Bill Dalton: President Vance

EDITOR'S NOTE: The views and opinions expressed are those of the writer and not of Ottawa News Network.

After the Midterm Elections, ask yourself this question, regardless of whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat: Are you up for two more years of Donald J. Trump?

Thought so.

Just to be clear, I’m not advocating for JD Vance to be the next president. As far as presidential candidates go, in my opinion he’s only a notch or two above a worm.

For example, how much courage did it take to announce that the Iran War was the big reason Republicans got trounced the day after Republicans got trounced? And not just a little trouncing but, as some pundits put it, a “near extinction event” for the party.

Kind of like what happened to the dinosaurs, you know, someone like Tyrannosaurus Trump.

So, if Vance wants to be president someday (OK, stop laughing, he wants to be president), why wait? Why not be president now? What have we got to lose, except Trump?

Feeling better already? Me, too. Not that Vance would be a huge improvement over T. Rex Trump, but it would be an improvement.

So how do we accomplish this?

Well, Vance is already off to a good start by confessing the war was a huge mistake, something he privately told Trump before he started the war, but then, like a good MAGA soldier, Vance kept his mouth shut while watching things go wrong.

Now he should start privately telling everyone in Congress and the media (strictly on background, of course) all the things that could force Trump to resign (never happen) or be removed from office under the 25th Amendment (remotely possible) or impeached by the Democratically controlled House and convicted in the Democratically controlled Senate (could and should happen).

Once Trump is gone, Vance automatically vaults to the leading contender for the Republican nomination for president in 2028. The field is expected to be crowded, so it would be in his best political interests to have a little incumbency on his side.

And some distance between him and Trump, now that MAGA is effectively kneecapped.

In the next two years, Vance also could start fixing all the things Trump screwed up and that voters said they wanted changed. For starters, he could end the war. He could remove Trump’s goofy tariffs on our European friends and allies. And he could take steps to lower gas prices (how about a windfall profits tax on the oil companies?) and reduce inflation.

That should put him in the catbird seat come the next election (whatever the hell a catbird seat is).

Also, he could show voters that he’s at least willing to compromise and work with Democrats to solve some of our thorniest problems. That could win him some points with independent voters and moderates, giving him a decent shot at actually winning the election in 2028 — not that I would want him to.

But let’s face it: A President Vance these next two years would certainly be a step up from an angry, spiteful, delusional, corrupt Trump for two more years.

All in favor?

— Bill Dalton is a former reporter and editor for The Kansas City Star and worked for several Michigan newspapers. He spends summers on the family farm near Fennville. His novel “The Bank Game” is available from Amazon along with “Dalton’s Bend."

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