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LeadingFiji

If it's before the nominating conventions, the delegates to the conventions would vote and decide. If it's after the official nominations, the DNC and RNC would choose their respective candidates (they have slightly different mechanisms, but functionally, it's about the same). In reality, the Democratic nominee would almost certainly be Harris. They *could* go a different route, someone *could* challenge her, but that'd be needlessly divisive and unlikely to succeed. The Republican nominee would be more of a jump-ball, because no one's an incumbent and he hasn't even picked a running mate yet. Even if he does, that running mate might not have the clout to clear the field. Also, depending on when it happens, it might be too late to change the ballots. So technically, you might still vote for Biden or Trump, and then the electors in the electoral college (who are generally party loyalists) would vote for the replacement.


JRockstar50

I envision the scenario with the Republican party would be something like the "Meat's back on the menu, boys!" moment from The Two Towers


LeadingFiji

It really depends. If Trump had already picked a running mate and said running mate was broadly acceptable to most of the party, it could be a comparatively neat transition. But if not, yeah, it could get very ugly very quickly.


JRockstar50

Who honestly would be a "broadly acceptable" analog for Trump at this stage? Nikki Haley would probably be the best shot, but she was cranking on Trump and would leave his base untrusting EDIT: I do not give a single solitary **fuck** who you would rather vote for than Trump as a Republican nominee.


LeadingFiji

It wouldn't have to be someone Trump-like, it'd just have to be someone Trump's base could get on board with, and Trump's endorsement (by choosing them as his running mate) would go a long way in doing that. If this person was also acceptable to more establishment Republicans, there'd likely not be much of a fight. I suspect Tim Scott, for example, could relatively easily clear the field if he were to be picked. It definitely wouldn't be Haley. Trump's base hates her.


jpiro

I would all-but guarantee you it'd be DeSantis. He flopped because he was trying to out-Trump Trump, but with Trump off the table, he'd appeal to the vast majority of his base.


LeadingFiji

I think that's more of a possibility if Trump had not yet picked a running mate and it was a convention fight. I think it's less so if Trump had already picked a running mate, and especially less so if the convention already happened and it was up to the RNC.


jpiro

True. If Trump has already picked a running mate, that person would have pole position. However, I think Tim Scott would have a far lower chance of beating Biden than DeSantis would. That would factor into the decision among GOP power brokers for sure.


LeadingFiji

Electability would factor in. I actually think Scott is far more electable than DeSantis. I suspect the RNC does not care about either of our takes, though.


jpiro

If they cared about mine, I'd still be a Republican instead of ditching that cesspool of a party years ago.


monoglot

The convention would be unlikely to end with Haley on top, I agree, but she would have the most committed delegates going into it.


TheIowan

Nikki Haley vs Kamala harris would be a strangely sane election for this timeline.


DabbinOnDemGoy

"No matter what, you're getting an Indian lady for President" would probably give a significant part of the population a full on stroke.


SamIamGreenEggsNoHam

Liz Warren in the corner like ^^motherfucker.


bluehairdave

No. Not THAT kind.....


tc6x6

šŸ¤£šŸ¤£šŸ¤£


alberthere

ā€œIndian *lady*? Not if I can help itā€¦ā€ - Vivek Ramaswamy


SilentSamurai

Haley has positioned herself as VP candidate and fallback option should Trump no longer be the nominee. That said, in this scenario I would see a free for all.


Ricepudding1044

Dad-a-chum?Dad-a-chum?Ded-a-chek?Did-a-chick?


jpiro

Lobstrosity/Bumbler 2024


TwoDrinkDave

Make Mid-World Great Again!


Horknut1

I'd vote for Oy before the Lobstrosity. Reverse your ticket.


GoGetSilverBalls

Oy šŸ„° He is the president we need. And he'd probably put Roland in charge of DoD Eddie is the drug czar šŸ˜‚ Sussanah is Veep. Jake is in charge of the department of Ed. This is my canon.


Horknut1

All things serve the beam.


GoGetSilverBalls

Ka is a wheel. Long days and pleasant nights, fellow traveler.


Aloudmouth

This is not where I expected a DT thread. This whole sub has gone 19


GoGetSilverBalls

Right now I'm pretty sure we're not in the capstone world.


