January 25, 2024

Donald Trump knew what he had to do nearly eight years ago. As a political outsider, he played the smart card. Trump, the GOP’s presidential nominee, picked a stiff as his running mate, someone that, first, reassured the Republican establishment. That stiff was Mike Pence. No, no, no… Set aside hindsight. Pence was a solid choice in July 2016.

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Trump wanted to build a Team of Rivals. Pence was meant as a bridge to the Ryans and McConnells and the broader D.C. establishment. That move failed bigly. The establishment didn’t want a bridge. Accommodation? Nah, unless Trump sold his soul.

Now it’s 2024. Trump doesn’t owe the rotting establishment a blessed thing — other than payback (alternatively called justice). His veep pick this go-round won’t have anything to do with making nice to D.C. lifers. Trump has been emancipated by the very elites who have worked overtime to trip him up and destroy him. The irony is richer than Mark Zuckerberg.

What scares elites is that Trump as 47 would be “one and done.” His 48-month lease on 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue would expire at high noon on January 20, 2029, no exceptions. No looking ahead to a second term. No worrying about reelection. Trump unleashed makes elites tremble.

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Of course, Trump has to get elected. Given the crummy state of the nation and Biden’s feebleness and corruption, Trump wins a fair fight. But the fight coming will be anything but fair, that we know. We’re in for a heckuva brouhaha. Victory isn’t guaranteed.

Last Sunday, Trump downplayed who he’d pick as his running mate. He told Fox News’ Brett Baier (via The Hill) that “People won’t be that surprised.” Of course, Trump knows a wee bit about marketing. Is it possible that he’s underselling? Everything is timing, so maybe Trump is planning a surprise.

Trump also said: “Well, it’s [the VP pick] never really had that much of an effect on an election, which is an amazing thing, both election and primary.”

True that mostly, particularly when Trump is centerstage. Trump rivets. The man is a phenomenon in politics. Otherwise, voters are wondering if the ‘24 elections explode. It’s kind of a morbid fascination. Add to the mix the establishment’s fiendish attempts to railroad 45. If lawfare doesn’t work, the elites will hatch other schemes to try to waylay Trump. By comparison, a VP pick may seem incidental, but it’s not, not this go-round.

In fact, for Democrats, the veep choice wasn’t an afterthought in 2020. Cast your mind back four years. Elites insisted that addled Joe Biden run with acid-tongued, birdbrained Kamala Harris. She’s of-color and identifies as female, though that ranks lower than trans, nonetheless… Brains, talent, temperament? Small stuff.

If Biden is incapacitated or dies, does anyone this side of box checking progressives and googly-eyed suburban women believe that President Kamala would imperil the Republic?