You’re giving a lot of credit to Maga reactionaries to dismiss the glaring fact she’s a woman.
She would pull lots of the middle back that trump has thoroughly lost.
You’re assuming that the MAGA crowd will vote for a woman.
A fat white guy, an Indian woman, or an Indian guy who can’t open his mouth without sounding like a spoiled rich asshole.
If the GOP were smart enough to run the fat white guy, I guarantee they win the election by a landslide.
Edit: I forgot about the meatball! I think everyone else will too. I stand by my statement.
Fun fact. Gorsuch ruled this in Colorado, and this quote is cited in this recent ruling concerning Trump being kicked off the ballot:
But, as the magistrate judge’s opinion makes clear and we expressly reaffirm here, a state’s legitimate interest in protecting the integrity and practical functioning of the political process permits it to exclude from the ballot candidates who are constitutionally prohibited from assuming office.
That’s not an issue with them.
You’re assuming that the MAGA crowd will vote for a woman.
If Trump is disqualified I wonder if the Dems tap Newsom or whoever else they have waiting in line to run instead of Biden. I don’t think Biden can beat DeSantis or Haley
Nikki Haley polls well against Biden and would further their goals just fine I think.
A candidate who isn’t around Biden’s age group would likely be more successful that one who is.
Nikki Haley polls well against Biden and would further their goals just fine I think.
Truth. The useful fool has outlived his usefulness.
They don’t need Trump to reach their conservative goals. They want to enforce the existing hegemony, not wreak havoc for their wealthy benefactors.
Mostly but he can pied-piper his band of useful fools into not voting. The only inducement Haley could offer trump to get him to rally his troops for her is a solid promise to derail all of his legal troubles, something she could not do if elected.
Truth. The useful fool has outlived his usefulness.
But the billionaire backers of the GOP now know for a fact that as long as Trump is around, he owns the party. If he loses in 2024 his animated corpse will still win the 2028 GOP nomination in a landslide.
Trump is loved by the conservative base, disliked/hated by most conservative elites, and feared by conservative politicians. But Supreme Court justices with lifetime appointments are largely free from political pressure.
It wouldn’t surprise me if most of the conservatives on the Supreme Court rule Trump is ineligible under 14th amendment, because they realize (1) he did try to commit insurrection, (2) another Trump term would tear this country further apart, (3) Trump will have a hard time being president with four felony trials on going (and strong evidence of guilt in all four), and (4) the Republican party should be stronger electorally without Trump controlling it.
That said, removing Trump from the ballot will likely be horrible for Republicans in 2024 as Trump is a self-centered narcissist who will try and implode the GOP and get Republicans to protest the vote (or start a civil war or whatever, which will further justify their actions).
Unfortunately, the conservative SCOTUS has shown itself to be quite willing to be inconsistent in service of conservative goals.
The funny thing is that while blocking Trump for the ballot would be awful for the GOP in '24, it’d be good for the GOP in subsequent elections; the meltdown would happen and they’d be able to move past it and rebuild as a (more or less) normal political party again.
They’ve definitely poisoned the well for me. I used to vote for the occasional conservative, but aligning themselves with trump and his rhetoric is beyond the pale. I’m voting straight blue for the foreseeable future regardless of them trying to walk back the damage they’ve done.