Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

Republicans can’t even be trusted with their own money.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

In short, I come down firmly on all sides of the issue.

Ah, the different things are different argument.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

Everybody saw this coming.

I didn’t have alien invasion on my 2023 BINGO card.

American History and Black History Cannot Be Separated

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

You can’t love your country only when you win.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

I’m pretty sure there’s only one Jack Smith.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

“I never thought they’d lock HIM up,” sobbed a distraught member of the Lock Her Up Party.

Republicans choose power over democracy, every day.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

You are here: Home / Past Elections / Election 2016 / Feel the Webbmentum

Feel the Webbmentum

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This would not surprise me:

Retired Dr. Ben Carson told The Wall Street Journal on Thursday that he doesn’t want to be the running mate on the ticket with Donald Trump, the GOP’s presumptive nominee—but that Democrats could be under consideration for the vice presidential slot.

The newspaper reported that Carson suggested that a Democrat could be considered for the role and that he doesn’t want any part of it.

“I’m not interested in doing that for a number of reasons,” Carson told the publication. “I don’t want to be a distraction. I’m sure you remember how crazy the media was about me, I don’t want to be a distraction, it’s too important a time in our life.”

Jim Webb is self-absorbed enough and filled with enough Scotts-Irish working class white guy ressentiment that he would do it in a heartbeat.

Reader Interactions

146Comments

  3. 3.

    Tithonia

    Let’s start a new meme. Trump is a Manchurian candidate controlled by Melania.

  5. 5.

    JPL

    Trump really does have small fingers. Is that a family trait?
    Maybe the vp should have longer fingers..

  7. 7.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    I’m gonna bet no. Somebody earlier said that Webb would never forgive Trump saying his time at prep/reform school counted as military service.

    ETA: a couple of days ago, someone mentioned Zell Miller– which would be proof that god does, indeed, have a sick sense of humor. I think that’s the region and the age group to look at, Southern blue dogs with military service

  9. 9.

    WaterGirl

    @JPL: Sadly, I cannot think of a single, non-childish, family-safe response to your question.

  11. 11.

    JPL

    @WaterGirl: I know it sounds crude, but I watched five minutes of his speech in WV and it was apparent that he has really small fingers. The speech was about bringing back coal mining jobs, because folks want to pay for coal energy.

  12. 12.

    Keith P.

    @JPL: So Bernie Sanders for Trump’s VP? I’ll have to make RedState my home page for a bit if that gets floated. Or maybe Trump could just wear large rubber hands, like Uncle Jack on Always Sunny.

  13. 13.

    JPL

    @Keith P.: I still think that Sanders hasn’t released his tax returns because of previous donations. He does have larger fingers though.

  15. 15.

    WaterGirl

    @JPL: I don’t think it would be possible for me to actually watch 5 minutes of a Trump speech. You poor thing, can I bring you something? A glass of wine? A cool compress? A distracting movie so you can put that horror behind you?

    I am so angry at all the fucking cowards in the republican party who say Trump is awful but they will vote for him and support his for president. I hope the democrats nail every single fucking republican to the wall with “party before country”.

    I was reading a BJ thread on my phone while I ate breakfast out this morning, and I saw the smartest comment from someone about not trying to get people to vote against Trump because he’s a jerk. Instead, the suggestion was to tie every single one of Trump’s horrid positions to various people in the republican party.

    Surely we could do something similarly smart with the concept of party before country. The idea of a 3am Trump phone call terrifies me.

  17. 17.

    lollipopguild

    @JPL: Natural gas has killed coal as a major source of energy and Trump is not going to force people to use coal no matter how much people want him to.

  18. 18.

    jl

    Webb has been sane on foreign policy issues where Trump is insane. I hope that would be enough to keep Webb away. And I hope Webb can see the difference between Scots-Irish pride blather and Trump’s nonsense on immigration, which has insane foreign policy implication when it comes to the Muslim ban (Edit: and insane foreign policy and economic implications when it comes to the Great Wall of Trump, now that I think about it). And I read Trump reiterated his commitment to the Muslim ban just a day or so ago, and keep the ban until “we get things figured out”.