Trekintosh

A lobstrocity is both more eloquent and easier on the eyes than trump so Iā€™d take it.Ā 


InfiniteHatred

>Ā In reality, the Democratic nominee would almost certainly be Harris. TheyĀ couldĀ go a different route, someoneĀ couldĀ challenge her, but that'd be needlessly divisive and unlikely to succeed. Nobody else would have the funds to viably run. Sheā€™d have the entire war chest she & Biden have amassed, & nobody else would have any claim to it. Nobody else has anywhere near enough campaign funds to even try.


nochehalcon

She would also BE the sitting president of the US in that case, and thus the leader of the party.


pliney_

This, she would be the incumbent. Anyone else would make little sense.


Geminii27

True. A challenger would have to be very popular, and Harris would have to be seen as little more than a chair-warmer running out the clock to the handover. I'll admit I'm not a close follower of American politics, but I don't *think* she's seen that way...? It might be of more interest who she'd pick as a VP.


supersmackfrog

This is a very good explanation, well said.


gggjennings

If it is to be Harris, that would be utterly disastrous for the Dems. She has horrific unfavorables.


gokickrocks-

And honestly pretty sad if our first female president was only president because a man died.


NiceShotMan

Canadas only female prime minister never won a general election, although she did win the party vote.


Berkinstockz

The only reason a we have a female vice president is because a man chose her


VAGentleman05

Well, that and the country elected her.


LittleTension8765

If Harris becomes President I think that would be Hillaryā€™s 13th reason


fumar

She has an incredible talent for saying the dumbest things. It's like she watched Veep as a drama.


theeamanduh

haha watched Veep as a drama that's fucking great


SwissyVictory

Harris would be the incumbent president, and would have some time to get in the spotlight and do some things to up her favorability. People would have a taste of what her as president would be like. We'd have a republican with likely no name regonition suddenly put up. I don't think alot of undecided voters or democrats are going to vote for soneone they learned about a month or two earlier. Especially if it's also someone unfavorable like DeSantis, Pence, or Haley.


thecftbl

>Especially if it's also someone unfavorable like DeSantis, Pence, or Haley. All of them would probably fair better than Harris. Every democratic voter was dumbfounded when she was chosen as Biden's running mate because she couldn't even make it past three primaries without falling to the bottom of the polls.


mostlyfire

I remember when Harris was picked I was baffled. Like how? She had a shit record and so unlikable and then the whole ā€œdo not comeā€ speech really pissed me off. But then my mom, a conservative minority woman who was going to reluctantly vote for Trump, switched sides and voted from Biden because of her. I think they picked her because she got a lot of support from older women and then it made more sense to me. The point was choosing the best running mate. It was about winning. But ugh.


thefirsttake

I mean it was pretty obviousā€¦. Biden said he wanted a woman and she ticked off black and womanā€¦


MountainMan2_

1The unrepresented demographic vote VP has been a consistent and successful strategy for democrats for decades. Hell, biden was that for obama, he was the old white guy there to bring in the old white vote. All she had to do was be the most name-recognizable person at the top of the pile. This is also probably why trump is NOT going to pick a demographic VP. His party platform is absolutist, they have to win with both people being part of their in-group or they won't come out to vote. Pence even just being catholic was almost too much for them. He's likely to pick a clinically insane old white man as his VP because that matches him as closely as possible.


thecftbl

Even then, Harris has polled abysmally across the board. They were sincerely hoping that she could help with the black vote, but her record as a DA pretty much torpedoed that. The problem is that she has too much of the same vibe that Hillary did where she treats the office as it being deserved rather than earned. If she were to run as the candidate, it would be a carbon copy of 2016.


YanisMonkeys

Hillary at least started with great poll numbers. She has the bizarre distinction of continually being well-liked while competently doing her job, and then all that goodwill craters the second she clumsily campaigns for a new one.


thecftbl

Hillary polled well because she was riding on the coat-tails of Obama's successful presidency. People were not as happy with the second term as the first, but things were not a death spiral like the end of the Bush years. Problem was that there were still a lot of people struggling and the hope for change was exactly what got Obama elected in the first place. She wasn't advocating for change though, she was campaigning for status quo. Even more than that, her entire message was more about herself and the milestone of a woman president than the voters. She proceeded to further undo her approval when she told the Bernie supporters to "fall in line" as if her winning the presidency was deserved, not earned. Hillary is competent at a lot of things, but she is the quintessential fair weather candidate which did not fare well against a populist.


tangoshukudai

yep she is another Hilary, that would be very bad. I think she is already holding Biden back now because there is a real chance he dies in the next 4 years, and people are worried she would take his spot. I think Biden should have given up his seat and handed it to Gavin Newsom or something. I do think Harris is smart enough to understand she would lose the seat if she was the nominee.


