Republicans are saying “I probably will vote for Trump, but the candidates he supported in 2022 did poorly, and I’m not sure I can trust him anymore with all those lies and things. At times, I wish there was someone else.”
This questioning of who may run is not is not an endorsement for either man, but both have age, appeal and health issues (Trump’s weight, for one), and so if either win, they many not be able to spend four years in office.The vice-presidential choice is very important.
Let me present you with an idea I read about: Rather than having the presidential candidate choose his (or her) running mate, let the GOP or Democratic delegates to the party’s national conventions each choose a vice president running ate at their separate conventions.
Some friends I have talked to said “no” immediately, saying a president has the right to pick aa running mate he is comfortable with. True, but that may not be the best thing for the party or our country.
Why?
Well, the way it is now, Biden, being a nice guy, will probably choose Kamala Harris again as his running mate. She’s a decent, conscientious person, but somehow doesn’t, for me, display the presidential charisma, strength and drive to take over if Biden gets sick.
During his administration, she’s made lots of speeches and cut many ribbons. But initially, she was asked to work on the immigration problem and related Mexican issues, and I didn’t see much happen. But Biden probably wants to be supportive of her, or doesn’t personally want to hurt her feelings, so he may again offer her the vice-presidential seat rather than tell her no.” But a convention-selected VP candidate would ease his problem. And it would be a great opportunity for some younger Democrat to have a chance at the office, which could breathe more life and spirit into the younger members of the party.
The same is true for Trump. He also could get sick in office, or get imprisoned, so the GOP VP office holder will be critical. Trump may want to choose a man who would always support and adore him, and tell him he is right, but convention attendees may look for a different type of candidate. It is very unlikely that Trump would pick Pence, because Pence didn’t do what he Trump told him regarding the electors in the 2020 presidential race. Would he pick Rudy Giuliani? Or William Barr? No. So let the conventioneers choose.
And while we are on this topic, I think the Electoral College needs some improvement. No, I don’t want to get rid of it because if we had an at-large national majority vote, then voters in six big states could select a president simply because more people are living in those states than, say, Montana, and the rest of the states combined. The bigger states tend to lean Democratic. And if six states could choose the winner, that means those living in smaller states would certainly feel their votes don’t count.
But if the Electoral College members would be required to vote proportionately in each state– e.g., if 60 percent of the votes in a state vote for the GOP candidate and 40 percent to the Democratic candidate, the allocation of votes would provide a fairer representative state voter count in the College. No more winner-take-all-rule for states. Maybe, just maybe, these ideas can catch hold in Congress and the nation -- it could make a big difference.