  20. 20.

    WaterGirl

    @JPL: I do LOVE that Larry Wilmore is absolutely relentless about the small hands thing with Trump. I hope it’s slowly driving Trump mad.

  22. 22.

    Redshift

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: In his chat with the NYT, Trump said he’s looking for someone with political skills, because he “obviously” has business skills covered, and he thinks he would be very good at military strategy and tactics. So I’m betting he won’t particularly be looking for someone with military or military-oversight experience, even though he obviously needs it.

  23. 23.

    WarMunchkin

    Former Secretary of the Navy supporting a guy who wants to uproot the post WW2 diplomatic order? I think not.

  25. 25.

    Peale

    @jl: the Muslim ban and treating Mexico, which is on our border, as if it is North Korea.

  27. 27.

    gf120581

    I can’t see Webb doing it. He probably considers Trump a cowardly chickenhawk. Plus the GOP base would go berzerk if he chose a Democrat, even one who really doesn’t have a home in either party these days. (Look at how quickly McCain’s notion of picking Lieberman got shot down in 2008.)

    Problem with Trump is, what decent running mate would actually accept? I understand several of his supposed choices have already said something along the lines of “No” and “Fuck no!”

  30. 30.

    BruceFromOhio

    @EL: I am totally impressed that the guy is still alive. He ran for the 1992 presidency from prison. He’s like Senator Sanders crazier, older uncle.

  31. 31.

    gf120581

    @srv: That’s the wishy-washy “I support the nominee but don’t endorse Trump” crap that many Republicans are trotting out in the wake of Trump’s triumph. It’s laughable and for guys up for reelection like McCain, it just stinks of desperation.

    By the wayl, troll, go hunt some goat and leave the rest of us alone to discuss serious mattes.

  34. 34.

    Cacti

    I have a better question. What Democrat could Trump get to run with him who would actually matter?

    Working class white men are already going to vote for Trump. What does Webb bring to the table?

  35. 35.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    I wonder if 1) Christie would want it, 2) Trump would want him. I harbor hopes that Kelly and the guy from the Port Authority (Waldstein?) still have a thing or two to say

    ETA: @gf120581: wiki says so, 84, so maybe a bit long in the tooth but if he can still snarl, he’d be a big hit with Trumpsters

  38. 38.

    jl

    @Cacti:

    ” What does Webb bring to the table? ”

    A history of competence and sanity in some areas of governance and policy.
    But that might alienate Trump’s GOP base. So… yeah… he would be problematic for veep nom.

  39. 39.

    FYWP

    @redshirt: Good point. He’s an asshole like them but he’s got the wrong letter after the dash. Chaos may reign in Cleveland after all. Which will have just gone through the Brood X cicada experience – potentially having left everyone there a bit edgy before the convention begins.

  40. 40.

    Iowa Old Lady

    I saw speculation about Iowa senator Joni Ernst as a running mate. The woman says she has inside info that there really were WMD in Iraq. She believes in UN conspiracies. She says it’s ridiculous that there’s a federal minimum wage. I can’t decide whether that disqualifies her or makes her an awesome choice.

  45. 45.

    Cacti

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    I saw speculation about Iowa senator Joni Ernst as a running mate. The woman says she has inside info that there really were WMD in Iraq. She believes in UN conspiracies. She says it’s ridiculous that there’s a federal minimum wage. I can’t decide whether that disqualifies her or makes her an awesome choice.

    Nikki Haley is who I’m suspecting.

    I mean, she thoughtfully removed the treason flag from the SC Capitol grounds, just a few short days after a white supremacist spree killing.

    That means she’s all moderate and stuff.

    Plus she’s a woman, and an ethnic minority, so Trump can show that some of his best friends are minority women.

  48. 48.

    gf120581

    @Cacti: Haley already said no. And who can blame her?

    Really, any Republican who has a future or any national aspirations of their own is going to run from Trump like he was in the late stages of leprosy. Cruz isn’t the only one who’s already making plans for 2020.

