There are only five days left for his decision: Latest on Tuesday or Wednesday for the Republican Convention, Donald Trump has to name his Vice President and potential running mate for the White House.
Trump is not showing his cards, and Trump insiders insist he has still not made up his mind. The decision for Trump is further complicated by the dramatic situation of the Democratic party and the campaign of Joe Biden: Will Biden stay in the race? Will Kamala Harris, a black woman with strong appeal for female voters, take over?
So far, three top favorites for the job have emerged:
- The hottest candidate is JD Vance, at 39 years old the youngest Vice President ever. The Yale-educated former venture capitalist wrote the bestseller ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ and has developed in recent months into the most outspoken Trump supporter. There is a strong rumor that his beard would disqualify him for the job because ‘Donald Trump hates beards’.
- Pros for Vance: He is a firebrand, outspoken.
- Cons: He is very right-wing, a turn-off for liberals and Haley voters, a white man with no appeal for female and minority voters.
- The second name on the ‘Hot List’ is Marco Rubio, who had a lot of fights with Trump in the 2016 primary race as his toughest contender. He is the son of Cuban immigrants, at only 53 he looks very young and telegenic – and now he is Trump’s best friend and most important ally on big rallies all over the USA.
- Rubio’s pros: He can bring Trump the very important Latino votes – he is a darling of the Latino community in Florida. He also has good appeal to young and female voters.
- Rubio’s cons: He is also a strong conservative and the US Constitution forbids candidates from the same state. Rubio, like Trump, lives in Florida – he already said he would change states if necessary.
- The third candidate, the ‘dark horse’, is Doug Burgum, the governor of North Dakota, one of Trump’s political ‘darlings’. Trump always calls him ‘the best governor in the whole USA’. Burgum was a Trump contender in the primary, but with little impact – he returned to the campaign trail as a Trump fan and fierce critic of Nikki Haley.
- His pros: Nothing besides being a good governor and a Trump loyalist.
- His cons: Very right-wing, one of the strongest abortion ban activists in the USA. He would be terrible for women and liberals.
None of the three candidates appear to be perfect. Vance and Burgum are extremely right-wing. Only Rubio could contribute to an election win by delivering the Latino vote.
Many Trump insiders believe he could be planning a surprise announcement:
Some think he might choose a woman as his VP, despite his skepticism about women in politics, in preparation for a election battle with Kamala Harris for the women’s vote. Many experts see women as determining factor for this year’s election, and having a white man as VP could be highly counterproductive.
Some Trump insiders are still trying to persuade Trump to consider Nikki Haley as a surprise candidate for a female VP – she could secure him a nearly certain victory with the votes of women, liberals, young people, and better-educated voters.
The issue is that Trump dislikes Nikki Haley so much that he didn’t even extend an invitation to her for the convention.
