What Iffing

I’m struggling with an addiction. It’s a habit of thought, and I have a feeling I’m not alone -- running election scenarios. A distraction, when I could be directing my mind toward more useful pursuits. I’m a binge-speculator.

Not very long ago, impeaching this President was considered a waste of time, no matter the moral compulsions of some liberals, because the Senate would never vote to remove him, and the 2020 election was too close. But how things can turn on a dime these days! Maybe the new questionis, will Donald Trump finish his first term?

OK, here I go. Let’s just say that the President is impeached and removed. Then what happens? He might say, civil war. But more likely, we would have President Pence, at least until Inauguration Day 2021.

What night that be like? My own feeling is that if Mr. Pence just kept a chair warm in the Oval Office until then, he might do less damage than the current occupant. And what might happen to Mr. Trump after removal? Pence could pardon him of likely federal criminal charges, but he’d still have to face the music in the state of New York.

How might the stock market respond to all this? Would it tank, or shoot up a thousand points? Place your bets!

It seems Pence would stand little chance of being elected to a full term. In fact, he might not even be nominated, and let’s just say what I’ll call a more credible Republican gets the nod.

Then the Democrats pick Elizabeth Warren. You might have thought the Republican Party as a brand was doomed – but if voters had to choose between a credible Republican and an edgy liberal, what would happen? Not as easy a call, but perhaps more interesting.

Now, let’s just go wild and say that somehow BOTH Trump and Pence were removed from office (cut me a little slack here, just throwing some spaghetti against the wall, OK?). Then there would be President Nancy Pelosi. You may say, well, “they” hated Hillary, but the prospect of a President Pelosi might also be too far a bridge for some.

You see what an addicting game all this is! Beats fantasy football. In the end, though, he only sensible thing we can do is make sure our seat belts are tight, as we will be flying through turbulence for quite a while.

I don’t know about you, but I’m almost looking forward to the day when the news starts to get a little boring again, the way it used to be.