  49. 49.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    What about the Speaker’s new announcement? Paul Ryan not ready to back Donald Trump. Apologies if it’s been discussed to death earlier; I’ve been under the weather today and just started in the most recent thread after seeing the news.

  50. 50.

    debbie

    Someone noted earlier today about Trump possibly getting intelligence briefings and they also noted that his campaign manager was previously a lobbyist for Putin. Does the administration have authority to deny Trump access prior to the election?

  52. 52.

    different-church-lady

    @debbie: I say they start screwing with his head: “Assad is considering partnering with Zuckerberg on weaponized social media.” The pressers would be priceless.

    DCL +1 and a tasty omelet.

  53. 53.

    Joel

    Webb has said some Trump-curious bullshit in the past. He has the reputation for being a raging narcissist. That alone makes him a legitimate candidate for Trump’s running mate.

    The good news is that prominent military veeps haven’t helped their tickets all that much (Lemay, Stockdale).

  54. 54.

    dr. bloor

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Christie might be interested, because whythefucknotmycareerisalreadyadumpsterfire, but the Donald has the bridge-and-tunnel constituency locked up already, and Christie couldn’t even win NJ.

    I think he goes with Perry. Quasilegit R, and the glasses as well as the old TAMU pix of him in uniform give him the sort of gravitas the campaign lacks and so richly deserves.

  55. 55.

    different-church-lady

    @Joel: How would two narcissists on the same ticket possibly work? I mean, look what happened to McCain with just one.

  56. 56.

    Amaranthine RBG

    @a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q):
    Wolf Blitzer and crew were hyperventilating over that, but it is just a clever move by Ryan. He said Trump need to make his case that he is advancing conservative goals, boa bla bla.

    This will allow a month to pass for Trump to make adult like statements and that will give the never Trump cover to (ha ha ha)carefully consider thematterbefore falling line behind Trump..

  59. 59.

    enplaned

    The only Democrats who would take it are ones that already have no future and therefore would not drag many votes with them. Trump stank is going to smother whoever he picks — it’s not like any perfume from a VP nominee is going to rub off on Trump.

  60. 60.

    karen marie

    From 2009, when Lieberman was floated as McCain’s VP pick:

    “Five states have sore loser statutes … [making] it very difficult for someone who’s not a member of the Republican Party to become the vice presidential nominee if they only switch parties to become a Republican shortly before the convention,’ Culvahouse said in public remarks at the Republican National Lawyers Association annual meeting aired on C-SPAN.

    I doubt anything has changed in that regard.

  62. 62.

    Iowa Old Lady

    @debbie: I believe those briefings are voluntary on the part of the administration. They do it because an incoming president needs to be up to speed on complex situations. There’d be some discretion there. It would be a tricky situation.

    I wonder if the candidates are investigated for security clearance? Clinton already has some sort of top clearance, no doubt. But you could hardly refuse clearance to a major party’s nominee.

  65. 65.

    enplaned

    @Cacti: No one with any independent future is going to line up with Trump. The chance of a catastrophic outcome is too high — no one wants to be associated with that.

    It’s going to be someone like a Christie whose bolt is already shot.

  69. 69.

    dr. bloor

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    But you could hardly refuse clearance to a major party’s nominee.

    Well, Paul Manafort has his nose so far up Putin’s ass he sneezes in Russian, so it’s not like they couldn’t set a precedent here.

  71. 71.

    Roger Moore

    @Redshift:

    In his chat with the NYT, Trump said he’s looking for someone with political skills, because he “obviously” has business skills covered, and he thinks he would be very good at military strategy and tactics.

    Dunning-Kruger strikes again!

  74. 74.

    jl

    @srv:

    ” Why George Washington Would Have Agreed with Donald Trump ”

    That article was funny.

    One of the reasons the Founders felt that way was that the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans seemed real big back then, and afforded the US the privilege of adopting an isolationist policy. But interesting that the tune changed as soon as the world seemed to get a bit smaller. As in, Monroe Doctrine.

    There is a line in a move (paraphrasing): ‘That Atlantic Ocean used to really be the thing, but it ain’t what it used to be.”

