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While these opinion pieces titled "The Conversation" between Times columnists Gail Collins and Bret Stephens cover an array of topics, this exchange "most definitely" caught my attention:
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Gail: We both wish Joe Biden would retire and open the door for someone younger, but it sure doesn’t look likely. If he runs, Governor DeSantis, who’s 44, would be a daily reminder that Biden is in his 80s.
Bret: If it gets to that, Biden had better hope that Donald Trump brings back Teddy Roosevelt’s Bull Moose Party to split the conservative vote. Because otherwise, President DeSantis it shall be.
Gail: Age isn’t a problem for most of the Democrats who’d be likely to succeed Biden as nominee. And there’s a raft of promising possibilities people are talking about — a half-dozen governors, several senators and a couple of members of Biden’s administration.
Some of the names I like hearing are Senator Amy Klobuchar; Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan; Pete Buttigieg, the transportation secretary; and Josh Shapiro, the newly ensconced governor of Pennsylvania. Kamala Harris, you will note, is not on my list.
Bret: I noticed.
Bret then added two additional names to the "lineup": Sec Commerce Gina Raimondo and Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland.
While, unlike some of my friends who hold there is only one party - Democrats, I hold that if it's to be Joe v. Trump or Ron, either of the latter would win by a landslide.
But what if the Republican nominee turns out to be Ron? Would Trump "be a good soldier" and hit the trail for Ron, or would, especially considering the reports those two "don't exactly love each other", run Third Party?
I hold that GHWB41 would have won a second term had Ross Perot not been on a ticket and proved to be "formidable". Most of the time, Third Party candidates are some kind of "annoyance" (remember, anyone, Jill Stein from '12 and '16?), but I doubt if a Trump candidacy could simply be dismissed as such.
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541
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Here's more from The Times Newsroom supporting the position that columnists Gail and Bret have taken regarding Trump's "conduct" come '24 and the nominee is "someone else".
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Donald J. Trump refused to say he would support the next Republican presidential nominee if it was not him, exposing a potential quagmire along the party’s path toward reclaiming the White House in 2024 and showcasing, once again, the former president’s transactional spin on political loyalty.......This week, a poll from The Bulwark, a conservative anti-Trump website, found that most Republicans wanted someone other than Mr. Trump to be the party’s next presidential nominee. But that same poll showed that 28 percent of Republican voters would be willing to back Mr. Trump in an independent bid.
An independent campaign from Mr. Trump would splinter the Republican base and all but ensure another four years for Democrats in the White House. Mr. Trump, who has been registered in the past as a Democrat and a Republican, considered running for the Reform Party’s presidential nomination in 2000.
George Harris Member # 2077
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Agree that if it is Biden versus anyone with a pulse, Biden would probably lose. Also agree that any least bit conservative third party candidate would split the vote enough to put Biden or whoever his 2024 clone happens to be in the White House. Trump and DeSantis hopefully will realize that, "If we don't hang together, we will all hang separately", though the exact wording and who said it I do not remember.
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541
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Mr. Harris, the quote you immediately note is attributed to Benjamin Franklin, who I think we both know, was quite skeptical regarding the survival of our Republic ("You now have a republic, if you can keep it").
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