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I can't either, but that is itself an indictment of Trump, Trump-Ism, and the Trump-Ist Republican Party. It's been eight years since Trump started his takeover, and there is no credible successor to his role. There is no political, or even peripheral non-political, figure who is sufficiently loved and respected by the majority of MAGA Republicans to rally behind. Without Donald Trump, the whole idea collapses. Donald hasn't selected and groomed a successor, the party hasn't hyped up anyone who matters half enough to pull it off, his followers haven't congregated and selected someone. Desantis isn't Trump, Haley isn't Trump, Cotton isn't Trump. Essentially everyone else has taken sides against Trump at some point. The best pick might be one of his kids, but I'm not sure any of them have the gravitas to pull it off, and Don hasn't done nearly enough to build them up on their own.
It seems like "picking a successor" is very low-hanging fruit that isn't very often picked in US politics. Or am I missing some good examples? Is there an argument that Reagan did that successfully with H.W., and then H.W. did that successfully with George W., as part of an intentional plan, or is that typically taken to be happenstance and situational maneuvering?
It seems like planning your successor, if you are a popular president, is a really easy and obvious thing to do. But I guess the issue is getting everyone else on board with that. There's a lot more demand for the Office of the Presidency than there is supply...
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