Wednesday, February 24, 2016 7:40:36 PM
Trump is No. 1, but who's his No. 2?
In June 2015, Donald Trump told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos that he wanted Oprah Winfrey as his running mate. | AP Photo
SIMON SAYS
By Roger Simon
02/24/16 05:07 AM EST
The media often act like we have a sacred duty to exaggerate. We believe that if something is worth doing, it is worth overdoing.
Thus, in just a few short months, we have gone from saying it is impossible for Donald Trump to win the Republican nomination to saying it is inevitable that Donald Trump will win the Republican nomination.
Because of this, I have decided to dispense with the remaining primaries and caucuses, stories about superdelegates, brokered conventions and the usual yada-yada and get right down to it:
Who will Trump choose as his running mate?
Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, who has one of the longest titles in politics — professor of the Practice of Public Policy Communication, Sol Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California — put her finger right on it.
“The Donald’s first choice is The Donald,” she said.
Trump on witness list in fraud case against now-defunct Trump University
By Kimberly Hefling
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/02/donald-trump-university-fraud-case-witness-219695
But there are constitutional problems with that, and, besides, vice presidents are convenient to have around in case you need someone to attend a funeral.
So I contacted 22 people, which is 22 people more than I usually contact for a column, to ask them their predictions for Trump’s running mate.
Some did not want to play.
“Anyone who would run with Trump is too vile for me to think about,” said Garry Wills, a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and author of more than 40 books.
Others were downright apocalyptic.
“My first job was with Jesse Helms,” said Juleanna Glover, presenting her conservative credentials. “I lived with Phyllis Schlafly. I worked for Dan Quayle, George W. Bush, Bill Kristol, Steve Forbes, Rudy Giuliani, Dick Cheney and spent half my career with John Ashcroft.”
And her views on Trump?
“He is inherently dangerous to the national interest,” she said. “Trump as the nominee is destructive, and anyone who would seriously consider being his vice president is an accomplice to that destruction.”
Tom Rath, on the other hand, was willing to provide a list. Rath is one of the most respected political operatives in the Republican Party and has served as a senior national adviser to the presidential campaigns of Howard Baker, Robert Dole, Lamar Alexander, George W. Bush, Mitt Romney and John Kasich.
Trump: Murder wouldn't drive my supporters away
By Nolan D. McCaskill
http://www.politico.com/blogs/2016-gop-primary-live-updates-and-results/2016/02/2016-trump-supporters-murder-219687
“Far be it from me to give Trump advice,” he said and then listed 13 suggestions “in no particular order.” I have included some, with descriptions in case not every name rings a bell:
Jeff Immelt: chairman and CEO of General Electric.
John Thune: Republican senator from South Dakota.
Jeb Bush: Oh, c’mon, you didn’t forget that fast.
Joe Scarborough with or without Mika Brzezinski: Two politically influential MSNBC superstars who could switch off every other month.
Charlie Baker: Republican governor of Massachusetts.
Roger Goodell: commissioner of the National Football League.
Tim Scott: Republican senator from South Carolina, and the only African-American in U.S. history ever to be elected to both the House and Senate.
Oprah Winfrey: Born into poverty in Mississippi, she became a talk show host, actress, producer, author and multibillionaire philanthropist. She gave me an interview when she came to Chicago to start a TV talk show in 1984. At the time, I was probably better known in Chicago than she was. That lasted about five minutes.
In June 2015, Trump himself told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos that he wanted Oprah as his running mate. “I think we’d win easily, actually,” he said. “I like Oprah. I mean, is that supposed to be a bad thing? I don’t think so.”
But could Oprah, a big backer of Barack Obama, be selected by the Republican National Convention? “Over the years, I have voted for as many Republicans as I have Democrats,” Oprah said in December 2007 when she endorsed Obama. “This isn’t about partisanship for me. This is very, very personal.”
When Obama spoke to the crowd, he asked: “You want Oprah as vice president?”
The crowd roared. “That would be a demotion, you understand that?” Obama said.
