What if Donald Trump decides to fire himself?

What if Donald Trump decides to fire himself?

By

LeRoy Goldman

Guest Columnist

Asheville Citizen-Times 

 August 26, 2016

What if Donald Trump’s most startling surprise of his candidacy is yet to come, and soon? What if he simply throws in the towel? What if he turns his role on “The Apprentice” upside down and fires himself? Ridiculous, you say. Will never happen. Impossible. Perhaps, but let’s think about what might evoke such a thunderbolt from Trump, and what the implications of it would be for the presidential election.

I’ve been intrigued with presidential elections since 1948. All of the 17 presidential elections since then have had something in common that is absent in this year’s contest. All of them presented the American people with a choice between one or two qualified nominees. Sadly, that is not the case this year. You don’t have to take my word for that depressing reality. Polling data makes it abundantly clear that an overwhelming majority of Americans are opposed to both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.

Most Americans don’t think Trump is adequately prepared to discharge the duties of the presidency and are deeply troubled that he demonstrates little interest in modifying his penchant for shooting from the hip or the lip. At the same time most Americans don’t trust Hillary Clinton. They see her as secretive, manipulative, and obsessed with her ambition to become president of the United States. Her persona disturbingly conjures up memories of Richard Nixon who, like Hillary Clinton, had impressive political credentials, experience, and moxie, but who also had disqualifying and fatal character flaws that led America to the brink of a constitutional crisis.

Now there’s no chance that Clinton will step aside, if for no other reason than the fact that it’s clear she’s on her way to an overwhelming victory on Nov. 8. But there’s a chance that same reality might lead Trump to declare political bankruptcy and bow out.

Let’s talk about bankruptcy, a redemptive tool that has benefited the nation in general and Donald Trump in particular. Bankruptcy laws in America date back to the 19th century. They allow businesses and individuals to put bad decisions behind them and make a fresh start.

Donald Trump knows this process and its benefits well. Over the past quarter century he has benefited from the bankruptcy process at least six times. Five of the six bankruptcies involved Trump properties in the hard-hit gaming industry, the other was the Plaza Hotel in Midtown Manhattan. Bankruptcy is a way of cutting one’s losses, avoiding permanent stigma, and moving on.

Assume that over the Labor Day weekend Trump sits down with his trusted inner sanctum of advisers, meaning that he sits down with himself, and says, “How do I turn this campaign around and win in November”? And then assume his answer is that it can’t be done. It can’t be done because he’s got no chance of winning any of the normally Democratic states, no chance of winning any of the eight swing states like North Carolina, and is in real jeopardy of losing several traditionally Republican states such as Georgia, Arizona, and/or Utah. He’s on an irreversible trajectory to becoming the Alf Landon of the 21st century.

At that point there are only two options, suffer an historic and humiliating defeat or get out. Were he to get out, then what?

For openers, vice presidential nominee Mike Pence does not automatically become the GOP’s standard bearer. In fact the process of selecting another nominee is governed by Rule 9 of the Republican National Committee. Rule 9 provides that either of two alternatives exist for filling such a vacancy. Either another Republican National Convention would have to occur or the Republican National Committee itself could select a new nominee.

It’s obvious that time would not permit the convening of another National Convention. Thus, the RNC would select a new nominee with RNC members from each state being entitled to cast the same number of votes that their state cast at the GOP Convention last July. The winner must receive a majority of the votes cast.

That process, if triggered, will be a brawl among Ted Cruz, Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan, and John Kasich. Any of them, excepting Cruz, would give the GOP a chance for victory in November, and, more importantly, would give the American people an opportunity to vote for someone qualified to be president.

But you’re sure this is impossible, right? Weren’t you just as sure six months ago that Donald Trump’s bid for the nomination was certain to fail?

LeRoy Goldman lives in Flat Rock and can be reached at:

EmailMe