by wj
In a press conference this morning, Donald Trump announced that, upon receiving te Republican party nomination, he will be joined on the ticket by Senator Bernie Sanders. Trump cited their common views on a variety of issues. Trump declined to specify just what those common views might be, his response being "Anyone who has given me a fair hearing will be well aware of them."
Some experts speculate that, if Trump is elected in November, Sanders will function as the actual head of government, leaving Trump to focus on those things he does best. They refer to the Bush/Cheney administration as an example, albeit a less complete one. They seem relieved that Trump is not looking to name someone akin to Sarah Palin, which would have left the government with nobody visibly in charge.
Other experts, however, think that idea is delusional. They see no way that Trump would allow anyone else to have anything more than a (minor) supporting role. As for common positions, they argue that even assuming, forthe sake of discussion, that there are common positons today, there is no reason to believe that those will be Trump's positions tomorrow.
However, the best guess would seem to be that strategic considerations are in play. Trump is aware that those on the right most likely to be outraged by his administration's positions will have one thing in common: they would hate the idea of a Sanders administration far more. This means that the chances of an assassination attempt are greatly reduced. (Apparently the fact that Senator Sanders has been strong on the 2nd Amendment, and the obvious implications of that, is among those things that Mr Trump is blissfully ignorant of. Which should surprise nobody.)
Senator Sanders' compaign did not have any immediate reaction -- beyond the eye rolls of campaign spokesmen.
Happy April 1st, everybody!
You ruined it with the "Happy April 1st" line at the end!
Posted by: Davebo | April 01, 2016 at 05:41 AM
oh crap. it's really 4/1. my least favorite day of the year!
Posted by: cleek | April 01, 2016 at 08:57 AM
I am hoping for a Trump-Cruz Unity Ticket.
Posted by: Ugh | April 01, 2016 at 09:51 AM
I'll be voting the ticket.
For today only.
Posted by: Nigel | April 01, 2016 at 10:17 AM
I would have liked an addition:
Trump campaign staffers confess that while the Trump platform has been strong on nationalism, it has been lacking some important planks. They expressed certainty that Sanders, as a socialist, would allow Trump to become a full-fledged national socialist.
Posted by: Lurker | April 01, 2016 at 10:34 AM
You ruined it with the "Happy April 1st" line at the end!
Sorry, Dave. But the way this campaign season has gone, it would have been all too easy for someone to believe it. And I didn't want to deal with demands for a link to the transcript .... ;-)
Posted by: wj | April 01, 2016 at 11:23 AM
It's a campaign which makes this seem downright plausible:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VO-1ePYypdU
Posted by: wj | April 01, 2016 at 05:21 PM
One of the big issues of the campaign will be thw Supreme Court. For those concerned about what difference it might make, consider this exceptionally narrow decision by the court today:
http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/15pdf/14-940_ed9g.pdf
That's right. The decision, on the conservative challenge to the idea of counting those not eligible to vote (children, legal and illegal aliens, etc.) in drawing districts, was really close. In a Court split evenly between liberals and conservative, the decision was 8-0.
Maybe Thomas, Alito, etc. are closet liberals?
Posted by: wj | April 04, 2016 at 03:35 PM
This looks moderately entertaining:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wji-BZ0oCwg
Posted by: Ugh | April 07, 2016 at 12:31 PM