2016 Trump wins Nevada caucuses
By Shane Goldmacher
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/02/nevada-gop-caucus-2016-219685
While it might be close, I am guessing the delegates to the Republic convention would go along with Oprah as vice president if only in the hope that she would give each of them a Pontiac.
Bill McInturff, a Republican pollster, said: “I assume Trump would double down on his positioning, not pick anyone with a career in elected politics — so, someone with significant military experience seems like one possibility.”
Democratic crisis communications expert Chris Lehane said: “He shouldn’t/wouldn’t look for balance as that would undermine the brand.
“First, military background. If Curtis LeMay were available, he would be perfect. (Inconveniently, LeMay died in 1990.)
“Second, the anti-pol. Gov. Paul LePage of Maine is a poor man’s Trump.
"Third, sports figure. Peyton Manning [quarterback of the Denver Broncos] may be retiring.”
While most analysts are careful to hedge their bets just in case they turn out to be wrong, Charlie Cook is not most analysts. “I don’t believe that Trump will ultimately be the Republican nominee,” he said.
“Trump’s chances of winning a general election are so small that even if he did, the odds of his administration being a disaster are huge. So for a young and ambitious Republican, hitching your wagon to his horse could well be a career ender.”
Cook said, “A lot of top-tier names and talent are off the table.”
”I question why any major figure or rising star in the party would want to become joined at the hip with Donald Trump,” Cook said. “That means he is likely to get a second- or third-tier person.”
Which makes my prediction perfect: She has run for the job before, she knows how to debate and give a good convention speech and she has even invented her own language.
When she endorsed Trump on Jan. 20 at Iowa State University, she said: “Trump’s candidacy, it has exposed not just that tragic the ramifications of that betrayal of the transformation of our country, but too, he has exposed the complicity on both sides of the aisle that has enabled it, OK?”
OK. And that’s right, my guess is that Trump will select Sarah Palin as his running mate.
Why? Because she makes Trump sound like a genius.
Roger Simon is Politico’s chief political columnist.
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/02/donald-trump-running-mate-pick-opinion-219692
See also:
Romney: There's a 'bombshell' in Trump's tax returns
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=120761081
In June 2015, Donald Trump told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos that he wanted Oprah Winfrey as his running mate. | AP Photo
SIMON SAYS
By Roger Simon
02/24/16 05:07 AM EST
The media often act like we have a sacred duty to exaggerate. We believe that if something is worth doing, it is worth overdoing.
Thus, in just a few short months, we have gone from saying it is impossible for Donald Trump to win the Republican nomination to saying it is inevitable that Donald Trump will win the Republican nomination.
Because of this, I have decided to dispense with the remaining primaries and caucuses, stories about superdelegates, brokered conventions and the usual yada-yada and get right down to it:
Who will Trump choose as his running mate?
Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, who has one of the longest titles in politics — professor of the Practice of Public Policy Communication, Sol Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California — put her finger right on it.
“The Donald’s first choice is The Donald,” she said.
Trump on witness list in fraud case against now-defunct Trump University
By Kimberly Hefling
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/02/donald-trump-university-fraud-case-witness-219695
But there are constitutional problems with that, and, besides, vice presidents are convenient to have around in case you need someone to attend a funeral.
So I contacted 22 people, which is 22 people more than I usually contact for a column, to ask them their predictions for Trump’s running mate.
Some did not want to play.
“Anyone who would run with Trump is too vile for me to think about,” said Garry Wills, a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and author of more than 40 books.
Others were downright apocalyptic.
“My first job was with Jesse Helms,” said Juleanna Glover, presenting her conservative credentials. “I lived with Phyllis Schlafly. I worked for Dan Quayle, George W. Bush, Bill Kristol, Steve Forbes, Rudy Giuliani, Dick Cheney and spent half my career with John Ashcroft.”
And her views on Trump?
“He is inherently dangerous to the national interest,” she said. “Trump as the nominee is destructive, and anyone who would seriously consider being his vice president is an accomplice to that destruction.”
Tom Rath, on the other hand, was willing to provide a list. Rath is one of the most respected political operatives in the Republican Party and has served as a senior national adviser to the presidential campaigns of Howard Baker, Robert Dole, Lamar Alexander, George W. Bush, Mitt Romney and John Kasich.