  76. 76.

    jl

    @Roger Moore:

    ” [Trump] thinks he would be very good at military strategy and tactics. ”

    Then Trump can scratch Webb. Shouldn’t even bother putting him on a list. Webb ain’t gonna stand for that.

  79. 79.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    OT: red state writer says polls show half of all Democrats are 9/11 truthers… Is Hayes gonna let it slide….? his pushback is half-assed and too wonky

    pretty sure they get to that number by counting people who believe in the “OK, you’ve covered your ass” and the 8/15 PDB (raises hand) as truthers

  80. 80.

    trnc

    @srv:

    … the economic resentments that used to be largely confined to parts of the Democratic Party are going to be central to the message of the Republican candidate as well.

    Would this be the same republican candidate that said the minimum wage is too high and who walked away from several bankruptcies with millions while everyone else was left holding the bag? Yeah, he has a lot of credibility on economic populism.

  81. 81.

    Amir Khalid

    @Joel:
    Trump, a raging narcissist, for President, and Jim Webb, a raging narcissist, for Veep? I suspect there isn’t room on one ticket for two of that kind of person.

  84. 84.

    scav

    @jl: It would suit his self-esteem, but that wouldn’t satisfy his need for an obvious flunky, let alone for a show of dominance over the party. He wants a walking scalp on stage next to him.

  86. 86.

    Mike J

    @enplaned:

    No one with any independent future is going to line up with Trump. The chance of a catastrophic outcome is too high — no one wants to be associated with that.

    The Republican running against Patty Murray for Senate said today he won’t vote for anybody for president.

  87. 87.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    I believe the appropriate internet tradition among youths in this instance is ‘hashtag LOL nothing matters’

    Ali Breland
    ‏@ alibreland
    Rick Perry, who once called Donald Trump a “cancer on conservationism,” is now open to being Trump’s VP

  88. 88.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    Trump won’t pick anyone that makes him look lesser or weaker, and I don’t think he’ll pick a woman. I think he’ll pick another guy, and since Ben Carson is going to have a say in it, the whole vetting process should go off without a hitch.

  89. 89.

    jl

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    ” Rick Perry, who once called Donald Trump a “cancer on conservationism,” is now open to being Trump’s VP ”

    Will Trump let Perry wear his ‘smart’ glasses, though?

  90. 90.

    BR

    OT — I went to Bernie’s new CA office today and got a bumper sticker from them (just asked for one and they gave it to me). They had some folks there but were not super busy. I felt a bit bad that I didn’t tell them that I will be putting it on my car next to a Hillary sticker.

    My wife and I joked about custom making a mega Obama 2016 sticker and conspicuously putting that over the Bernie/Hillary stickers. We’ll see.

  92. 92.

    Anne Laurie

    Jim Webb is self-absorbed enough and filled with enough Scotts-Irish working class white guy ressentiment that he would do it in a heartbeat.

    Your inner Repub child would like to think that, but as a member of that clan I’m guessing Webb’s resentment of soft-handed rich kids who could slide past the draft would cause him to tell Trump to stick his VP offer where the sun does not shine.

    More importantly, you think Trump would make that offer? He doesn’t like men who make him look soft & spoilt, and Webb would do that just by standing next to him on the podium. And Webb’s Asian wife and ‘mixed’ kids are not the kind of ‘take our country back’ visuals Trump wants, either.

    Since optics will be the alpha & omega of Trump’s choice, my best guesses at this point in time are Paul Ryan (who’s pretty & well-spoken, and susceptible to deals, even if he’s making earnest mouth noises right now about ‘not accepting’ Trump’s supremacy) and Kelly Ayotte (who’s been doing a stellar job as Handmaiden to McCain & Graham, and who’ll almost certainly lose her seat due to Trump’s ascension).

    Ted Cruz is no doubt already signalling he’ll take up the cup should it be offered, but Trump doesn’t want Failgunner Ted competing for the spotlight. And Lindsey Graham might fail for the ‘good of our endangered republic’ theory, except he knows Trump almost certainly won’t win, but before he loses everyone in his orbit will suffer, and Senator Butchmeup’s nice quiet home life will get turned into a vulgar spectacle on SNL and Funny or Die…

  93. 93.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    @Starfish: When I was in law enforcement (civilian/non-sworn evidence tech/CSI), tow trucks were dispatched by public safety officers. The tow companies had to meet certain standards, and refusing service because of personal political views would have gotten said companies booted from the roster.

