Current Events > It's fanfiction time: "Republicans who could run against Trump"

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https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/12/24/republicans-who-could-run-against-trump

Given that the Republicans, particularly in Congress, have largely ceded their party to Trump, the 2020 campaign seems headed toward a contest between him and the Democratic nominee. The Democrats now have to decide what kind of candidate they want. But why should the Republicans be let off the hook? Those who dont share Trumps more corrosive views often wallow in the perception of their own powerlessness. Yet they have options, if they choose to use them, including one that the Democrats dont. They can challenge Trump in the primaries.

Trump knows that, which is why his campaign is already working to engineer a premptive endorsement in the New Hampshire primary, the first in the nation, from the state Party, which traditionally remains neutral. He could be much more vulnerable by August of 2020, when the Republican National Convention meets in Charlotte, North Carolina, depending on, among other things, how the Mueller investigation develops. (Last week, forty-four former senators, ten of them Republicans, signed an open letter, urging the Senate to uphold the rule of law; it reads like a foreshadowing of a crisis.)

One Republican who has been openly considering a run against Trump is John Kasich, the outgoing governor of Ohio, who was the last candidate to drop out of the 2016 Presidential primaries. He has been to New Hampshire twice recently, and his advisers have spoken out against the attempt to change the state Party rules. Still, Kasich told the Columbus Dispatch last week, Maybe the Lord will say, John, enough of you for 30 years, enough of you. Go sit somewhere in the corner, shut up for awhile. He is not alone in this wavering. I do hope that somebody else runs in the Republican primary, Senator Jeff Flake, of Arizona, who will retire next month, said in October. But, he added, I dont see that happening in my case. Ten days later, he said, Im not ruling it outbut I need a break.

Perhaps a way to speed matters up is to put some more names on the table. Mitt Romney, once a vocal opponent of Trump, was just elected to the U.S. Senate from Utah, and so he has an active political operation. Romneys old running mate, Paul Ryan, who is retiring as Speaker of the House, and liked to hint, when convenient, that he was not happy with the President, might want to prove that he meant it. Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina, left her job as Trumps U.N. Ambassador with her dignity intacta harder trick than winning some primariesand may be positioning herself for a post-Trump moment. Why wait until 2024? Aside from Romney, several other senators could be potential challengers. Rob Portman, Kasichs fellow-Ohioan, had considered running in 2016, and withdrew his endorsement of Trump after the Access Hollywood tape emerged. Lisa Murkowski, of Alaska, most recently showed her independence with her No vote on Brett Kavanaughs confirmation. Susan Collins, of Maine, a frequent Trump critic, voted the other way, but that might prove useful with G.O.P. primary voters. Last month, Bob Corker, of Tennessee, who is also retiring, said, when asked if he might run in 2020, that he hadnt ruled it out. In September, when Ben Sasse, of Nebraska, who talks a lot about his problems with Trump, was asked the same thing, he said that the odds are a lot higher that I run for the noxious-weed-control board of Dodge County. But he allowed that such odds were better than zero.

The idea that there is either a willingness among Republican politicians to seriously challenge Trump or a desire among voters for one is fantasy.
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Jeb!.meme
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Ugh. Not looking forward to voting for Kasich in the primary again. It made me sick last time, but I had to do what I could to counter Trump.
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Antifar posted...

The idea that there is either a willingness among Republican politicians to seriously challenge Trump or a desire among voters for one is fantasy.

gop voters desire to see him crowned king. democrat voters desire to see him executed for treason
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In my opinion, trump should be made into a human centipede with just himself.
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