By Quin Hillyer at the Washington Examiner;
President Trump is incompetent, invincibly ignorant and emotionally incontinent.
He rages like a bellowing baboon, evinces the integrity of Joe Isuzu, and shows the self-control of Lindsay Lohan on a bender. He shoots himself in the foot so regularly that his entire presidency may soon have no leg to stand on.
Plenty of smart people now believe Trump will be gone from the Oval Office by Labor Day, either by resignation or impeachment or via Section 4 of the 25th Amendment. It is not an unreasonable assumption.
If that happens – and this is purely hypothetical, not predictive – plenty of pressing questions will suggest themselves. Such as will President Pence emphasize the same policies as Trump? Will Pence completely re-staff the West Wing? Will the public and the media give Pence a honeymoon period?
But the biggest question, right off the bat, will be: Whom will Pence nominate for vice president?
Names that will arise but will not be chosen include Jeb Bush, Paul Ryan, Ted Cruz, Newt Gingrich and Condoleezza Rice. Solid choices who surely will be seriously considered include Scott Walker, Rick Perry, Jim Mattis and Ben Sasse.
But here’s both a prediction and a preference: If Trump leaves office, New Hampshire’s former attorney general and Sen. Kelly Ayotte will be Pence’s choice. And for good reason.
Even though Ayotte lost her bid for re-election last year – she appeared to be dragged down by Trump, who lost by a bigger margin than she did in New Hampshire – her personal favorability ratings remained net positive in the midst of a strongly negative campaign waged against her.
Ayotte is impressive, serious, and knowledgeable, but also likable and approachable. Her background as a prosecutor and her reputation for probity would make her a good counterpoint to the Trump administration’s disregard for ordinary norms of behavior. Her embrace, in the Senate, of issues related to the military and homeland security, and her reputation for sober-minded realism in foreign affairs, will play well with Trump’s “national-security voters.” Trump’s blue-collar supporters will also like that she worked across the partisan aisle to focus on boosts for manufacturing workers…..
[The column continues at this site.]
