Democrats Better Hope that Trump Survives

The year 2020 upped the ante for craziness with a tweet, last night (Oct. 1), from the President that he and the First Lady had contracted Covid-19.

First Lady Melania Trump is 50 years old, and in apparent good health. The odds are that she will recover from Covid. Not so for Donald Trump. He is 74 years old, and he’s a mess health-wise with preexisting conditions. There are even rumors that Trump had a mini-stroke that caused an unscheduled visit to Walter Reed Hospital last November.

All of the above does not mean that Trump will die from Covid-19. There have been many people in their 70s and 80s who have recovered. Nevertheless, Trump’s age and health put him in grave risk of not surviving a full-on bout with Covid. The British Prime Minister Boris Johnson barely pulled through earlier in the year in spite of being nearly 20 years younger than Trump. Johnson attributed his survival to the excellent care he received from the (socialist) health care system, a resource Trump does not have.

If Trump dies in the next two weeks, it will throw the election process into chaos. There would be a traditional 30-day mourning  period which would overlap the election. During the mourning period, flags fly at half staff, and there are endless tributes to the fallen President from the mass media. Trump would be the first President to die in office since John F. Kennedy.

The Republican National Committee would likely elevate Vice President, now President, Mike Pence, to be its presidential nominee. Pence has had the good sense to keep his mouth shut, for the most part, during the last four years. Most people do not realize that he is worse than Trump on most issues. Nor do they know that he is an evangelical and ideological right-winger.

If he is smarter than Trump, the first words out of his mouth, after he is sworn in as interim president, will be that he wants to heal the country. He will then urge Congress to pass a stimulus act which includes at least $1,200 for every American (voter). Assured of winning, he would then ask Congress to adjourn until after the mourning period, which would delay hearings on a Supreme Court Justice until after a new president (Pence) is elected. 

All of these actions would virtually guarantee his election over Biden. He would win the sympathy vote, he would bring 2016 Trump voters back in the fold, and he would convince many of those who plan to vote for Biden because he is not Trump, to give Pence a chance.

In the subdued election campaign after Trump’s death, there would not be time, nor would it be appropriate, for Democrats to play hardball and reveal Pence’s right-wing agenda. In the end we would have four more years of Trumpism, without Trump.

So hang in there Donald. We want you to be alive and well so you can lose on November Third.

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Jim Smith, Editor