One thing to keep in mind. He is term limited.

[bronxiteforever]

His ability to cow the GOP legislatures is limited. In 2 years he will be closing in on 81.
I doubt the dancing rallies will work. At his age and shape, it will become more macabre (if that is possible).

Importantly, he is a lame duck.

Looking at the swells in the GOP who want to run for POTUS in 2028. I don’t think any of them is wowed by the charisma of Vance. Certainly not enough to not want to try to be POTUS themselves. Each one of the “luminaries” of the GOP looks into the mirror and sees themselves as President.

It may be cold comfort but even for intelligent self controlled adults, a second POTUS term is not that great.

[JCMach1]

1. We need to keep saying that every chance we get

Dems need to normaliZe saying lame duck Trump.

[Irish_Dem]

2. The concern is this may not be true.

The concern is that Trump will install himself as dictator.

He has talked about a dictatorship style role as head of government.
He has said no one will need to vote again.

He also claimed his first term was stolen from him due to the impeachments, etc.
So he should get two more terms.

So nothing is certain.

[bronxiteforever]

10. No I agree it is not certain but it is all I have.

[LaMouffette]

18. Even if he dies, they will probably prop him up in the Oval Office la "Weekend at Bernie's." I'm only half-kidding.

With AI technology, they could probably keep up the appearance of him still being alive for a year or two. Sure, people would start to wonder why they never see him in public, but he could always claim he feared assassination attempts.

[Walleye]

37. Well, if they substituted for him with a corpse, at least the smell would be right

[LaMouffette]

61. Ha! (And: Ewwww!)

[Irish_Dem]

27. Clinging on to fantasies may be all we have at this point.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

26. He will NOT install himself as dictator.

He actually served the full four years of his first term. He can claim his re-election in 2020 was stolen, but he served his first term. It was not stolen from him.

The far, far bigger concern ought to be that he somehow doesn't finish this term, and Vance become President.

A few months ago that was a concern here, but it seems to have disappeared.

[Irish_Dem]

30. We do not know that.

He has insisted otherwise and the courts continue to back him up.
And congress gives him what he wants.

Of course Vance is plan b.

[EdmondDantes_]

31. You mean the courts who rejected all his election lawsuits

Okay technically all but one.

Short of a constitutional amendment, which certainly isn't going to happen, he's not getting another term.

[Irish_Dem]

35. What data do you have to support the idea Trump will follow the law and the rules?

And that he is lying when he says he will be a dictator and no one will need to vote ever again?

The best predictor of future behavior of future behavior is past behavior.

Trump's past behavior shows us that he is a ruthless, brutal psychopath who will
break laws to get what he wants. He has a known history of criminal behavior.

This is science.

I will be happy to consider your hypothesis but I need data to back it up.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

48. Remind me again how successful the Coup of January 6 was.

And how not a single insurrectionist has been jailed.

Oh, wait. The coup didn't succeed? A whole bunch of the Jan 6 rioters have gone to jail? Guess those are perfect proof of how easily he will declare himself dictator.

[Irish_Dem]

50. J6 was a warm up act. And there is talk Trump will pardon them.

Going after the foot soldiers made Garland look like he was actually doing something.

Not one of the J6 managers, planners, funders were ever investigated and they never will be.

The insiders who detached the Dem congress panic buttons, who gave detailed plans and maps out,
who even conducted tours for the J6ers.

It is easy to go after the low hanging fruit. Garland took the easy way out.
And pretended to give a damn about justice and our democracy.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

53. And of course every Democrat in the country

will passively accept that, right

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

32. Can you seriously imagine the Supremes

will conclude he didn't really serve his first four years.

Perhaps the actual text of the twenty-second amendment will prove useful:

No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once. But this Article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President when this Article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this Article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term.

[Walleye]

39. I'm not sure Vance strikes the fear in his fellow Republicans that Trump does

The fact is other Republicans are more afraid of Trump then we are

[bronxiteforever]

42. It is amazing how Joe Biden's age concerns

don’t translate to our media to Trump. I get your point about Vance as an incumbent but he will have to run off the wreckage Trump has left us.

Vance is smarter but charisma wise, he is a cold fish. But, after this election I can truly say what do I know!

[Eugene]

3. That assumes the rule of law.

Even during his first term, Dump said Democratic interference should entitle him to additional years in office.
He is already making the same noises again while trying to dismantle other checks and balances.