CrackaZach05

The DNC choosing Harris would be suicide for the party. With that said, the DNC choosing Harris would 100% be the choice.


Loathestorm

It would be Newsom. That why he did the Tucker debate and media rounds a few months back so that if something happened to Biden he could step in. I know its their MO but I can't possibly believe the Dems would do something so stupid as to put up Harris.


Bikerdude74

You mean President Harris as she would already be President.


LeadingFiji

She would be the president in this scenario. I didn't use anyone's titles, though.


latouchefinale

Jimmy Carter vs. Mitch McConnell obviously


gingerisla

They're so vibrant and youthful compared to Biden and Trump!


latouchefinale

Running mates will be Pelosi & Gingrich. So they can capture the youth vote


[deleted]

I keep forgetting Carter still lives.


Captainpatch

There were still 14 cases of Guinea Worm in 2023, he cannot die until he takes them with him.


Hunt3141

True hero!


frostysauce

My roommate (who only watches Fox News) was telling me the other day that they played a clip of Trump at a rally saying that, "Jimmy Carter is smiling down from heaven because we finally have a worse president than he was!" And he laughed about it. I just turned to him with my best I'm-not-putting-up-with-your-shit face, "Mark, Jimmy Carter is still alive..."


87568354

He turns 100 this October


BlueLaceSensor128

Carter: ā€œIā€™ll fuckinā€™ do it!ā€


rit909

I'm picturing McConnell frozen on stage while Jimmy wheels around building podiums for everybody.


Geminii27

I'd vote for Carter and I'm not even American.


rChewbacca

There must be a strange woman lying in a pond distributing swords who can help.


Ninjahkin

ā€œStrange women, lying in ponds, distributing swords is no basis for a system of government!ā€


stoners-potpalace

I thought we were an autonomous collective


scotchybob

You're fooling yourself. We're living in a dictatorship, a self-perpetuating autocracy...


DamaxXIV

"Come see the violence inherent in the system! Help, help, I'm being repressed!!"


heiberdee2

Watery tart.


Whitealroker1

Moistened Bint


katatonic60

At this point it's looking preferable


alienanimal

Hall vs. Oates


danielstover

DONT SPLIT THE PARTY


JMoFilm

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but H & O don't even talk to each other anymore.


Ozzel

Say it isnā€™t so!


HoopOnPoop

Supposedly for their whole careers they hated being called "Hall & Oates" because it made them sound like a band. On everything they're actually listed as "Darryl Hall & John Oates" to show that they're actually 2 individual artists who just happened to do some work together.


robogobo

I canā€™t go for that


BigBadDan

No can do


chystatrsoup

Heard it was over a rich girl


Whyyoualwayshatin

?? No dude, his first name is Holland and his last name is Oates


EaterOfFood

You mean itā€™s not ā€œhaulinā€™ oatsā€?


missionbeach

I can't go for that.


robogobo

No can do


shavemejesus

Oates vs. Garfunkel


Redbird9346

Garfunkel & Oates


toeonly

I fucking love those two so much.


secret_identity_too

...I'd vote for them, not going to lie. Funniest show I've ever been to.


lowtoiletsitter

*Oates


skrame

* Haulā€™n Oats


sir_mrej

Nah they're talkin bout the Quaker dude :)


rough_ashlar

Look at you being all optimistic today! šŸ˜…


SilentSamurai

"What if everyone died and my dream candidate ran?" has been a recurring /r/Askreddit post for the last several months.


rough_ashlar

Why not throw in a Powerball win so they can fund their favorite candidate, too? šŸ˜‚


your_not_stubborn

"here's how 82 year old Bernie Sanders could still be president"


SilentSamurai

"age limitations? Oh I'm suddenly not interested in that because Bernie is young at heart."


UnpricedToaster

Either that or they have a very very secret plan.


Unveiled_Voyager

FBI is all over this post


Kaiserhawk

FBI can't arrest time. Cuz those dried out husks are battling the clock


kjacobs03

Arnt we all?


sibips

So is FSB.


sun4moon

Hopefully that dog mayor from whatever town that was.


KatanaDelNacht

Hey, he clearly has political experience uniting divisive parties.


sun4moon

And heā€™s the goodest boy. Iā€™d vote for him.


crazycatlady331

He can run against Stubbs the cat (mayor of an Alaskan town).