    Of course, any protest by liberals will be reflective of our intolerance and on-going assault on hard-working (probably Christian) small business owners.

  96. 96.

    Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class

    2:55 AM in Firenze…

    I am wide freakin’ awake, listening to street noise outside on the Piazza di Maria Santa Novella through the open window.

    It was an amazing journey – had true first class transatlantic, so I had.a genuine, lay-down bed for rest and about 30 square feet of personal space to myself. Arrived in Rome, passport line was a breeze, quick stamp and zero customs intrraction (unlike the freedoms we Americans enjoy when interacting with customs and TSA people, freedoms the terrorists want to kill us for). I bought beautiful, unreasonably underpriced panini from a vendor at the train station at the airport, ingredients undoubtedly over regulated by anti-business EU bureaucrats and profits inadequate to the job creating suppliers of capital. Rode the socialist, unreasonably state-subsidized high speed train from Rome to Firenze, where the most common man could share the benefit of the conveyance with an unfairly oppressed, undercompensated Captain of Industry, feeling practically nothing of movement and watching the world whiz by at 280 kph (because you just knew the metric system would be involved) – and the Eurail price being really reasonable. Ate a lovely meal at a restaurant where waiters are paid excessive living wages as professionals as opposed to relying on tips as God intended, the meal costing about 2/3 of what a similarly outstanding meal would cost at home. The Parma ham and fresh mozzarella app, the middle rigatoni, the kilo steak florentine for two, the veg plate, the bottle of wine, the coffee and desserts should have all netted more profit for some purveyor of capital…

  99. 99.

    Schlemazel Khan

    I do think the pig castrater would be a perfect companion to the DumpsterFire! It would work in both their “minds”.

  100. 100.

    Anne Laurie

    @Mike J: Yep. She’s from the Granite State, taking peoples’ money while deploring their every personal quality (ie, tourism) is the state’s biggest industry.

    My only question would be whether Donald will consider her pretty enough to stand next to him — but on the other hand, there’s no chance she’ll outshine Melania, and she has so much experience at standing & looking absorbed by old male bloviators already…

  102. 102.

    Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Just pointing out the inadequacies and oppressions of European socialist overregulation, and how much better off capital is when allowed to do its thing…

  105. 105.

    Jeffro

    Here is Trump’s short list (in no particular order): Joni Ernst, Marco Rubio, John Kaisch, or Rick Scott. And I think he more or less axed Kaisch from consideration on 2 of 5 interviews he did today (or maybe it was 3 of 5, while confirming Kaisch’s in the running during the other 2 interviews).

    What a stable individual.

    Anyway, Trump needs some utterly unprincipled air quote “conservative” (but I repeat myself) who’ll jump on board for the name recognition, the chance to be first in line in 2020, the chance to grab some of that sweet, sweet right-wing grifter cash, or all of the above while also – in theory – shoring up the ticket with the base, women, Hispanics, and/or a big swing state. Ernst, Rubio, or Scott.

  106. 106.

    CaseyL

    Y’all are forgetting the most important consideration when choosing a Veep for the GOP: assassination insurance. Who is so blatantly awful that a politically-motivated assassination is right out of the question?

    Reagan had Bush the Elder. Reagan got shot.

    Bush the Elder had Quayle. Nobody shot at him.

    Bush the Lesser had Cheney. Nobody shot at Bush.

    So the question is, who is that obviously utterly incompetent and/or pinheaded and/or evil to ensure Trump stays alive?

  107. 107.

    Prescott Cactus

    Former NYC mayor Bloomberg. Nothing like having a guy who is worth more than you are be your underling.

  108. 108.

    Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class

    @Baud:

    I could be a very happy EU resident.

    Even without my guns…

  109. 109.

    gf120581

    @Jeffro: Being the running mate of a failed campaign usually is not the way to get “first in line.” It typically means career oblivion. There’s far more Sarah Palins than Paul Ryans.

