Whatever descriptor you want to apply to the 2024 election, the word “dull” is the only one that doesn’t fit. You can say things have been shocking, exhilarating, unbelievable but never for a moment boring or dull — except when Donald Trump is on stage putting people to sleep. That’s the sole exception. Here’s a post from today when RFK, Jr. decided to suspend his campaign, kinda sorta. That translates as he’s still going to be on the ballots in a lot of states but he’s not going to be on the ballots in the *ten* battleground states. The rest of political world recognizes seven battleground states and Kennedy didn’t make it to the ballot anyhow in three of them. So who knows what kind of a monkey wrench Kennedy will throw into the works, if any? Meanwhile, this is coming from right-wing media, a group with members who are a lot more into Kennedy than either Trump or J.D. Vance these days.
I'd be surprised if he doesn't try to make a change like that. Bob has blue eyes and JD Vance wears eyeliner. We all know how much he loves people to look like they're out of central casting.
— Children of Adams (@childrenofadams) August 24, 2024
Now in accordance with Trumpian *logic* it would be a great idea to have Kennedy on the ballot as Trump’s VP. To wit:
- Trump regrets the selection of J.D. Vance;
- He selected Vance in the Before Times when Joe Biden was still running;
- Vance has only screwed up;
- Kennedy could lend a certain something to the ticket (again, in Trump’s *mind*) that Vance never can.
But can or would Trump actually pull the plug? The law on the matter is that Vance could choose to step down and if enough pressure was applied, I suppose that he might. But time is a wastin’ and ballots are already being printed in some states. If Trump is going to do something like this, he needs to do it fast.
I don’t think Trump will unless he finds some crazy justification for it. If he replaces Vance tomorrow, that would be admitting that he made a mistake in the first place and you know Trump can’t do that. So unless one of his aides can come up with some reason that Kennedy could bring the ticket home, I don’t see Trump changing horses in midstream.
And across the political landscape what you see and hear is that Kennedy is basically inconsequential. It’s not known at this hour how him leaving the race (or staying in partially, whatever he’s trying to do) will affect the election. Most pundits say not very much.
But what is intriguing here is that there’s a real Vance backlash in right-wing media and that’s how I read the significance of this. I think Vance may end up being the fall guy for Trump, even though Trump has himself been quoted as saying that the vice presidential candidate doesn’t matter.
We will continue to live and learn as the days count down to the 2024 election. Let’s welcome any infighting that we see. If the Trump/Vance ticket can’t even agree on the fact that it’s the Trump/Vance ticket and wishes it was Trump/Kennedy, then that’s a sign of fundamental splintering. Great. Let them fight.
VPs don’t matter??
Let’s look at this logically: Don John is 78 years old, obese, doesn’t exercise (anything other than hitting a small ball and walking to his golf cart), lives on junk food (and ketchup) and he expects to live for the next four years (not forgetting all the symptoms of oncoming dementia)?
If nature takes its course (and things really get screwed up in November) you could end up with the Hillbilly Egotist as ‘president’ – in that case, God Save America
I think 77 is the statistical age that American men live to. Which means Trump is already living on borrowed time. Plus, he’s obese and has a terrible diet. So yes, what you say makes complete sense.
Ursula, that 77 year life expectancy is for a child born this year; the figure for a 78-year-old in GOOD HEALTH is 8+ years, and Von Schitzie certainly isn’t. Hell, the stress of this campaign, especially given his difficulty handling the change to VP Harris as his opponent, could have him pushing up daisies by Inauguration Day.
If Vance is discredited, so is his sponsor/boyfriend, Peter Thiel.
Which is a very good thing.
Which is why it is unlikely (in my mind which means probably less than nothing. lol). If I were hillbilly boy and thiel, I’d be making much about how much voter and financial support they could remove. Having thiel’s money and vance’s rwnj weirdo credentials being used AGAINST von shitzinpants would be a credible threat. Say what you want about vance’s screw ups, the far right and con xtian base like him–a lot more than they like trump. They’ll hold their nose and vote for trump if they know someone like them is waiting in the wings (and those fuckers are crazy enough to make sure vance isn’t waiting in the wings for long-that is not a guy or group I’d want behind me salivating for a chance at the oval). And the proj. 1825 crowd do love them some vance.–they KNOW he’s on board with that shit And any time someone with a lot of money threatens to use that money against you in an election, yeah, I’d take it seriously (or at least much of trump’s campaign team will-not kelly ann tho’).
There would be potential problems getting rid of vance for those who think about how to best win an election as well as pluses. Of course trump seldom thinks about the consequences of what he says or does so while other people would be weighing the negative effects vs. the positive ones, trump would make his usual knee-jerk, dumb-ass decision based on what he had for breakfast most likely. I imagine one thing that could be used against vance staying on the ticket is how much the dems chances were inflated when President Biden stepped down. But if I were vance and/or thiel, I’d be threatening to put all support possible against trump. Yeah, it’d piss trump off but would he actually take the threat seriously?
Stayed tuned for the next episode in the drama that is the 2024 prez election. jeez I wish this were over.
Everything you say is true. I do feel confident that we will overcome. We can’t be complacent and expect it, we have to work hard now. But with all the energy and donations behind Harris and the widespread loathing of Trump, I feel we can bring this one home.
There’s also ballot deadlines to take into account.
I imagine that Trump’s advisors have apprised him of all that. But frankly, as disinclined as he is to listen to anybody, it would not surprise me if he just ignored the advisors and went ahead and did what he wanted.
Two and one half months is a long time for him to decompensate further.
Thing to look for: 1 Trump campaigns with Kennedy, not with Vance (who is already campaigning solo). 2 Trump promises that Kennedy will have a prominent role in his administration. 3 DJT never mentions Vance at his rallies, and you don’t see his name on the signs held by supporters.
IOW, Trump will do all he can to distance himself from Vance, while never admitting his choice was a mistake.