Donald J. Trump’s surging poll advantages over key opposition candidates of both parties make it reasonable to speculate who he will choose to share a winning ticket.
Accordingly, his formidable lead will reduce reliance on a running mate to help pull him over the November general election victory finish line with more emphasis on who best to rely on to jointly advance winning policies.
With the Republican primary calendar officially kicking off Jan. 24, Trump is already leading party rivals by an average 60 percentage points on the national level, and more than 20% in state surveys.
And with much credit to backfiring Democrat lawfare efforts to eliminate their greatest threat through disqualification, criminal prosecution, and bankruptcy, he is decisively beating incumbent Joe Biden in most national polls, including all swing states.
As with taking an episode from Trump’s enormously popular “The Apprentice” TV series, who among the most frequently named V.P. contestants will likely get booted or boosted?
Forget Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis
Since loyalty matters bigley to Trump, ex-South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and current Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis shouldn’t plan to give up present day jobs any time soon.
Although Haley supported many Trump policies as his U.N. ambassador from 2017 to 2018, including strengthened U.S. relations with Israel and withdrawal from the Paris Agreement on climate change, the two have since publicly disagreed on other issues including levels of U.S. support for Ukraine.
Don’t expect any love nest sentiments to develop after Trump called Haley a "birdbrain," and son Donald Jr. said during a Christmas Day interview on Newsmax’s “The Balance” that he would go to “great lengths” to keep her off his father’s campaign.
Like Haley, Ron DeSantis fails the loyalty test as well, having ungratefully launched a competing presidential campaign after Trump had provided crucial support enabling his 2020 governorship win.
DeSantis might make a strong 2028 contender whose conservative policies, if not his opportunity timing, closely line up with Trump’s base.
Watch Some Strong Women Candidates
Trump told NBC’s Kristen Welker in a September interview that he liked the concept of picking a woman, “but we’re going to pick the best person.”
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem appears to be a Trump favorite, one he has publicly acknowledged to be on his candidate list.
In a September NBC interview, Trump said, “I think she’s fantastic. She’s been a great governor. She gave me a very full-throated endorsement — a beautiful endorsement actually,” adding, “And, you know, it’s been a very good state for me and certainly she’d be one of the people I’d consider.”
When asked that month whether she would consider a slot on the Trump ticket, Gov. Noem told Newsmax, “Oh, absolutely. I would in a heartbeat.”
Although not representing a swing state, her deep red roots strongly resonate with Trump’s base, having strongly criticized criminal indictments against him and as governor enacted significant abortion restrictions and banned transgender women from unfairly participating on traditional girls’ school sports teams.
Rising Republican star Congresswoman Elise Stefanik of New York is another of Trump’s most loyal supporters and fiercest allies, having served on his impeachment defense team and backing him amid mounting legal battles such as filing a judicial ethics complaint against the New York judge handling his civil fraud trial.
Owing to a razor thin GOP House majority and representing bright blue New York, however, Stefanik’s ongoing role may be most valuable remaining in Congress.
Also, don’t entirely count out Trump’s former White House Press Secretary Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders who effectively defended her boss in daily sparring matches with CNN and other liberal media outlets.
On the loyalty front however, she was notably slow in endorsing his ’24 presidential candidacy.
Some Outstanding Black Possibilities
Highly respected Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina who terminated his own ’24 presidential campaign bid notably avoided attacks on Trump in a race where winning Black votes may prove a decisive factor.
Scott, who emerged from an impoverished background with a single working mother and brother sharing a one-bedroom North Carolina dirt road shack-like home, worked with the Trump administration to develop opportunity zones for low-income communities.
When asked on Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures" whether he would choose Scott as a running mate, Trump said he thought Scott is a “very good guy,” and talented.
Nevertheless, upon dropping out of the presidential contest the senator said, “Being vice president has never been on my to-do list for this campaign, and it’s certainly not there now.”
Another fast-rising House Republican, Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida, openly expressed enthusiasm when asked on SiriusXM whether he’d accept an offer to join Trump on his ticket.
Donalds said, “If that’s something that’s open to me, would I do that? Yeah, I would, because I want to do everything possible to help get our country on track, because despite our political disagreements in America, we are the best country in the world. It ain’t close.”
The congressman had endorsed the Trump campaign back in April — picking the former president over fellow Floridian Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Meanwhile, although there should be no confident bets regarding who, among numerous excellent partner candidates, Trump will pick, unlike his presumed opponent, we all can be very grateful that there are none named Kamala.
Larry Bell is an endowed professor of space architecture at the University of Houston where he founded the Sasakawa International Center for Space Architecture and the graduate space architecture program. His latest of 12 books is "Architectures Beyond Boxes and Boundaries: My Life By Design" (2022). Read Larry Bell's Reports — More Here.
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