    Rubio won’t do it. He still thinks he has a future and no Republican with any future aspirations will want to get within miles of this trainwreck. Same reason the likes of Haley are saying “no way.”

    Ernest and Scott are not bad choices, however. Perhaps OK Gov. Mary Fallin (who is “100% for Trump” today) too. Basically someone as crazy as Trump, or someone who doesn’t have a political future (Scott and Fallin are both done post 2018) and therefore doesn’t mind getting sucked in with the Trump vortex.

  110. 110.

    PhoenixRising

    @CaseyL: Eggsactly.

    Ben Carson: because the kind of people who vote for Trump and own guns and go lone wolf wanted a non-black POTUS.

  112. 112.

    Jeffro

    Btw whenever the Open Thread presents itself…can we talk about how the Establishment might be planning to let Trump self-immolate a while here, and then yank it from him in Cleveland once he’s been pounded to dust? Maybe that’s giving them too much credit, but Trump’s biggest negatives are a) himself, and b) all the stuff HRC & Co are going to throw at him every day.

    Maybe they’re letting him get hit and be dragged down to a minimum of support (as I mentioned earlier, I think only 10M people have voted for him out of 100M registered Republicans). The Powers That Be could just step in and say, the process was flawed, the man has not even won a majority of Republican voters, and so we’re changing the rules in order to select _____. Trump and his supporters would howl but really, what would or could they do? They don’t strike me as being terribly motivated to do anything other than post ignorant stuff on Facebook.

  114. 114.

    Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class

    Oh, and later this morning, we’re meeting a farmer in the hills outside the city and going truffle hunting with his dog, followed by a meal in his kitchen.

  115. 115.

    Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class

    @Baud:

    There may be a subsidy for me to do that!

    I can make a sad face!!

  118. 118.

    Jeffro

    @gf120581: So…I’m batting .667? ;)

    I think Rubio would do it – he’s already talked about how important it is to get behind the nominee (because History’s Greatest Monster and all that). He was also the Establishment’s Golden Boy, and he & Trump got into it the harshest of anyone save Cruz & Trump, imho. But anyway.

    I do think it’ll be one of those three, or a Kaisch reconsideration on both sides. I guess he could run with Ted Nugent or Scott Baio or something, but I’d hate to think that something utterly silly could happen this election cycle…

  120. 120.

    Prescott Cactus

    @Jeffro:

    Btw whenever the Open Thread presents itself…can we talk about. . . . . . . . . . .”

    If this was an airplane you would have just become a hijacker.

  121. 121.

    Anne Laurie

    @Prescott Cactus:

    Former NYC mayor Bloomberg. Nothing like having a guy who is worth more than you are be your underling.

    I can see Donald making the offer — not sincerely, mind you, but for the cameras — but there’s no way in hell Mike Bloomberg takes it.

    For one thing, he’s not an idiot, and he likes being popular at all the right NYC parties, which would no longer be true if he were associated with the grubbier streams of the modern Republican party.

    For another, that pseudo-rich pretender Trump would never stop trying to borrow Mike’s money, for his ‘campaign’ or his get-rich-quick schemes, and Mike doesn’t pour money down rat holes.

  122. 122.

    Citizen_X

    @Jeffro:

    Trump and his supporters would howl but really, what would or could they do? They don’t strike me as being terribly motivated to do anything other than post ignorant stuff on Facebook.

    Well, they did harass the artist who the micropenis portrait of Trump online, and found out her address, and apparently assaulted her.

  123. 123.

    Anne Laurie

    @gf120581:

    Ernest and Scott are not bad choices, however. Perhaps OK Gov. Mary Fallin (who is “100% for Trump” today) too. Basically someone as crazy as Trump, or someone who doesn’t have a political future (Scott and Fallin are both done post 2018) and therefore doesn’t mind getting sucked in with the Trump vortex.

    Ernst has too high a profile to make Donald happy, but you’re right about Scott Walker and Mary Fallin. They’re both experienced at sucking up to rich old men, and neither one has enough of a profile to make Trump feel small. And they’re dumb enough not to make him look stupid, as well.