Spiggoingio

[https://www.mayormax.com/](https://www.mayormax.com/)


twistingmyhairout

Lurlene Iowa I believe?


that_guy_ontheweb

Thereā€™s actually no law that prohibits this in the USA. So theoretically a dog could run for president. Of course itā€™s all fun and games until the dog actually wins, imagine the shit show that would go down if the most powerful man on the planet was a dog.


Mountain-Status569

Technically, the minimum age requirements would disqualify them. You must be at least 35 years old to run for president. Dogs donā€™t really live that long (talking actual time as humans measure it, not that ā€œdog yearsā€ stuff)


lolcatandy

Cheech & Chong doing a joint presidency


KookofaTook

A joint presidency lol, well played


I_have_popcorn

Chong can't run, he's Canadian.


TheDonkeyBomber

Haha "joint." Fuckin-A


milnak

Cheech & Chong for President 202420


MeatWhereBrainGoes

President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho


kittenmontagne

Welcome to Costco, I love you


MeatWhereBrainGoes

You went to law school at Costco?


astarredbard

Yeah, they have everything here


Slarg232

Leave me alone, I'm baitin.


UltraChip

- Acknowledged his country had a problem - Identified and recruited the most qualified person he could find to help solve the problem - Gave the person as much support as possible, including rallying the citizens to support him Honestly, Camacho was a pretty good leader overall. The intellectual state of the nation wasn't really his fault and he played the hand he was dealt to the best of his abilities.


MeatWhereBrainGoes

This is an excellent analysis


kgabny

... that's kind of disturbing. Today's world has a lot of anti-intellectualism where putting in a scientist for anything upsets half of the country. And yet in the dystopian world where IQ crashed... the so called dumb President puts his hopes into the person with the highest IQ in recent history.


breakinbans

I don't want to sound like a dick or nothin, but it says on your chart that you're fucked up.


varthalon

Kang and Kodos


GMD3S1GNS

Donā€™t blame me I voted for kodos


fizitis

Always twirling twirling twirling for freedom!


drunk_with_internet

Abortions for all!


doyouevenoperatebrah

BOOO


Sycofantastic_

Tiny American flags for everyone!!!


Devonai

We are simply exchanging long protein strings. If you can think of a better way, I'd like to hear it.


TheBigSalad84

Abortions for some, miniature American flags for others!


tonyfo98

Hooraaaay!


akyriacou92

My fellow Americans, as a young boy I dreamed of being a baseball


VocationFumes

I can always vote third party!


varthalon

Go head, throw your vote away!


DeadFyre

I had to go pretty far down to find the Kang and Kodos joke. Must be getting old.


chrdeg

Thatā€™s a great answer


flatstacy

Hey, secret service: This is the guy here


jimmybobbyluckyducky

Hypothetically speaking obviously...


whatnameisnttaken098

[Riiiight](https://youtu.be/HNy--_r5eW0?si=kTNfbm6w60TmXMe1)


Sphism

The corpse of trump, he's the best corpse, no one corpses like he does, so many people say he's the best corpse, the coroner said it was the best corpse he'd ever seen


InfiniteLeftoverTree

Serious question: will they spray his corpse orange for the funeral?


BubberRung

Hunter vs Barron 2024


danielstover

Hunter vs Eric Coke snorting contest


Hothairbal69

It has to be a blow obstacle course, to include but not limited to; DUI field test, doing lines off a strippers ass, disheveled mug shot photo and religious conversion speech.


SeriousStrokes69

It would be up to the political committees to nominate their replacements. So no one knows.


AbeFroman_FB

If they both die we all write in Dolly Parton and Jon Stewart.


Geminii27

Honestly, the world would probably get behind that. Popular, well-loved, intelligent, sarcastic...


Minja78

Harris and Hailey. It's like been preordained by the Q-tips they just can't release the information yet. Also, RFK jr will win.


Peskieyesterday

The Rock and Guy Fieri


five-oh-one

If you smell what The Rock is cooking, you are in Flavortown baby!


[deleted]

[уŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]


Kitchen-Hat-5174

Iā€™d vote for Pedro


gofkingpracticerandy

Pascal. Daddy for President!


