Trump can’t have another Admiral Stockdale as his V-P running mate

I’m not about to predict just who Donald Trump will pick to be his vice presidential running mate. Largely because there’s no knowing just what the man will consider to be a priority on any given day.

TRUMP: Who's his Number Two?

Which also is why some people are fearful of what kind of chief executive he’d make if he actually got elected. Nobody cares if The Trump Organization LLC is run by an egomaniac because ultimately Donald himself is the loser if he makes a stupid decision.

BUT IF HE does manage to get elected to higher office, the consequences are much higher. This is bigger than back when Minnesota voters picked one-time professional wrestler Jesse Ventura to be their governor.

Although to tell you the truth, I think the kind of people who made that vote are the same ones telling their brethren across the country to Vote Trump this time around. It’s something of a protest vote by people who resent the idea that they’re supposed to care about government.

So they decide to “clown it up” by doing the equivalent of casting a ballot for “Mickey Mouse.” Except Mickey and Minnie probably have more gravitas as a first couple than do Donald and Melania.

And Mickey would probably give us Goofy as a V-P, with Donald Duck as a Secretary of Defense, while we don’t have a clue who Trump would put in place to succeed him in the event of his demise while in office.

CHRISTIE: A V-P from Jersey?

IF ANYTHING, I suspect Trump would wind up placing any running mate he picks under immediate suspicion that they may try to poison his food in an attempt to gain the top political post for themselves.

Two points to mention. One is that such a motivation is the only reason anyone would want to be aligned with Trump as a running mate. Second is that if one truly wanted to feed Trump something nasty, just keep giving him those “taco bowls” he claims are so wonderful at the restaurants in his hotels.

I’d argue that his opinion of those culinary dishes is evidence that the man has no true sense of cuisine, or elegance. Then again, those 40-foot-high letters spelling out “T-R-U-M-P” on the side of his building in Chicago ought to be evidence of how gauche the man can be.

STOCKDALE: He could have been 'war hero' V-P

So who’s the Trump V-P?

I NOTICED THAT New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was named to be in charge of a Trump transition team as he officially goes from being one of 18 Republican blowhards dreaming of being president to being the GOP’s actual nominee.

Could this mean we’ll soon get the ticket of Trump/Christie running for office, to see which loudmouth can out-shout the other in an effort to lead our country?

Or could this be the sole reward for being willing to give up his own presidential aspirations and be subservient to Trump? Maybe Trump will actually ask Christie’s opinion on who the V-P should be? Then pick someone else based solely on his whims.

Political sense says that Trump, who has never held elective office in his life, needs a hard-core politico at his side. Perhaps such as a New Jersey governor. Or  a member of the Senate (although not Ted Cruz, he’s too likely to think for himself and ignore the latest ramblings of Trump).

THE LAST THING Trump needs is the perception of a rank amateur who’s so clueless that he becomes easy pickings for Saturday Night Live sketches.

Such as the aforementioned Admiral James Stockdale, who was the running mate back in 1992 when H. Ross Perot tried giving us an independent political bid. Political people still laugh at the lines, “Who am I” and “Why am I here” that came from Stockdale during his one debate performance, as though the man were truly too clueless to comprehend his circumstance, instead of trying to answer rhetorical questions meant to introduce himself to the audience.

BREWER: Noooooooooooooo!!!!

Or if Trump were to actually take seriously the suggestion of former Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, whose state tried to give law enforcement and local officials greater authority to crack down on Latinos for merely existing. If Trump picked her, we'd see how quickly that any Democratic presidential hopeful would wind up gaining 99 percent of the Latino vote. It would be a pathetic joke.

If anything, that could become the key to figuring if Trump has truly picked a worthy running mate – how quickly can Saturday Night Live turn his choice into a national joke?!? If they can’t, then Trump may have caught on to something.

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