a problem. Still, I think McCain is pretty much ideal

Another possibility would be an old Supreme Court justice. As long as the fillibuster is still intact, I could see Kennedy working out. Especially, if Trump impeachment is in progress.

Either way, I do not see anybody under 80 years of age making the cut.

Of course, Trump will not nominate McCain.  And his first nominee, whoever it is, will go down. But McCain will be useful for the Dems as an example of an acceptable Republican they would float on TV. Remember, back in 1973 there still were the Southern Dems out there. You do not have them around anymore.

[Lincoln Republican]

I agree, in your scenario, McCain would be ideal, but for one thing, he is 81 this year.

I am not sure if the House and Senate would want to entrust the Vice Presidency to someone who, by then, would be 83 or 84 years old.

[ag]

I agree, in your scenario, McCain would be ideal, but for one thing, he is 81 this year.

I am not sure if the House and Senate would want to entrust the Vice Presidency to someone who, by then, would be 83 or 84 years old.

Being over 80 years old is what makes him ideal. It has to be somebody who is guaranteed not to run for presidency. So, it is either somebody very old, or somebody with some horrid skeletons in their closet. Baring that... I mean, perhaps, they could consider a cardinal or something.

[Lincoln Republican]

I agree, in your scenario, McCain would be ideal, but for one thing, he is 81 this year.

I am not sure if the House and Senate would want to entrust the Vice Presidency to someone who, by then, would be 83 or 84 years old.

Being over 80 years old is what makes him ideal. It has to be somebody who is guaranteed not to run for presidency. So, it is either somebody very old, or somebody with some horrid skeletons in their closet. Baring that... I mean, perhaps, they could consider a cardinal or something.

Orrin Hatch would be a great pick.  Should get speedy confirmation.  Works well with both sides of the aisle. 

[ag]

I agree, in your scenario, McCain would be ideal, but for one thing, he is 81 this year.

I am not sure if the House and Senate would want to entrust the Vice Presidency to someone who, by then, would be 83 or 84 years old.

Being over 80 years old is what makes him ideal. It has to be somebody who is guaranteed not to run for presidency. So, it is either somebody very old, or somebody with some horrid skeletons in their closet. Baring that... I mean, perhaps, they could consider a cardinal or something.

Orrin Hatch would be a great pick.  Should get speedy confirmation.  Works well with both sides of the aisle. 

He would be, except that, of course, he is certain to be replaced by a Republican-caucusing senator. Though, if the front-runner for the Republican replacement happens to be on record as being a personal enemy of Donald Trump, this may be an option.

[Lincoln Republican]

Would any of the following Senators be acceptable?

Richard Shelby

Chuck Grassley

Thad Cochran

Pat Roberts

Jim Inhofe

[ag]

Would any of the following Senators be acceptable?

Richard Shelby

Chuck Grassley

Thad Cochran

Pat Roberts

Jim Inhofe

If Republicans get to be very unpopular in Iowa, Grassley could be an option

[JoshPA]

I think the world of Mike Pence and believe he will be a great Vice President and a great President if the President resigns.

But let us say for discussion purposes that Vice President Pence finds it necessary to resign from office, let us say, two years into the first term.

This being the case, who does President Trump pick as the new Vice President?

I know, here we go again.

Please discuss.

Sessions i think trump really wanted sessions i mean trump had a big smile on his face when he was with sessions but he was too much like trump that why he wasnt pick i could see him becoming vp should something happen to pence.

[JoshPA]

In such an event, with Pence resigning from office let us say, for health reasons, I can see Trump picking House Speaker Paul Ryan to become the new Vice President, in spite of their differences in the past.

Ryan has tremendous support amongst Congressional Republicans, in both the House and Senate, and is seen as capable and knowledgeable.

you must be really dumb if you think trump would a neocon that close to the presidency

[Medal506]

Ted Cruz most likely