Here at Ringside, Bill and I try not to echo one another. However, I can’t resist echoing Bill’s take on the prospect of Sen. Tom Cotton as Donald Trump’s running mate, and adding a few of my thoughts.
Bill nails the main significance of the fact (if true) that Trump is strongly considering Sen. Cotton for the VP slot. It signals that Trump intends to run a serious campaign.
I noted what I hoped was this development when I discussed Trump’s possible running mates earlier this month. At that time, Gov. Doug Burgum had moved onto the alleged short-list along with Sens. Marco Rubio and J.D. Vance. Downplayed were more flakey options like Kristy Noem, Kari Lake, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Robert Kennedy Jr.
Ironically, as Noem has fallen, another Dakota governor has risen in the VP sweepstakes — Doug Burgum of North Dakota. Those of you who tuned into the early presidential debates may remember him as the guy who kept trying, mostly without success, to participate in the free-for-all.
In some ways, Burgum is the anti-Noem. He’s old and non-charismatic. If he exudes anything, it’s solidity. . . .
Solidity, or its appearance, might just be what Trump is seeking as he looks ahead to the general election. It’s what he wanted in 2016 when he selected Mike Pence.
The idea then was to show conservative and moderate voters that Trump, far from being a wild man, would populate his administration with sound, rational conservatives. Pence lived up to his billing for four years including, to Trump’s consternation, on January 6, 2021.
Selecting Burgum would signal solidity and seriousness. Selecting Tom would signal both, in spades. And, as Bill astutely pointed out, it would help unite the Trump/populist wing of the Republican Party with the more traditional Reagan/Bush wing. Tom is one of the few leading Republicans who has largely bridged that divide, maintaining good relations with both factions.
Selecting Cotton would also assuage two big policy concerns of mine. First and foremost, with Tom as VP I would be far less concerned about Trump abandoning Ukraine and appeasing Russia. I can’t think of any major figure who has been more steadfast in his support of Ukraine’s resistance to Putin’s aggression. And Trump respects Tom’s foreign policy and national security expertise.
Second, Tom’s selection would ease my fear that, as president, Trump would renew his push to go easy on, and indeed release, federal felons. Tom was one of the very few Republicans to oppose the jailbreak legislation Trump endorsed.
Indeed, he didn’t just oppose the legislation, he was the leading voice in opposition to it. But then, Tom Cotton becomes a leading voice on any major issue he engages.
Would adding Tom also assuage my concerns about Trump’s character, including his authoritarian tendencies? Maybe a little bit.
The Senator supports the Constitution unwaveringly. He stood strong against Trump’s attempts to prevent certification of the last presidential election. But Trump is going to be Trump regardless of his vice president.
As to some of the negatives the New York Times posits from an electoral perspective, the fact that Tom comes from a Red State shouldn’t matter. If I’m not mistaken with the exception of Al Gore, the vice president on every winning ticket for the past half century has come from a state that was pretty much in the presidential candidate’s pocket.
As to Tom’s support for using the Insurrection Act against lawless protesters, I agree with Bill that, if anything, this will play well with an electorate that’s sick of protesters running wild. We called this Substack “Ringside at the Reckoning” in large part because we sensed that the “racial reckoning” of 2020 was about to face a reckoning of its own.
It has. Just ask the recently defeated hard-left DA of Portland, Oregon.
What about Tom’s position on abortion, which the Times also flags as a potential liability. It points to his support for a national ban on abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
I may be wrong, but I think this position reflects the view of a considerable portion of the electorate, probably a plurality. In any case, it will be Trump’s position on abortion that matters.
In sum, I think Trump would be wise to pick Senator Cotton. Will he? I have no idea. Even assuming Tom is on a short list, this doesn’t mean he’ll be selected.
Some close to Trump will likely lobby against selecting Tom, citing his support for certifying Biden as president and his foreign policy hawkishness. How Trump will process the pros and alleged cons of adding Tom to the ticket is anyone’s guess.
Let’s conclude by considering the flip-side of the question. Will Tom accept an offer to be Trump’s running mate and would he be wise to do so?
The answer to the second part of the question isn’t clear to me. A lot of good people who served in the first Trump administration came out worse for the experience. Arguably, Mike Pence was one of them, although he can look back proudly on his service to the country, including his actions on January 6, 2020.
It’s impossible to predict with confidence what a second Trump administration would look like. It’s clear, however, that serving in it at a high level is a risky proposition.
But so was Tom’s decision to leave a good job at a top law firm to enlist in the Army and fight in Iraq. So was his decision to reup for a second tour of duty, this time in Afghanistan.
Tom made these decisions to fulfill what he considered his patriotic duty. If he believes, as I do, that serving as Trump’s vice president would also be a significant patriotic service, we should expect him to undertake that hazardous duty without hesitation.
I wish I had included the many advantages, to Trump and more importantly to the country, that would accrue with Tom Cotton as VP, but as usual, Paul is more thorough. I guess I can add only one thing: Trump will be 78 in three weeks and is significantly overweight. Having Cotton, who is all of 47, a heartbeat away would give me peace of mind in America's governance like I haven't had in years.
Cotton is brilliant, thoughtful and articulate. Can you imagine Kamala debating him? As for issues on which Trump and Cotton differ, a vice president is different from, say, a cabinet member. A cabinet member has a department to run, and that would unavoidably have him doing things the president might not like from time to time.. A VP must support the president; it's what a VP candidate signs up for when he signs on. I do think Burgum would also be good. Jim Dueholm