• xmunk
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    7 months ago

    What a bizarrely titled article. The entire thing is an opinion piece but I do think there’s some legitimacy for thinking that Trump’s deteriorating mental state will become harder to hide but to get him effectively off the ballot that slippage will need to be widely recognized before the RNC convention on July 15th. In the unlikely event that he’s generally perceived as a gibbering idiot by that date there’s pretty much no chance that Lara Trump nor Michael Whatley would consider a super-delegate style override of the primary results… if it was still in the hands of establishment GOPers that might be possible but would still be highly irregular and unlikely.

    I am curious to see how public perception of Trump shifts but given the electoral system Trump will be on that fucking ballot in November unless he’s literally dead - to do anything else would result in vote splitting that’d guarantee a democratic victory (which would be nice - but GOPers aren’t likely to go for it).

    If Trump was publicly committed to senior care, openly announced his dementia and endorsed some other candidate (all highly unlikely given the narcissism) he’d still get 20% of the popular vote from the paranoid and low information voters.

    • TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      If Trump was publicly committed to senior care, openly announced his dementia and endorsed some other candidate (all highly unlikely given the narcissism) he’d still get 20% of the popular vote from the paranoid and low information voters.

      Dont tease me.

      • xmunk
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        7 months ago

        Given the narcissism, it’s more likely for Trump to come out onstage and say, “Je suis Napoleon, Vote for me over sleepy joe!” Than ever admitting to a personal flaw.

    • cogman@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      In the unlikely event that he’s generally perceived as a gibbering idiot by that date there’s pretty much no chance that Lara Trump nor Michael Whatley would consider a super-delegate style override of the primary results

      They can’t, like legally and literally. The RNC rules are setup without super delegates and they can’t backport those in right before the convention.

      Literally the only thing that would keep him off the ballot is if either he dies (which will be a HUGE clusterfuck) or a court ruling finds him ineligible to hold office (which, he just won cases keeping him off the ballot so that’s really unlikely).

      He could be drooling on stage while actively shitting his depends, he’s still going on the ballot. That was 1000% on display with Dianne Feinstein, for literally years, she showed very clear signs of dementia/Alzheimer’s.

      And the scary thing is that none of this will stop Trumpers from voting for him. They’d write his name in even if he does die.

      • xmunk
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        7 months ago

        “Can’t” is a word you should never use when it comes to politics. It’s all about costs and while there may be customs and norms and charters and rules… they aren’t laws and can be bent - just at a cost. There are no laws about how political parties nominate electors and recent history should tell you that even laws can be bent.

        Otherwise, yea, I totally agree.

      • Peppycito
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        7 months ago

        The dementia was Reagan’s biggest plank in his platform. Those actually making the decisions found it super helpful. That’s why this time they’re running 2 demented candidates. Even if they lose they win.