  124. 124.

    Citizen_X

    I’m in moderation limbo. Maybe because I used the proper term for the male sex organ? Is that it?

  125. 125.

    Prescott Cactus

    Joe Scarborough.

    Dumpster would love having Mika B show up at the White House once in a while. . .

  126. 126.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Tithonia:

    Trump is a Manchurian candidate controlled by Melania.

    You can’t spell “megalomania” without “melania.”

  128. 128.

    Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class

    @karen marie:

    We had first class tickets on the train, but the ride was too short for anything but snacks (it was about a two hour ride, and only two stops between the airport and Firenze). We decided to stick with our luggage, and dozed off intermittently rather than head to the bar car. The ruins in Rome mingled with modern city were humbling, and the countryside between the cities was stunning.

  129. 129.

    gf120581

    @Anne Laurie: I actually mean Rick Scott, not Scott Walker. Scotty still thinks he has a future and therefore won’t come near Trump if he can help it.

  134. 134.

    rk

    @Cacti:

    Nikki Haley is who I’m suspecting.

    I don’t think he’ll ever choose Nikki Haley. She said mean things against him. He will never forgive that in a woman. It’s not in his nature (if my reading of that narcissistic buffoon in correct).

  135. 135.

    Dadadadadadada

    @srv: Webb’s a Marine. He’d punch you right in the face for calling him a soldier.

  136. 136.

    catclub

    @debbie:

    Does the administration have authority to deny Trump access prior to the election?

    Of course they do. Giving CIA briefings to possible presidents is a norm.
    I doubt there is a law that says likely Democratic and republican nominees get CIA briefings, but green party and libertarian candidates don’t. That kind of thing does not get written down. It is like Secret service protection. Obama got it early.

  137. 137.

    catclub

    @enplaned:

    It’s going to be someone like a Christie whose bolt is already shot.

    New York asshole and New Jersey asshole. Maybe not.

  138. 138.

    Elie

    @Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class:

    You are so blessed! If you get a chance, try pasta (usually bucatini) Amatriciana. Its a pasta that is native to Amatrice — about 80 miles north of Rome. It is amazing — a wonderful red sauce with pancetta and romano/parmesan and sometimes basil. It is so worth it… Enjoy. And do not pass up any squid ink pasta dish either… rich and wondrous — you will never forget it!

  140. 140.

    qu

    I can’t see Rubio taking the VP slot — he probably thinks he has a shot at the top dog slot, or at least needs to stay in with the winners after November. Kasich is vaguely possible (Ohio!!!), but somehow I think he wouldn’t be the attack dog Trump wants. However I think Christie is both vicious enough and brainwashed by Trump to do it. He is politically washed up otherwise, and it’s a minor miracle he hasn’t been frog-marched in front of cameras with bracelets on. Trump clearly knows and likes him, and Christie relishes barking and biting enough for his master’s approval. Biggest question to me is whether he keeps the stud-collar on during the VP debate, or if the Donald lets him off the leash to go for the throat.

  141. 141.

    SciNY

    I cannot see Rubio taking the VP slot — he probably thinks he has a shot at the top dog slot, or at least needs to stay in with the winners after November. Kasich is vaguely possible (Ohio!!!), but somehow I think he wouldn’t be the attack dog Trump wants. However I think Christie is both vicious enough and brainwashed by Trump to do it. He is politically washed up otherwise, and it’s a minor miracle he hasn’t been frog-marched in front of cameras with bracelets on. Trump clearly knows and likes him, and Christie relishes barking and biting enough for his master’s approval. Biggest question to me is whether he keeps the stud-collar on during the VP debate, or if the Donald lets him off the leash to go for the throat.

  142. 142.

    Ella inNew Mexico

    As a person of Scots-Irish descendent and some of the earliest people who settled Virginia, may I say: If Jim Webb runs with Trump, he can go FUCK HIMSELF with a fucking Celtic Cross.

  146. 146.

    nellcote

    if he wants someone conspiracy minded with military experience, Allen West is the clear choice.

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