Constitutional term limits matter only if they are enforced (e.g. El Salvador).

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

28. He can say nonsense like that all he wants,

but he still served the full four years.

Can anyone here seriously imagine that he will be nominated again in 2028?

[atreides1]

4. You actually believe that?

What and who is going to stop him from remaining in office? He's only leaving office feet first, but he still leaves behind Vance and little Mikey Johnson and a SCOTUS majority with a moral compass so fucked up, that they couldn't find there way to the toilet!!!

That man plans to remain in office for as long as he can!

[bronxiteforever]

8. I can't argue it's not bleak

Nor your points on the Supreme Court. I believe in biology and time passing.

I find his age, no longer discussed, matters. He did not win 50% of the Country. I may be wrong but then I will introduce myself to you in the reeducation camps as we will be fellow travelers.

[oldmanlynn]

5. Yeah but if he can get the DOJ to investigate publicly

Our candidate for presidency then it’s gonna be more difficult

[bronxiteforever]

12. True. I think DOJ is going to be a tougher nut for

him to crack.that depends on the Courts because firing scads of Ivy League educated lawyers is most certainly going to lead to lawsuits. But I agree the DOJ could also be a disaster for us.

[Shrek]

6. There's a nightmare workaround

Republicans keep the House in 2028 and elect Trump speaker

Two of Trump's hand-picked toadies are elected President and VP

They both resign on January 21

Trump becomes the President

[SomewhereInTheMiddle]

14. Not sure that would be constitutional.

No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once.

That sounds like it would prevent someone that has been elected to office twice from serving part of someone else's term.

Not that that necessarily matters. It was how Putin kept power form many years - changing job titles without changing powers.

But we can hope some of the folk that have sworn to defend the Constitution would actually do so.

[Shrek]

22. In this scenario he isn't elected to the office

So the language you quoted doesn't apply.

[bronxiteforever]

15. But I would counter that age and nature work

both sides of the aisle. I am betting that he will continue his physical slide.If this is 81 for Jo Biden, who worked out and stayed fit, I don’t think 81 for TFG will be better.

[Emile]

7. Trump always follows the rules.

[Omnipresent]

9. Fred trump was 94 when he died..

So if he lives a few more years after this term, he can expect incarceration for any past and future crimes he commits.
There has to be some sort of silver lining for all of his BS!

[bronxiteforever]

17. I am hoping that Fred did not eat as many Big Macs..

[Omnipresent]

45. Fred probably had just a little more self restraint.

He probably never declared bankruptcy, for one thing.

[electric_blue68]

59. In Fred's earlier photos he sure seemed Not to Look That overweight.

[bucolic_frolic]

11. Lame Duck Dictator

Not a logically consistent term.

[bronxiteforever]

13. Ha! I will give you that!

[Liberal In Texas]

16. Well, SO FAR.

He's talking about a 3rd term. They'll get the Supremes to say something like the 22nd Amendment only applies to consecutive terms.

[bronxiteforever]

20. I counter that so far he has talked about a great many things

Such as being the father of IVF. His ability to cow other people is going to be limited. These people do not wish to be cowed forever because they themselves want power.

At least that is my hope.

[Liberal In Texas]

57. He lies all the time. But probably not about a 3rd term. He wants to stay out of jail. n/t

[DeepWinter]

19. A lame duck

with the House, Senate, and Supreme Court. I'd take that position in a heartbeat.

[bronxiteforever]

23. Well that is the immutable past so not much there

except facts. But my post wasn’t about what has been. I am looking to the future.

[Johnny2X2X]

21. If he was 65 instead of 78

He would be the President for the next 2 decades. No way would he leave in 2029. But he's going to be pushing 83 then and will be too old to be dictator.

[LeftinOH]

24. There will be an election on Tuesday November 7, 2028 no matter what...

and it will be the first time in sixteen years (since the 2012 election) that Donald Trump's name is not on the ballot. He won't be holding rallies in support of other candidates; if he isn't the center of attention, he isn't interested. GOP/MAGA candidates will be on their own to carry on his "legacy." It's unlikely that anyone else could cultivate a following like Trump has done. The right-wing noise machine may try to manufacture a successor, but the cult IS going to run out of steam...

