(October 12, 2016 at 11:24 am)Tiberius Wrote: My prediction:
He won't concede. He will instead complain loudly and publicly of election fraud, probably point to a load of unscientific polls that show him ahead in states he loses. He will then try and get as many recounts underway as possible. He will probably use a team of lawyers to challenge results in as many states as he can (and I believe he probably already has them prepared ahead of time). He might even take it to the Supreme Court like in the 2000 election.
Even after Clinton is inaugurated, he will continue spouting the election fraud theories publicly, along with mounting a campaign for the Republican ticket in 2020.
The Republicans will adopt a super-delegate system for the primaries just like the Democrats have, just to ensure that a person like Trump cannot become their nominee again.
I think you nailed it, Tiberius, though I'm doubtful that he would seek another GOP nomination in 2020. Even he must know that would be a non-starter. However, a run as an independent? I wouldn't rule it out. Either way, his day in the political sun is over. But like Palin before him, he'll be slow to get that memo, and his insatiable ego will keep him in the news long after his sell-by date.
The real question is what happens to the GOP after this fiasco? They've lost any claim on Trump's hardline supporters, have probably squandered a lot of the goodwill they enjoyed in Christian circles, and seem no wiser when it comes to appealing to women and minorities than they were 18 months ago. Of course, there will be yet another soul-searching internal party report (as there were following their last two presidential losses) with the usual calls to reach out to Latinos, blacks, women, young voters . . . anyone beyond their ever-dwindling base. There might even be a few of them who echo Bobby J's call to stop being the party of stupid. But then it will be back to obstructing the Democratic president at every turn and pushing the usual warmed-over policy nostrums they've hawked for 40 years now. And we'll see some of the same faces in the next election: Cruz (hopelessly crippled by his pathetic, slavish knuckling under to Trump), Pence (whose appeal doesn't extend much beyond the Jesus freaks), Rubio (their great Latino hope and a strong possibility to be nominee), and of course whichever token black candidate they can get to run in the primary so they can look inclusive before showing his ass to the door, as they always do.
