What happens if McCain backs out?

[Chichiri]

democrat2thecore predicts that he will back out, as he's evidently suffering from dementia. I'm not sure I agree, but let's say he's right. There are three possibilities:

1) He'll back out well before the Convention, say tomorrow, giving Republicans time to act.
2) He'll back out shortly before the Convention, say two days prior, making Republicans scramble.
3) He'll back out after the Convention, when he's already the nominee.

What are the GOP's options in each event? How do you think they'll cope with this? And, of course, who will replace McCain?

[smoogatz]

1. He won't back out, for God's sake.

This is HIS BIG MOMENT. The Republican leadership would have to beat him into submission with softball bats, and even then I don't think he'd drop out. Besides, who else have they got? Giuliani? Mittens? Not bloody likely.

[Chichiri]

4. You're probably right. It's a hypothetical question.

eom

[KaryninMiami]

2. I was thinking that they may decide to pull him out if it gets much worse

He really does appear to unraveling. It is interesting to ponder who else they could run- I suppose it would wind up being Mittins, right? He sort of came in second.

I was hoping for a good meltdown during one of the debate - especially hoping that Obama would repeat the question asked by the Veteran the other night at the press conference about McCain's voting record regarding the military- not sure we'll actually have to wait that long however.

[glowing]

3. I don't think that he will back out.. I don't think they plan on winning so they aren't

going to put someone up there that is "good" to be a loser... This is not a year for repigs. I'm sorry, but the media and polls are lying.. Its not even close.. and those so called military families that support McCain, there aren't too many of them.. beleive me, they don't want their family (I don't want my family) heading onto Iran.

[Dr.Phool]

5. Meet President Jeb Bush!

They ain't gonna steal an election for McLame.

Jeb will be the repukes savior.

[Andy823]

8. Not this year.

Maybe in 2012 he will run, although I really doubt it, but this year anyone named Bush wouldn't stand a chance. I really think George has killed any chance for a future Bush to run, at least in the next couple of elections. As long as people are still around who remember what he did to this country, anyone named Bush will not elected!

[Ken Burch]

12. I'd be heading for Canada if that happened....

...if it was't so likely that President Jeb would try to annex it.

[MaryEllen71]

13. the fundies won't back Jeb

according to them, he didn't do enough to keep Terri Schiavo from having her feeding tube removed.

[Andy823]

6. Good questions.

I really don't know who they could get to replace him that would do any better. They had a terrible bunch of clowns trying to get the nomination, and not one of them could do any better than McCain, which is good for us! :evilgrin:

They could being in someone completely new to the picture, but I still don't know of any republican that can pull off a win. I really think they are doomed to lose, and honestly I don't think they much care. Bush has done so much damage that the next president will have one hell of a time trying to repair things. I think the republican thought is "let the democrats win" and then blame everything on them till 2012, and then they will try and convince the public to kick out the democrats and let the republicans back in. I think it's their only hope, that the public will forget who "really" got us into this mess, and blame those in charge, the democrats. If the democrats don't get some backbone and start doing something to help the "people" instead of the big corporations, it just might work. Democrats need to get rid of Pelosi and Reid, and put some leaders in charge that are willing to take on the problems, help Obama with the "real" changes we need, and stand up to the republicans. If they can show America they can make changes, and they can prove they are really working for the people, they have a chance, if not, well say good bye to the good old USA, and hello to the "NEW WOLD ORDER" that the Bush family has been pushing for years, where the rich run the country, and the rest of us are their slaves!

[BlueJac]

7. Have another beer!

:beer:

[elocs]

9. Oh. I thought you asked, "What happens if McCain blacks out?"

If that really were the question I would have to say that I've seen him speak where he would have done a better job had he blacked out.

[AllentownJake]

10. Sacrificial Lamb

He's the Bob Dole of 2008. They are pretty sure they are going to lose so they bring out an older part of the party so they don't damage a younger candidate who has a future in the party.

[jwirr]

11. Exactly. However to answer your question as long as it is before the

convention they would simply take it to the floor after some smoke filled backroom deals. After it would probably be the VP. I have thought of him as their sacrificial lamb from the beginning but there is always the chance that he would get sick.