[jfz9580m]

56. Thank goodness. nt

[Intractable]

25. If they overturn the two-term limit so Trump can run again in 2028 ...

we can run Obama again!

I don't think either will happen.

Actually, I don't think Trump will make it through four years with his increasing dementia. We'll be dealing with Vance in 2028.

[bronxiteforever]

29. Agree. Vance will not be a shoe in in 2028

but that is just a guess.

[Intractable]

38. Vance might have incumbent advantage when running in 2028.

Trump might not make it four years.

[Shrek]

33. Sometimes I wonder if he'll even make it through the first year

I have a nagging suspicion that he doesn't really want to be President; he just wanted to win a rematch against Biden to assuage his demented ego.

With that out of the way I halfway suspect he may get tired of the whole charade and just hand it over to Vance.

[Intractable]

36. I agree -- he doesn't actually want the job.

He just wants the power to dismiss the cases against him, take revenge on his enemies, and intimidate world leaders into letting him build hotels in their countries.

We can start wagering as to when we'll be dealing with President Vance.

[Walleye]

41. I don't think Vance is that scary, he's a punk.

And he’s already resentful of Leon getting so much attention.

[Intractable]

43. Vance is indeed an over educated punk. He will not be able to control the MAGAs the way Trump does.

But, if Trump diminishes sufficiently or dies, there will be a MAGA power vacuum.

[Walleye]

44. JD is what they call us, smarty-pants

[bronxiteforever]

40. I agree to a great extent with this save

for 2 other priorities that he has(outside of grifting of course).

He has talked about tariffs for decades. He is single minded about tariffs.
The deportations of people. He couldn’t build the wall so he is going to build it out of us customs officers.

[OnionPatch]

54. This is what I was thinking

Was just talking about it with friends. Trump runs again somehow, we run Obama. Hopefully it won't come to that.

[Intractable]

55. We should threaten them with it. You run Trump again, he faces Obama!

Fun to think about! Especially Trump losing. (Losing it?)

[Tommy Carcetti]

34. Assuming free and fair elections in 2028.

Which might sound wild for us 2024 folks, but he's already "joked" about wanting to serve more than 2 terms, just like he's "joked" about other things that turned out not actually to be jokes.

And yes, he might be an ancient dinosaur in 2028, but if he's sentient, he's going to want to hold on to power as long as he possibly can for all the perks and the glories of the job (including his perceived immunity thanks to the Supreme Court). Of course the actual responsibilities and duties of the job he couldn't care less about, but that's beside the point.

Or Ronald McDonald and Colonel Sanders finish the job before then. And Vance will be our reality then.

[alarimer]

46. He's also health-limited.

But who's going to stop him from running again? I know it's in the Constitution, but what is the actual enforcement mechanism?

I'm just hoping for a heart attack, stroke or whatever to take him out.

Remember, Trump fans are fans of HIM only. They don't care or like Vance or any other Republican.

I just hope there is something left when he finally goes.

[D23MIURG23]

47. Only if the term limit can be enforced. n/t

[LisaL]

49. Putin was term limited as well.

And yet all these years later, there he is.

[LakeArenal]

51. Exactly.

It’s like people don’t believe what he’s saying

Things like “you’ll never have to vote again “

I believe it.

[Silent Type]

52. People -- including GOPers -- will likely be sick of trump by end of this term. Whether another white winger will fool

voters again is an open question at this point.

[Attilatheblond]

58. But HE is not the root problem for our imperiled democracy

He's just the front man de jour, the marketer in chief, the clown to distract. So, the real threats will have another 4 years to get the rest of their ducks, and levers of power in hand.

So, no, I do NOT feel better knowing he is 'term limited'. There is no way he serves his full term this time. TPTB don't really like him. He's just a very useful idiot, for now.

[Arthur_Frain]

60. They're getting 12 years out of this, minimum.

4 with tfg, and 8 with his acolyte.

Long before that time we won’t be capable of holding elections.

[Crunchy Frog]

62. It's extremely likely that Vance will be the incumbent by the end of his term.

He'll then have the very powerful incumbent advantage and there may not be much of a primary.

Under Vance, they're likely to whittle down the election infrastructure enough that it will be impossible for them not to stay in power, and will probably figure out a way to get rid of term limits.

Worst case scenario, we could be looking at a 40 year Vance dictatorship.

We really are in uncharted territory.