It seems like President Trump has been back in office a lot longer than he has been, doesn't it? I've been watching presidential politics since the Carter administration, and I've never seen or read of a president who has done so much, so quickly. Rumor has it the president almost never sleeps; he works late into the night and starts up early in the morning. He has, already, in just these few short months, been the most transformative president since Ronald Reagan; people may disagree with what he's been doing but nobody can deny that he's getting things done. Trade deals, rebuilding the military, closing the borders, deporting illegal aliens - we voted for all of this, and he's doing it, or at least, he's trying to, sometimes with activist judges and Democrat politicians, activists and the legacy media (but I repeat myself) throwing everything they have to try to stop him.
Even so: In November of 2028, there will be presidential election. In January of 2029, President Trump will leave the White House, and this time, there will be no return to the Oval Office; the Constitution forbids it. Someone else will take up their station behind the Resolute Desk. The question is this: Who will it be, and what will a post-Trump America look like?
That's the question.
First, on the Republican side. JD Vance, that scion of American Appalachia, would seem to be the runaway favorite to succeed his boss. A recent Center Square Voters' Voice Poll, conducted by Noble Predictive Insights, surveyed 978 registered Republicans and 178 independents for their top choice for the Republican nomination, and Vice President Vance easily topped the list, with 38 percent giving him the nod. Interestingly, Donald Trump Jr. came in second, with 25 percent.
Vice President Vance appears to be leaning into the job. As veeps go, he's been pretty active. Also, were he to be elected, he would be the first military veteran to sit in the White House since George W. Bush, and the first bearded president since Benjamin Harrison (elected 1888), although there were three since with mustaches - Grover Cleveland, Theodore Roosevelt, and William Howard Taft. Vice President Vance has shown himself to be smart, capable, with a sharp wit and an appealing back-story. He also is a disciple of the MAGA agenda, and is without President Trump's sometimes prickly nature.
Read More: VP Vance Addressing His Fellow Marines in Rousing Remarks During 250th Birthday Celebration
This presumes he decides to run, of course. But the GOP has a strong bench. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been quite a surprise, treading the minefields of international diplomacy adeptly and fearlessly. Florida's effective Governor Ron DeSantis would almost certainly like to take another shot at the big job. The Republicans bench is an embarrassment of riches.
Which brings us to the Democrats. Who do they have?
There are possibilities. Some Democrats may have a national appeal. Pennsylvania's Governor Josh Shapiro could be a contender; he's not a leftist lunatic, which is more than one can say for the Democrat Party's younger members. Also from Pennsylvania, a vital swing state, is the surprisingly sane Senator John Fetterman, who seems to have recovered from his earlier health issues to become a rare voice of reason among Democrats.
Who else do they have? AOC? Jasmine Crockett? Any of the other members of the Nut Squad? Maybe they could dust off the daffy old Bolshevik from Vermont for another run, assuming he's not completely fossilized by 2028.
That's not even the worst problem the Democrats face. Their base's increasingly-vocal acceptance of political violence - terrorism, in a word - may well sink them into electoral oblivion with that huge swath of independents and moderate voters who can swing the presidential election one way or another.
There's another elephant in the room, though, and it's this: What will be economy look like in 2028? Ay, that's the rub - and the answer is, nobody knows.
National economies are fickle things. Indications at the moment are pretty good. The stock market is moving up, and the trade deals made to date are encouraging. But the business cycle is what it is, and the federal government, indeed, any level of government, can only have so much effect on the billions of decisions made by millions of people at any given time, on any given day. But government can fiddle with incentives; lower taxes encourage growth, more domestic manufacturing can produce good-paying jobs. The Trump administration has set goals for both of those things. A President Vance, a President DeSantis, or a President Rubio would keep us more or less on the same course.
Where will America be if the Democrats, fates forfend, gain control? Well, that's the real stumper. If any of the radicals ever gain power, it seems likely that they will attempt to arrange things so that the right will be frozen out, forever. They've done it in California. They've done it everywhere they could. That's how the left works. And now, as we see above, they are willing to do whatever is necessary to retain that control.
That's the real lesson here - the primary thing we have to remember, from now until 2028, 2032, and beyond.
2028 is a long way off yet. A million things could happen between now and then. But it's fun, now and then, to play Cassandra, even if we may look back at our guesswork a year or two hence with approval - or derision.