[AllentownJake]

14. They are going to lose

Congressional seats and state house seats. The election is a total loser for them and they know it. The party insiders have compared the GOP brand right now to tainted dog food from China. They'll fight to minimize the damage and blame everything on McCain so the Conservatives can pick one of their own in 2012 and point to McCain as the reason they lost so bad and saying Chimpy was fine because he understood the base and new how to rally them. That's the reason none of the conservative bench came out this year. We got the C team in candidates competing for the GOP nomination all of them with questions on their conservative creds.

[Douglas Carpenter]

15. barring the most extreme of events this is absolutely not going to happen

however if the completely unimaginable were to happen - I suspect Mitt Romney would probably be their closest thing to a consensus candidate.

It would be a very difficult sale though. He was electable in Massachusetts only because he represented himself as a moderate Republican. Then to try to gain the nomination he had to spend a great deal of time and effort running toward the right. Now if he were to reemerge he would not have enough time to redefine himself once again as a moderate for the general election.

Also, Mitt Romney does not have a personality.

And of course he is a Mormon which is of course a polytheistic religion which most Evangelicals who comprise the a major section of the social conservative base would have a great deal of trouble supporting. In a Obama/Romney race I suspect Obama would probably pick up half the Evangelical vote, because many would rather vote for a Christian than someone who belongs to a religion that Evangelical theology would view as a member of a polytheistic cult.

[TheDonkey]

16. Hopefully then he'll be replaced by Alan Keyes!!

;)

[seasat]

17. If he did go down, it'd be a cakewalk for Obama

I doubt he will drop out. However, if they did manage to somehow get him out or he decided to bow out (highly unlikely), they'd probably do it during the Democratic convention to draw some media attention away from Obama. They'll use McCain's health as an excuse. They'll throw up someone that isn't really nationally known but they want to promote for 2012. With McCain dropping out this late in the game, the Repub nominee would have trouble gaining traction so they would be an expected loser but they would have excuse for losing. That would keep their candidate in the public eye for the next 4 years so they could challenge Obama in 2012.

McCain really is the only choice they have this year since Bush and the Repub brand is so toxic. Any of the other candidates would not poll near as close as McCain's current numbers. The only way McCain can win is if we shoot ourselves in the foot. Unfortunately, we've managed to hit near a couple of toes the last couple of weeks.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

18. I anticipate McCain having more mental lapses

I think they feed on each other. The more he gets confused and flustered, the more he will worry about it and put pressure on himself and make mistakes. And the more the economy implodes, the more fumbling around McCain will do to come up with solutions in a field where he is clueless and makes enormous contradictory statements.

I don't see McCain leaving the scene voluntarily. But the Republican leadership could put pressure on him to leave, especially if their candidate becomes a laughing stock, depending on the severity of his slip ups, and he drags the rest of the party down with him in November. For the Republicans, there's a lot more riding on McCain than just the presidency. A low Republican turn out in November will kill them in the Congress.

However, as others have stated in this thread, the Republicans don't seem to have any viable candidates to step into his shoes. If it looks like they're going down to a humiliating defeat, they just might whip out a complete unknown, a month or two before the election. Do they have someone young and charismatic who could really turn out their base in November and generate some excitement among them? Charismatic Republicans don't exactly grow on trees. Condi Rice? Jeb Bush? I think the latter are tainted with the scent of chimp. Giuliani and Romney will be seen too much as unsuccessful also rans. If it comes down to it, the Republicans will look for a surprise candidate who has a small track record and a big mouth. My guess is that if it were to happen, it would be someone we haven't seen or heard of yet.

[Chichiri]

20. Young, charismatic, comes out of nowhere . . .

. . . to become the most powerful man on Earth?

If that happened to a Democrat, they would call him the Antichrist. Just look at Obama. But the fundies would happily look the other way if it was one of theirs.

[emilyg]

19. He won't.

[CK_John]

21. Cheney will bring in Jindal or J Roberts depending on how bad the economy is. n/t