Blog Credo

The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.

H.L. Mencken

Thursday, October 6, 2016

Well, This Is A Terrible Idea

This is why the academy never really exercises political power.  Here is a legal way for the Republicans to "flip the ticket" by basically saying that Trump will voluntarily step aside for Mike Pence on January 20th.  There are some other legal tricks involved in holding Trump to this, because Republicans would almost certainly control the levers of power on Capitol Hill.  But on some level, this requires Trump to put the needs of the Republican party above his own ego.

As we saw throughout the primary season, Trump doesn't give two farts in a hurricane about the Republican establishment.  In fact, his primary appeal to his hardcore supporters is precisely that he ISN'T part of the McConnell/Ryan/Pence crowd.  The Tea Party/Trumpista wing of the party HATES its Washington incarnation.  If they could somehow force Trump to do this (they can't), his lack of self-discipline would prevent him from sticking to that promise for more than a news cycle.  It would cause exactly the schism in the Republican coalition that they have been trying to avoid.

Finally, this is a direct and unconscionable assault on the bedrock principles of popular sovereignty and democratic rule.  Republican voters nominated Donald Trump.  The fact that he's an incompetent politician for the general election is irrelevant.  The idea that people would go to the polls and vote for an inverse ticket is borderline fraud.

In many ways, this article is perfect though.  Trump has never learned that just because you are legally able to do something doesn't mean you should.  Apparently Professor Amar feels the same way.

No comments: