protectionist
Diamond Member
- Oct 20, 2013
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There has been some talk of Trump picking Bernie Sanders as a running mate. Hey, don't put anything past Donald Trump. If he's any thing, he's unconventional. And in this election year, ANYTHING is possible. One thing about Trump is, he is a winner. He does what it take to win.
That being said, most conservatives would consider having Bernie Sanders as a VP pick of a Republican candidate to be pure heresy. I have to admit, the idea makes me cringe, and frankly, even gives me the creeps. BUT, here it comes folks....Bernie could put Trump in the White House, and keep Hillary out of it. Which is worse ? Having Bernie as a VP (who doesn't do much for 8 years), or having Hillary become POTUS. Now I'm really cringing.
So, what are the arguments in favor of a Trump/Bernie ticket ? One might say that if Bernie were VP, he'd be right in line to become president when Trump's reign is over. Well, if Trump became president and served 8 years, Bernie would be 83 years old then (2025). If he were even still alive (which he probably would be), most voters would see him as too old to be president, and his chances to get elected would be dim at best.
As president of the Senate, the VP has the ability to cast a tie-breaking vote in the case of a tie. This doesn't happen very often. Other than that, the VP roles are membership of both the National Security Council and the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, neither of which is all that earth-shaking either
So the only really major threat that Bernie's presence on the presidential ticket could be, is the possibility of him becoming president if Trump were to leave office, for any reason That is probably also a rather slim possibility (although it is scary to think about Bernie being that close to the presidency).
Then there is the question of how many votes could Trump pick up from Bernie supporters, by him joining up with Trump ? Which is also the same question as how many votes would Hillary lose ? That depends on how angry the Sanders supporters are at the Democrat nomination process, and if they think Bernie is having the nomination stolen from him, how they view Hillary and all her scandals, and how much they just plain hate her guts.
All of this also rests upon the question of would Trump even NEED Sanders ? Can he be SURE of a victory without Bernie with him ? That is something Trump and his campaign people will have to carefully assess, because they must be SURE of attaining that victory in November, This time around, reckoning just isn't going to be good enough.
That being said, most conservatives would consider having Bernie Sanders as a VP pick of a Republican candidate to be pure heresy. I have to admit, the idea makes me cringe, and frankly, even gives me the creeps. BUT, here it comes folks....Bernie could put Trump in the White House, and keep Hillary out of it. Which is worse ? Having Bernie as a VP (who doesn't do much for 8 years), or having Hillary become POTUS. Now I'm really cringing.
So, what are the arguments in favor of a Trump/Bernie ticket ? One might say that if Bernie were VP, he'd be right in line to become president when Trump's reign is over. Well, if Trump became president and served 8 years, Bernie would be 83 years old then (2025). If he were even still alive (which he probably would be), most voters would see him as too old to be president, and his chances to get elected would be dim at best.
As president of the Senate, the VP has the ability to cast a tie-breaking vote in the case of a tie. This doesn't happen very often. Other than that, the VP roles are membership of both the National Security Council and the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, neither of which is all that earth-shaking either
So the only really major threat that Bernie's presence on the presidential ticket could be, is the possibility of him becoming president if Trump were to leave office, for any reason That is probably also a rather slim possibility (although it is scary to think about Bernie being that close to the presidency).
Then there is the question of how many votes could Trump pick up from Bernie supporters, by him joining up with Trump ? Which is also the same question as how many votes would Hillary lose ? That depends on how angry the Sanders supporters are at the Democrat nomination process, and if they think Bernie is having the nomination stolen from him, how they view Hillary and all her scandals, and how much they just plain hate her guts.
All of this also rests upon the question of would Trump even NEED Sanders ? Can he be SURE of a victory without Bernie with him ? That is something Trump and his campaign people will have to carefully assess, because they must be SURE of attaining that victory in November, This time around, reckoning just isn't going to be good enough.
Bernie Sanders? 