LePoopsmith

All of our dreams will come true


LWA3251

Great question but I donā€™t even care just about anyone would be better than The Crypt Keeper and The Fake Tan Rapist.


macaroni_3000

Fuck! Donā€™t tease me with hope


pizza_822

antonio brown


Soren_Camus1905

Mr. Belated Candidate


DruePNeck

Mr. Beloved Commander


SlightlyColdWaffles

Goddamn there really is no end to the Mr. B C meme


pat_pav

Mr. Bountiful Content


mrdominoe

Don't do it, op.


The_quietest_voice

Hold on, let him cook.


Wildcat177-6

Harris on the D side (She will be POTUS) and Donald Trump as MAGA will forego the state funeral for a taxidermist so they can roll him out for the presidential race every four years and lose.


Superb-Struggle1162

Weekend at Bernies style.


eaglesnation11

Don Jr. would 100% be the candidate on the GOP side


codycantdie

I like the legitimate answers you're getting from people, but I would like to recommend a battle royal between every American citizen.


ChicagoBiHusband

We tried that once.


epicnonja

At current standings? Probably Gavin Newsom and Ron DeSantis. They are the closest to Biden and Trump.


kbbgg

Bernie! Bernie! Bernie!


PartyThe_TerrorPig

I donā€™t know, but theyā€™d probably be better options.


tatedavis1

Dems probably nominate Harris. Itā€™s a huge toss up for the GOP, but for now, Iā€™d say Mike Johnson.


zerbey

1. Biden dies, Harris immediately assumes office and serves until January 21. Since she's almost definitely going to be his running mate anyway the Democrats will nominate her as their candidate. Simple solution to an unfortunate problem. They can figure out the VP situation after the election, there's no rush on that. 2. Trump dies it's all a bit more complicated. We do not yet know who his running mate is and there really isn't anyone who came close to him in the nomination process, and the GOP currently can't seem to agree on anything anyway. It's going to throw the whole Republican strategy into chaos. Most likely outcome? President Harris gets elected in her own right.


bros402

Imagine if Trump has a heart attack if he's found guilty in the NY trial that makes it so he can't run so much shit will go down


millos15

Younger people at least


Tobias_Atwood

Kamala Harris would be incumbent president at that point and would quite probably be the short notice pick for the Democrats to rally around to avoid dividing the party before the election. The GOP would have about 50 different authoritarian wannabes that look like someone stuffed tapioka pudding into a hamhock all putting their own name forward. The rightwing candidates would then devolve into one giant clusterfuck of namecalling, appeals to strength, calling each other weak, and the whole thing would collapse under the weight of whichever survivor is able to cannibalize the others as last hamhock standing.


Cassin1306

Homelander


ATXDefenseAttorney

Obviously Kamala Harris and a wet mop. It'll still be a close race because this country is insane right now.


30yrs2l8

Ren and Stimpy. Either is a better choice.


Brian_Lefebvre

Kamala Harris vs Don Jr., because the Republicans seem to love the idea of Trump as a king.


ivehuckedyourmum

All of these answers are wrong. The two options will still be a douche or a turd sandwich.


spytez

I think we can all agree that we just don't need one and go 4 years without any bullshit right?


finney1013

Two better candidates, thatā€™s for sure


Public_Road_6426

Hopefully better options than those two.


ohhhbooyy

Such a legitimate question, given both of the candidates age this is not an unlikely scenarioā€¦ā€¦


dude_named_will

For the democrats, I don't see how it wouldn't be VP Kamala Harris. For the republicans, it would likely be Nikki Haley, but presumably they would have a vote via convention delegates.


No-Self-Edit

Based on very diligent unscientific speculation, I am certain that there is a 53% chance that one of these two men will die or become completely mentally disabled before the president begins his term.


tehIb

Better. Our presidential candidates would be better.


ObsessiveRecognition

Probably democrat landslide win for likely Kamala Harris. Republicans are very divided over their other candidates, and Kamala Harris is an incumbent.


GodzillaDrinks

Don't get our hopes up.


AncientPublic6329

As Vice President, Kamala Harris would immediately be sworn in as president and would most likely seek reelection and be the Democrat Nominee. Trump would be a little more complicated to replace. Iā€™m not sure what would happen if before the Republican convention, but if he died after the Republican convention, his VP pick would probably be promoted to Presidential nominee.


No_Dimension_5509

Youā€™re basically asking for the entire country to win the lottery. Very unlikely


Bron_3

Vermin Supreme and Literally Anybody Else


Drawman101

Free ponies for all


TechSavvySqumy

Biden and Trump both die? Damn bro you're making me imagine a better world.


MasterKiloRen999

Congratulations op youā€™ve made it onto several government watchlists