In thinking that people who voted for Trump will actually get JD Vance?

[Brightbluedoor]

I'm pro democracy and so the outcome has to be respected whether people like it or not.

But it occurred to me yesterday that Trump doesn't look well at all. He's 79 years old and looks in very bad shape. It seems to me he's unlikely to actually last a full term in office. So realistically there's a high chance JD Vance will be president during this term.

How do people feel about that?

Also, do you think there will actually be an election in 2028? would Trump supporters be happy with no more elections if JD Vance were to just take over?

Trump talks a load of bollox though. I mean, he tells them what they want to hear, interspersed with conspiracy stuff ( e.g. eating pets). Vance seems to be Trump-in-waiting and so doubtless the Trump supporters will love him. I couldn't bear to watch much of Vance but I found him more scary than Trump.

There is a lot of project 2025 stuff on how Trumps second term should go, getting the right people into jobs so there is less restraint.

I hate that he won but I’m really interested in what comes next. He can be pretty vindictive and the Supreme Court is stacked in his favour. Which threats will come to fruition? First year of his term is going to be really interesting. I do wonder if they’d picked someone else ( a man to run) if democrats could have swung it. I’m a big fan of Pete buttigeg 🤞 for 2028.

Listen to his Joe Rogan interview. He’s brilliant especially on transgender madness which he talks about during (but not just) in the first 45 minutes.

" I think the cut-off for anyone running for their first term should be 70."

This. It has been excruciating watching President Biden over these last few years and the very poor behaviour of the sycophants around him. The undignified scramble of pushing Kamala Harris into the limelight virtually at the last minute, while he still makes awful gaffs in the background has been painful to watch.

I don’t agree with your assessment of Trump’s physical fitness. To me he seems to have more energy than someone of his age typically has, and seems younger than 77 in his general demeanour.

It’s true that people can go downhill pretty fast at that age but I’ve not seen anything that leads me to believe he’ll not be able to last four years.

I'd say it's more likely they'll get Musk. There seems to be a view that Trump will sideline Vance sharpish now he's elected, especially if Vance shows the slightest inclination towards personal ambition. Ultimately, Trump is likely more drawn to Musk's agenda than Vance's.

Trump also said yesterday over “the next 4 years.” People need to stop pushing this narrative hes an authoritarian dictator. Why would he reference 4 years yesterday if he planned to stay on without democracy.

Musk can’t stand for President - he wasn’t born in the USA.

"i'll be a dictator from day 1" just google it :)

I don't think Elon and Trump will get through the next four years without falling out. Very few people seem to be able to work with Trump for long in any case. Plus two massive egos like that will inevitably clash.

I guess it will depend on the extent to which Elon can manipulate Trump into doing what he wants him to do. I imagine he will be happy to suck up to Trump for quite a while if it's good for business.

He is a much better speaker (from my point of view, am considered 'liberal' in america, american DP and children etc but live in UK for decades). It's kind of a bit scary, i.e. him being compelling... ableto appeal more widely... but he's better (who isn't?) than Trump..

No, but what I'm saying is he's the kingmaker. People voted for Trump as president but Musk is going to have a huge amount of policy influence over this 4 year term, unless he also gets put in the "Trump advisor woodchipper", which is possibly not a wise move for Trump. Musk's endorsement of Trump and the way the algorithms on X supported his campaign were extremely influential.

To cite those great philosophers, Human League, "Don't forget it's me who put you where you are now, and I can put you back down too"

He doesn't get out of bed until 11 (or didn't as president) and spends all day watching TV). I've (obviously) not 'seen' this but widely reported from trusted sources, NYT etc....

"the best laid plans of mice and men".

Here is my analysis of what went wrong with the Dem bid.

Harris was originally put on to broaden the diversity of the ticket in 2020 to gain votes. Biden was happy with this, as she probably did that without being a challenger to him. We all assume that politicians within a party are united, but they are always looking for threats from within. The idea at that point was that Biden would never run for a second term, so Harris' suitability for president wasn't really a key issue. Biden would quit at the end of term 1, and a new ticket comprised of a new presidential and new candidate would come in for 2024.

During Bidens first term, Harris became a convenient dumping ground for policy that might reflect badly on the big man. She was given a series of hospital passes, including handling immigration and the negativity against her piled up. However, it was (in theory) a non issue because she was going to be dumped at the end of term 1, and Bidens performance would be the one more closely assessed by voters on Democratic candidates for president in 2024.

Roll forward a few years, and Joe changes his mind. He's going to run for a second term. Harris is still there and probably can't easily be gotten rid of, but she doesn't challenge his power, still diversifies and ticket and fills the requirement for having all the rubbish dumped in her direction.

This was all going swimmingly until Biden gave up on his second term. At that point it was too late to have any other candidate other than Harris because of the way the funding works. She then came in, not only with a questionable ability to do the job, but with the huge albatross round her neck of all the rubbish the Biden administration had saddled her with.

Now we are where we are.

The TLDR of all this to me is that yes, VP picks are important and not always that easy to brush aside. There is very much a likelyhood that a VP pick may somehow get parachuted into the main job when you are dealing with men as old as Trump and Biden.

I was thinking this as well, there is a chance he could die or be assassinated. He should have just enjoyed his retirement.

I agree with almost everything you've said @GasPanic, but the VP pick has traditionally been pretty much irrelevant. It has only been important over the last two elections because of the age of the candidate and therefore the increased probabability that the VP will be required to step up and take the top job. In 2020 though, it was amazing how little people talked about Kamala. I listen to the BBC's Americast podcast and I remember Justin Webb brushing aside a listener's question about the importance of the VP and I agreed with the listener - Kamala (and JD this time) ARE important, for all the reasons we know about.

He's great if you're a white American male who likes a show pony.

Otherwise you're just a baby making machine or worthless to society.

He's a loose cannon, he's a little boy on too much sugar compared to someone more stoic, predictable and sensible like Mike Pence. He got where he did by changing his views to kiss ass.

Vance is being prepared for running to be president in 4 years time I would imagine.

The interview with Joe Rogan was great. Vance comes across as a relatable and sensible family man. I had no opinion on him prior to watching it. I really like him now.

Oh. I don't know. An insurrection, perhaps....