By Scott Robertson
On Aug. 10 I was in a large room with Donald Trump for an hour. I wrote a column about that experience in this space in which I made it clear I believe Trump lacks the honesty, the intellect and the willingness to put in grunt work that one needs in order to be an effective president.
Since then, I have been asked why I haven’t put Hillary Clinton under the same microscope, and the answer is simple. She hasn’t come here yet. If you think I’m a liberal media type who loves Hillary Clinton, you’re taking things for granted that perhaps you shouldn’t. The fact is, I’d love for Hillary Clinton to come here and give me the opportunity to write about it. Because, though I truly fear a Trump presidency, I’m not sure a Clinton administration would be much better.
Like most Americans, I simply don’t trust her. I saw a poll recently that said just as many Americans thought Bill Clinton was a liar as believe Hillary Clinton is a liar. The difference is, for some reason, Americans overwhelmingly thought Bill Clinton actually cared about the average American, while only her staunchest supporters can bring themselves to believe Hillary does.
So, as I’ve said before, somehow, we have ended up with the Democrat and the Republican with the highest disapproval ratings winning their respective parties’ nomination for the highest office in the land.
Surely we can do better.
As a matter of fact, I think that in this age of instant communication via cellphones and social media, there is still time for us to do better this term.
Do you believe a Twitter-Facebook campaign could raise two running mates – if they already have a high enough profile – to challenge both the major party tickets between now and election day?
I think it’s possible, and I think the candidates are already in place. We just have to convince them to shift things around a little.
Would you be willing, if it guaranteed excluding Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump from the White House, to vote for a mixed ticket?
If so, I give you Pence – Kaine 2016!
I would do this in a heartbeat. For that matter, I would do Kaine – Pence. Seriously, where do I sign?
The coverage I’m reading says Mike Pence is knocking it out of the park everywhere he goes. Less so for Tim Kaine, but still, compared to Hillary Clinton, his positives are off the charts.
Would enough Democrats be willing to kick Hillary to the curb in order to obtain a #NeverTrump guarantee? Ask Bernie Sanders’ supporters, who nearly upended the Democratic National Convention.
Would enough Republicans be willing to drop the Donald in order to guarantee they wouldn’t have a second President Clinton to impeach? Go ask Ted Cruz, Paul Ryan, et al.
I’m only semi-joking here.
Donald Trump would still be able to start his rumored TrumpTV venture in December, uniting with Roger Ailes and his friends at Breitbart behind the scenes and with Sean Hannity, Newt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh in front of the camera to bring America a second conservative television news/talk network option.
Hillary Clinton could be offered the ambassadorship to Russia, since at that point there would be no one in the free world more willing to play hardball with Vladimir Putin than she.
Through a gentlemen’s agreement, nominations for the United States Supreme Court would have to be acceptable to both Pence and Kaine before being sent to the Senate for confirmation hearings.
In Messrs. Pence and Kaine we’re talking about candidates with gubernatorial and senate experience under their collective belts. It could very, very easily be argued they’re actually better qualified than Mr. Trump and Mrs. Clinton.
Honestly, this could work.
Imagine taking the 2016 presidential campaign – in which America became largely convinced that the two-party system had finally broken – and creating a two-party ticket that would give representation to conservatives, liberals and moderates alike, rather than excluding two out of the three.
There is one thing I can see getting in the way: The negotiations as to who gets to be at the top of the ticket.
There’s one other thing too.
In the least sane election in my lifetime, this idea is the wrong kind of crazy.
When you look at the alternatives: President Trump or President Clinton 2.o, this makes too much sense.
