PS: "I’d have thought that picking a flaming Leftist would have totally soured a lot of them on Trump."

It sure would for me. However, there are people who just want candidates who are not, in their opinion, Establishment UniParty. However, one could find a Communist who's not part of the Establishment UniParty, but that's no good. (I'm not saying RFK, Jr. is a Communist, but besides his good anti-Establishment opinions on the vax and the Deep State, he's not someone I'd like to see as President.)

"Still, I imagine that picking a Leftist Democrat would lose him some support and gain him little or nothing from the Left." Agreed.

"In any case, the election won’t be decided by the voters but by those who count the votes." Likely so.

PS Perhaps, like a lot of other things, I don’t understand MAGA folks very well. I’d have thought that picking a flaming Leftist would have totally soured a lot of them on Trump. But, perhaps many of them are simply anti-establishment and don’t really care whether the anti-establishmentism is of the Right or Left variety. Still, I imagine that picking a Leftist Democrat would lose him some support and gain him little or nothing from the Left. In any case, the election won’t be decided by the voters but by those who count the votes.

PS: Mr. Hail, one mistake I see in your comment is that Henry McMaster is CURRENT South Carolina Governor, not former. I've been planning to write a post along the lines of "When Henry replaced Nikki", again not 5D chess by President Trump, but it could have been if he'd fired her right away. His dumb-ass has put Nikki into the limelight with that UN appointment.

Regarding Steve Sailer, he's also written that Obama - "The Half-Blood Prince". (I wish he'd made it "Half-Breed Prince") So, he's a respectable author with 2 books written. I would really enjoy seeing him on Tucker Carlson. Tucker has been doing a great job in putting the alt-right's views out in front of everyone... on the right, at least.

PS: Mr. Hail, that sounds like a good post there. I wouldn't have known of 1/2 the contenders you have here, just based on my lack of "current events" knowledge. Your list is pretty "diverse", in the modern meaning of that word. I'm sure that's not due to your preferences but just who you think Trump might bumble into for a VP pick.

I don't agree that Nikki is an "impossible" pick though. As much as Trump called her "birdbrain", and she's an Establishment Neocon to the max, that doesn't mean he won't just pick her on a stupid whim one day. "Ahhh, why not? She's good people."

Glenn Youngkin is a good idea, from what I know. Why do you think DeSantis is off that list? Would that be due to DeSantis' preference or Trump's ego?

Anyway, this is a fun subject - till Trump makes another boneheaded move, that is. BTW, I forgot to mention this, but the whole idea about picking a candidate for geographic/electoral reasons seems kind of old hat anymore. Now, that would be a blog post too, come to think of it. Would some hard-core lefty bring his "red State" around? Things are so much more divided now.

That also reminds me about Nikki ads. They advertise that only SHE can beat Bai Dien. She can win, she says, but would that mean anything good for the American people if she did?

PS

-- Sailer's next book --

I would like to call your attention to my 'pitch' for a new Steve Sailer book to be titled THE SAILER STRATEGY:

https://www.unz.com/isteve/charles-murray-on-noticing/#comment-6391415

"After the success of Noticing: a Steve Sailer Anthology, Volume 1, I for one would love to see a book — a slim-volume, if needed — titled: The Sailer Strategy....."

Input requested from the sharp regulars here at Peak Stupidity.

For me, this is clearly a good career-path for Steve Sailer, as everyone respects people like him more if they can say "author of (such-and-such) book(s)." When Tucker Carlson interviews him, it'd work a lot better than saying "author of lots of cool tweets, blog-posts, and in 2024 pursuer of a feud with somebody called Will Stancil."

PS

-- The Peak Stupidity VP list --

And of course add RFK Jr. (now) to that list. I guess Ron DeSantis is not on the list.

I would also add Glenn Youngkin onto the list, the moderate Virginia governor who showed old-style moderates can win even in Blue-ifying states, and attracted much positive attention thereby. In other words, Youngkin flipped lots of voters in the weakest Trump demographics among Whites. I am thinking a lot of fence-sitters would be comforted by the idea. The obviousness of the potential choice is countere by the fact, unfortunate for Youngkin, that he is one of those Whites Males" we hear so much about.

-- --

Scott Adams, the pro-Trump guru and ex-cartoonist (banned from all U.S. newspapers now for Racism), urges Trump to pick Vivek Rammaswamiey, which disappoints me, repeating that claim even within the last 48 hours.

As usual with Scott Adams, it's unclear what he really believes but he sees use in proposing Vivek. I cannot agree with him on that, as I've written here previously. For me there is something really dangerous about people like Vivek. He is, for me, a straight-on con-man, the very dictionary-entry-accompanying 'picture' of the "demagogue."

I cannot get past this view of Vivek (in the same way that I took such interest in the career of Michelle Wu, for inexplicable reasons the Mayor of Boston in our time despite no ties to the city and only-weak ties to the United States itself; the system loves people like this and they walk into, frankly, very real "privilege" that excludes people like us; Vivek waltzed into U.S. politics with exactly the same awareness). We also see he is now playing the role of pro-Trump sycophant, exactly like in the old court-politics of yore.

But don't let my negative views on the out-of-nowhere Based Brown Guy Act affect his placement in your ranking, if you take up the idea of "the official Peak Stupidity Vice Predient-candidate rankings, 2024."

PS

Idea:

How about releasing a ranking -- best to worst -- with brief commentary on each potential vice presidential nominee? Would love to see Peak Stupidity's input and get-the-ball-rolling energies put to use on that.


The Contenders

- Kristi Noem (South Dakota governor)

- Tim Scott (Black man)

- Byron Donalds ("Based Black guy" Congressman, and Fox News talking-head)

- Elise Stefanik (demagogic congresswoman)

- Sara Huckabee Sanders (daughter of Mike Huckabee and former Trump person)

- Nikki Haley (impossible)

- V. Rammaswamamiey



- Mike Pompeo

- Marjorie Taylor Greene (MAGA Congresswoman)

- J. D. Vance (Senator)

- Kari Lake (TV star and governor-candidate in Arizona)

- Lindsey Graham (I cannot believe he is listed as a potential nominee, but there you are)

- Henry McMaster (former South Carolina governor; with Nikki Haley and Tim Scott and Graham, strangely the fourth on the list from the Fort Sumter state)

- Ben Carson (Black doctor)

- Doug Burgum (North Dakota governor, similar in appearance and temperament to Jordan Peterson; who broke his leg hours before the first debate but still failed to attract attention; has recently vowed to send troops to the Texas border)

- others...?

PS: I meant to write in here that I don't know if this VP choice would discourage me from voting.

(I'll remove the dupe in the morning, Mr. Blanc.)

PS My take is that that would torpedo the Trump candidacy. The Dems wouldn’t even have to cheat.