Do you think the Republicans have a backup candidate?

Definitely Romney. He's teed up and ready. He would also be tough to beat this time.

Probably Kid Rock or Ted Nugent.

There are some Republicans who would love to be that backup candidate but no, not unless there is a total Trump meltdown, and maybe not even then. For better or worse, it's the Trump Party now.

Pence

[quote] I can’t see it being Pence

Why?

he's too gay

Sean Hannity and Lindsey Graham will fight for the honor of succeeding Trump. That way they can use Trump's popularity and their proximity to him to ride into office. Now that should keep you up nights.

I tend to agree with r3, the whole thing now that it's Trump's party is not to have a Plan B. But clearly Ivanka is being groomed to be the first woman President of the United States.

Pence is the only person who can keep the Trump supporters together.

DJT 2016-2026 (2 years added due to Witch Hunt); Ivanka 2026-2034; Eric 2034-2042; Barron 2042-2050

Not Mittens, he's especially unsuitable now as an effete elite after the chipper-shredder Trump, and he's a lousy campaigner anyway.

Paul Ryan.

Kellyanne will do it!

Kellyanne will do ANYTHING . . .

Sarah Suckabeast.

R9, Have you noticed that the Trump 2020 signs don't include the name "Pence?"

Mitt Romney is still mistrusted by many of the base who think the LDS Church is a cult and not very Christian.

Neither Ivanka nor Trump's sons have sufficient support either. Don't forget many who voted for Trump did so because they hated Hillary. It was a question of who do you fear the most, rather than who do you like the best.

Paul Ryan's an Establishment candidate and many who support Trump are really Independents and Isolationists, even Libertarians. Generally they're extremely distrustful of government. Trump's best attribute to them is that we've not directly engaged in direct warfare, yet. Also there are those whose guns (hunting for food) are a way of life as well as protection.

Romney would be a credible candidate, but I think Cruz would mince and prance until he sucks all the air out of the room. Barring that, he’d have his dad off the opposition.

Nikki Haley, former U.N. ambassador and governor of South Carolina, is a possibility.

She’d be popular with the Republican base, R18

R17, Cruz is too negative of a personality to win a national election.

R18, Nikki Haley might be a potential VP candidate but isn't widely supported.

I've seen polls on pro-Trump sites and there really isn't a clear alternative or a new choice for 2024.

I'm tanned, rested, and ready!

Nikki Haley is prepping for 2024

As long as the Dems don't have a credible candidate, It doesn't matter who the Repub candidate is.

They don't need a backup candidate.

Nancy Pelosi has their back.

Trump plans to run Ivanka as VP in 2020

I was gonna say Iwanker too.

Paul Ryan, that is why he resigned.

Watch for Trump to get wind of this and begin a pre emptive assault on him.

Mike will NOT be running. Think of those women's hands he'd have to touch? No fucking way.

The Republican base will not vote for Romney.

Not to mention he is a closet queen.

Not Paul Ryan either. He’s a lightweight coward.

[quote]Sean Hannity and Lindsey Graham will fight for the honor of succeeding Trump.

Lindsey Graham already ran in 2016 and couldn’t get above 0% in the polls.

[quote]Paul Ryan, that is why he resigned. Watch for Trump to get wind of this and begin a pre emptive assault on him.

Interesting, because just last night Trump took to Twitter to start trashing Ryan.

Trump will pick Ivanka to be his running mate. The only thing Trump could imagine that would be better than Trump would be two Trumps. You don't see Pence's name on Trump's new campaign material because the VP nominee's name is alread there. And it is Trump.

Most importantly, Ivanka is the one person he can depend on to give him that presidential pardon he badly needs. Once she takes the oath of office, Pee Brain can plan his retirement. Ivanka moves up, pardons Daddy, and then... our ruin as a nation is complete.

Agree that Trump will probably dump Pence.

Barr will be his running mate in 2020. Or Bannon.

He won't pick a fat running mate. He wants one that is 'great looking.'

He'll pick a fat one to make himself look slimmer.

He might pick Barr.

Roseanne?

[quote]The Republican base will not vote for Romney.

Ummm ... possibly not in a primary, but they certainly will in an election. Do you think they voted for Obama?

they may have ideas but the Rethugs are actually a very divided party internally. They operate as a single minded hive out of fear of being primaried and because they understand the power of a unified, if ungodly stupid, front.

McConnel keeps them in line but he can only do it because of Trumps popularity with the base. Take trump out of the equation and you have the same clustefuck of opposing agendas that sank their pathetic attempts to legislatively destroy healtcare when they had the house and senate.

Whomever they get to run will be A. stupid to even accept and B. Wildy unnaceptable to the vast majority of indepnendent and moderate voters who will decide the election

We could always start the taunts of asking if he can pick a heterosexual vice president next time?

Hey, if he’s just more comfortable with nancy boys, he should just come out.

[quote] Interesting, because just last night Trump took to Twitter to start trashing Ryan.

Are you saying Trump reads Datalounge, R32?

POTUS is on here all the time. He's the frenulum troll.

Lindsey vs. Pete. Wigs will fly.

Jon Voight for VP. He could play the part beautifully.

WOOLERY

Think about this: Janine Pirro or Sean Hannity on a possible short list. I believe Nikki Haley has the inside track.

It would have to be someone none too educated and rather dim but presentable and telegenic whom they can manipulate. Like Reagan, Bush, W and Toadstool.

Poor Paul Ryan. He spent all his time in DC rimming Trump and Trump has no appreciation

No, they don't have a plan for anything- literally.

Chuck Woolery would be the perfect choice—but the Republican establishment is too blinkered to realize it.

Kasich, Christie and Hogan all raised the possibility of running earlier in the year, but all backed down because Trump's approval rating was too high within the Republican party. If Trump collapsed, any one of them could jump into the race. Kasich and Hogan already had committees. Don't know about Christie.

Romney tough to beat? Just ask him what he's done for Detroit.

You don't need a backup candidate, that just silly.

Kasich's problem is that he's anti-Trump, and in this political climate, he has no chance of winning Trump's base. Hogan is well-liked in Maryland, but he lacks a national presence. Christie is liked generally by Trump voters and he's building a national presence thanks to ABC, but he still has two major problems: 1) he's not a racist, which apparently is now a negative with Republicans, and 2) Bridgegate is heading to the Supreme Court.

Bridgegate is a mixed blessing. The bad news for Christie is that Bridgegate is going to be relitigated in the press over and over. The good news is that a lot of the original reporting was sloppy, so Christie will have a chance to correct the record. The bad news is that reporting is still bound to be sloppy, because that's just what journalistic standards are these days. The good news is that the Bridgegate duo are apparently likely to have their convictions overturned, which sets up the narrative that this was a political prosecution by a Democratic administration. Last time around the Republican establishment left Christie swinging in the wind, but this time around, the narrative of a political prosecution fits in with Trump's desperate need to convince the public that the Mueller investigation was prosecutorial overreach, so more Republicans might jump in to support Christie and condemn the Obama Justice Department. The bad news is that Bridgegate also draws attention to Jared Kushner's working relationship with David Wildstein, and how the duo tried to derail Christie's career in the past, so Trump's administration might want to distract from Bridgegate as much as possible. So.... Bridgegate is still a wild card.

The Republicans are done. Ivanka will not be in any more offices once 45 is out.

Tucker Carlson could win Trump's base.