What happens if one of them dies?
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Let's start with the obvious: It's perfectly normal for men in the back half of their 70s and beyond to die. The current life expectancy for men in America is 76 (and plummeting by the day). Former President Donald Trump will be 78 next November. President Joe Biden will be 81.
Both men also appear visibly unhealthy. Biden frequently falls. It's easy to forget that each tumble Biden takes on the steps of Air Force One is a potentially life-threatening event. In fact, 32,000 elderly Americans die per year due to injuries related to falls. The fall Biden took on his bike in Delaware last summer was particularly disturbing because his reflexes didn't seem to activate as he collapsed sideways to the pavement.
Biden also frequently wanders despite being closely handled by his staff and the first lady. Wandering is common among people who develop Alzheimer's disease, which is the fifth leading cause of death in Americans above the age of 65. Reports of his increasingly frequent and severe temper tantrums are also consistent with an Alzheimer's diagnosis, as are his frequent mental lapses in public.
Trump isn't faring much better. While he's maintained his mental acuity, he is visibly heavier than ever. The last physical results from his term as president revealed that his body mass index was 30.4, which is considered obese. His waistline seems to have ballooned significantly since then, a fact he recently admitted . Obesity is particularly deadly for men at Trump's age. The higher someone's BMI, the shorter their lifespan. The life expectancy of an individual with a BMI over 30 is 77.7 years, which will be Trump's age by Super Tuesday. Doubtless, Trump's poor diet and admitted lack of exercise are leading contributors to his obesity. His son, Donald Trump Jr., recently remarked that no one alive has eaten more McDonald's per capita than his father.
Trump is also a relentlessly negative person, which tends to exacerbate poor health, particularly in the elderly . People who regularly engage in negative emotions are more likely to develop dementia than those who don't, and people who are frequently hostile have a higher risk of developing heart disease. It stands to reason that Trump's tendency toward negative emotion will become more pronounced in the coming months as he attempts to fend off multiple federal indictments that carry the potential of a life sentence while running for president.
Of the two possibilities, a premature Trump death is the more harrowing. Forty percent of the country would immediately pour into the streets for a victory parade that would make Pride month look like supper with Great-Aunt Doris. Another 40% would scour the internet for the real story — after the Russiagate hoax and the Hunter Biden laptop cover-up, who could blame them? Others would greet revelers in the streets with AR-15s slung over their shoulders. Who knows what might happen next?
A premature Biden death would be less immediately intense but no less calamitous. It would elevate Vice President Kamala Harris, a politician of such little stature that she was slated to finish sixth in the presidential primary of her home state in 2020 before dropping out. Her presence atop the Democratic ticket would further debase our national politics. A general election matchup between Harris and Trump would almost certainly be the pettiest, dumbest, and most combustible in American history. The sheer idiocy that would reverberate out from such a clash could finally undo the social fabric for good.
The Trump era has seen the nation undergo one monumental stress test after another. That our democracy still stands is a testament to the genius of the framers. But the sudden death of either Biden or Trump would stretch our internal tension to its limits.
The odds of a major political death are untenably high as we enter presidential election season. There is still a chance that one or both of the parties will come to their senses and deny their respective nominations to these old and unhealthy men. But I'm not holding my breath.
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Everyone dies. The question is not if someone might die. It is who do we trust to do the job, hire the best people and make good decisions. Obviously incumbents and even maybe an ex President would have an advantage. That is, of course, unless they just so happen to be a defeated disgraced sorry excuse of a loser facing 91 felonies. In that case? No Way!
There isnt a shred of evidence or informed opinion that would lead to the conclusion that the nation would be in some sort of serious jeopardy if Kamala Harris became president.
This mantra is all the result of right wing propaganda that has seeped into mainstream media.
How would you rank Kamala Harris?
Among the rankest?
Among former Vice President's and their ability to become President....
Here are the vice presidents of the past 30 years - Al Gore, Dick Cheney, Joe Biden, Mike Pence, and Kamala Harris.
I dont see why she should be called unqualified compared to any of those. The smearing of Harris is right wing propaganda.
Okay, so where would you rank her in that hot mess?...
It's really not a hard question John....
If either Joe Biden were to die in office or former President Trump were to die, it would propel their respective parties to high voter sympathy/appeal/turnout.
People tend to look at a leader who dies much differently than when that individual was alive. As Jane Fonda might say it would be a gift.
if trump were to croak, his approval skyrockets and he would be unbeatable in the GOP primaries*...
* and no more pesky court appearances...
We win.
Who's "we" and what do "we win"?..
If it Brandon that dies it is President Harris.
In which case our enemies win; and our allies take full advantage of us.
So basically exactly the same as having trump or one of his stooges in office.
The cabinet and advisers who guide the POTUS whomsoever they might be could be more important than the figurehead who might be POTUS in order to maintain a good government, provided the POTUS has the good sense to take good advice But hey, don't worry, I'm 86 and I THINK I'm still among the lucid. What really pisses me off, though, is when I read this line in the seed: "t's easy to forget that each tumble Biden takes on the steps of Air Force One is a potentially life-threatening event." I go back to when the media actually had integrity, when awards were given for the newspaper with the least bias (impossible to award these days) when all the photographers lowered their cameras when FDR fell coming down the Air Force 1 ramp, back when you could actually TRUST the news because you heard it from Walter Cronkite.
Careful Buzz, that post kinda sounds like an American conservative pining for the good old days.../s
For me, the good old days were back in the early 1950s. How many times have I begged Scotty to beam me back there? However when I was old enough to vote I always voted Liberal, but the last Liberal I ever voted for was Justin's father, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, the best PM Canada ever had. I thought so even when he hit on my daughter at a cocktail party we were at in Montreal, but at least that showed he had excellent taste. After him I have always voted Conservative.
they got past all his character flaws and his attempts to steal an election, voting for a dried up stiff seems tame. he'd definitely be a lot more popular with the opposition in the past tense...
Americans have voted 9 dogs, a cat and 3 goats into office. No surprise they would vote for a corpse. LINK ->
A corpse is better than a Democrat?
That sounds about right.
There are members on this site who believe Biden is among the Living Dead already.
It is important who a president has as advisors, in cabinet, and who controls Congress at the time. A president isn't a standalone entity.
What happens if one of them---or both of them---dies? There will be a funeral and the nation and the political landscape will adjust.