Trump has plenty of former partners, both on a business and a personal level. Now it’s time for him to select another disposable person who exists only to bolster his own interests: His running mate.
Normally at this point in the process, we’d be seeing the names of representatives and senators bandied about—who is a rising star? Who has an edge in a swing state? Who can provide that semi-mythical “balance” to the ticket?
However, this time around, things are just a wee bit different.
Influential Republicans have labeled [Trump] dishonest, demagogic, dangerous, even racist. So if he secures the nomination, running as his partner brings unusually high risks.
Where normally being tapped for veep is seen as a sign of respect, playing second fiddle to The Donald is more a subject for snickers. At first glance, it seems like a role suited only for those who are so deluded they think Trump is super-cool (Steve King), or for those who have found that fancy pageant walking is no longer enough to fuel the interest of reality shows (Sarah Palin). But there is a third group ...
Recent presidents have conferred more power on their vice presidents than earlier in United States history. Should Mr. Trump win the White House, his lack of government experience and small inner circle would magnify the potential for vice-presidential influence.
Join us again next week for another episode of Chris Christie, puppet master.
Unlike other former denizens of the Republican debate podium forest, Christie was smart enough to get out without leaving a huge impression. And any lingering “wasn’t he a candidate?” memory has been submerged by his glassy-eyed performance as the Turtle of Trump’s entourage. Falling into the Yes, Mr. Trump line so early would definitely seem to give Christie an inside track … and almost certainly guarantees that Trump will send him to the showers. Just to watch him wriggle.
But there’s one reason Trump might want to cling to Christie:
No politician profits by association with epic defeat. William Miller, Sargent Shriver and Geraldine Ferraro, vice-presidential nominees on the wrong end of landslides in 1964, 1972 and 1984, never won an election afterward.
Why is this a Christie advantage? Because Christie doesn’t expect to win another election. He’s done with elections. He knows he’s not going to be president and he’s way tired of hanging around, pretending to care about Jersey. Christie may be the only person so utterly f#@k-free that he’ll stand there and let Donald talk.
For younger Republicans on the rise — including Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, Senator Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, and Gov. Nikki R. Haley of South Carolina — that represents a sobering track record.
No matter how roughed up they are at the moment, these are people who, in a season where Republicans have sacrificed an entire generation of Deep Bench, feel like they might keep their heads down for the next eight years and emerge as saviors of whatever remains of the GOP. They have about as much interest in answering Trump’s call as they do in signing up to skinny dip at an Ebola quarantine facility.
The consequences would be a smaller consideration for the likes of John Kasich, the twice-elected Ohio governor serving in the House and now on his second presidential run, or Chris Christie, whose wounds from two terms as New Jersey governor hobbled his unsuccessful nomination bid this year.
Kasich would make sense except for one thing: Kasich is the only guy in the race with more ego than Trump or Cruz. He’ll come through this season convinced that had the party only had the sense to select him … then he’ll spend 2020 waiting for that Please Save Us Mitt Romney rescue call. He’s as gone as Jeb!, but he doesn’t know it. This is already the second time Kasich has run. He has all the signs of a future Harold Stassen.
By just about any logic, it’s going to be Christie. But it won’t be.