Battenfeld: Trump exit strategy real or just Democratic fantasy?

Racial strife. Protests. War. An unpopular president besieged by the media looks at the political landscape and decides one term is enough.

Could it happen? Or just a fantasy dreamed up by delusional Democrats?

Actually, it did happen. In 1968. with the Vietnam war raging and protests engulfing the nation, President Lyndon Johnson decided not to run for re-election.

More than 50 years later, could President Donald Trump look at the political landscape and make the same decision LBJ did — sparing him a humiliating re-election defeat?

It’s a remote chance, and it would take a lot for the proud president to admit defeat.

But here’s one scenario.

Trump is heading to the GOP convention — moved to Florida, the hotbed of coronavirus — one of the most unpopular presidents in modern times.

At this rate, he’ll be lucky if he gets a few thousand brave delegates to show up and cheer him on. More than likely, he’ll be speaking to a half-empty arena. With coronavirus cases spiking all over the South and West, there’s no chance the economy will recover enough before November — virtually ensuring Trump will lose, possibly in an electoral landslide.

But what if there’s an LBJ-type exit strategy before his nomination?

There are multiple reports indicating that Trump is fully aware of his plight, and is bracing for the worst. His body language — exemplified by his bedraggled look coming back from his disastrous Tulsa campaign rally — suggests defeat.

Democrats and their media cohorts are reveling in Trump’s gloom and doom, while some have even suggested the president will step aside and let another Republican, like Vice President Mike Pence, have a shot at the election.

Trump would have to make his decision quickly, before the nominating convention in Jacksonville.

He could let the drama build, and like the entertaining TV host that he is, make a stunning announcement that one term was enough for him. He would position himself as the victim of a deranged media and Democratic Party who will stoop to anything to undercut him and harm his presidency.

Republicans would then have to quickly scramble to come up with a replacement — preferably one who would have a better chance than Trump of winning. Pence would be one option, but Republicans would be better off with someone who isn’t affiliated with the Trump administration.

Former South Carolina governor and U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley would be one of the Republican Party’s strongest contenders. A woman of color running against creaky old white guy Joe Biden? I like her chances.

Republicans could also go the conservative route, picking someone like Texas Sen. Ted Cruz to succeed Trump.

But the real question is whether Trump is really up for abandoning the White House in the middle of the election.

My vote is no. Trump’s ego would never stand for just caving.

So for now, this is just a fantasy — a side effect of Trump Derangement Syndrome.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2VxcXFd