Trump: Murder wouldn't drive my supporters away
By Nolan D. McCaskill
http://www.politico.com/blogs/2016-gop-primary-live-updates-and-results/2016/02/2016-trump-supporters-murder-219687
“Far be it from me to give Trump advice,” he said and then listed 13 suggestions “in no particular order.” I have included some, with descriptions in case not every name rings a bell:
Jeff Immelt: chairman and CEO of General Electric.
John Thune: Republican senator from South Dakota.
Jeb Bush: Oh, c’mon, you didn’t forget that fast.
Joe Scarborough with or without Mika Brzezinski: Two politically influential MSNBC superstars who could switch off every other month.
Charlie Baker: Republican governor of Massachusetts.
Roger Goodell: commissioner of the National Football League.
Tim Scott: Republican senator from South Carolina, and the only African-American in U.S. history ever to be elected to both the House and Senate.
Oprah Winfrey: Born into poverty in Mississippi, she became a talk show host, actress, producer, author and multibillionaire philanthropist. She gave me an interview when she came to Chicago to start a TV talk show in 1984. At the time, I was probably better known in Chicago than she was. That lasted about five minutes.
In June 2015, Trump himself told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos that he wanted Oprah as his running mate. “I think we’d win easily, actually,” he said. “I like Oprah. I mean, is that supposed to be a bad thing? I don’t think so.”
But could Oprah, a big backer of Barack Obama, be selected by the Republican National Convention? “Over the years, I have voted for as many Republicans as I have Democrats,” Oprah said in December 2007 when she endorsed Obama. “This isn’t about partisanship for me. This is very, very personal.”
When Obama spoke to the crowd, he asked: “You want Oprah as vice president?”
The crowd roared. “That would be a demotion, you understand that?” Obama said.
2016 Trump wins Nevada caucuses
By Shane Goldmacher
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/02/nevada-gop-caucus-2016-219685
While it might be close, I am guessing the delegates to the Republic convention would go along with Oprah as vice president if only in the hope that she would give each of them a Pontiac.
Bill McInturff, a Republican pollster, said: “I assume Trump would double down on his positioning, not pick anyone with a career in elected politics — so, someone with significant military experience seems like one possibility.”
Democratic crisis communications expert Chris Lehane said: “He shouldn’t/wouldn’t look for balance as that would undermine the brand.
“First, military background. If Curtis LeMay were available, he would be perfect. (Inconveniently, LeMay died in 1990.)
“Second, the anti-pol. Gov. Paul LePage of Maine is a poor man’s Trump.
"Third, sports figure. Peyton Manning [quarterback of the Denver Broncos] may be retiring.”
While most analysts are careful to hedge their bets just in case they turn out to be wrong, Charlie Cook is not most analysts. “I don’t believe that Trump will ultimately be the Republican nominee,” he said.
“Trump’s chances of winning a general election are so small that even if he did, the odds of his administration being a disaster are huge. So for a young and ambitious Republican, hitching your wagon to his horse could well be a career ender.”
Cook said, “A lot of top-tier names and talent are off the table.”
”I question why any major figure or rising star in the party would want to become joined at the hip with Donald Trump,” Cook said. “That means he is likely to get a second- or third-tier person.”
Which makes my prediction perfect: She has run for the job before, she knows how to debate and give a good convention speech and she has even invented her own language.
When she endorsed Trump on Jan. 20 at Iowa State University, she said: “Trump’s candidacy, it has exposed not just that tragic the ramifications of that betrayal of the transformation of our country, but too, he has exposed the complicity on both sides of the aisle that has enabled it, OK?”
OK. And that’s right, my guess is that Trump will select Sarah Palin as his running mate.
Why? Because she makes Trump sound like a genius.
Roger Simon is Politico’s chief political columnist.
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/02/donald-trump-running-mate-pick-opinion-219692
See also:
Romney: There's a 'bombshell' in Trump's tax returns
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=120761081
It was Plato who said, “He, O men, is the wisest, who like Socrates, knows that his wisdom is in truth worth nothing”
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