Suppose both Trump are no longer candidates (dead, crazy, kicked out by party leaders, any number of reasons maybe even sensibly quitting)

Certainly not:

Harris
Stefanik
Michelle Obama
Matthew Mcconaughey
Dr Phil
Mark Cuban
Elon Musk
Cortez
Omar
M T Green
McConnell
Schumer
Pelosi

All past folks who have deemed themselves Presidential candidates

That leaves:

Newsome - he certainly looks the part
Cotton - has policies I like sorta looks the part
Hawlwy - good policies way too inexperienced
Manchin - a political hack as bad as the top list
Lindsay Graham - a political hack that has sold his souls many times
Abbott - probably not correct to say these days but the wheelchair is a problem
Hogan - too fat again probably not correct to say
Oprah - has universal respect would likely do a great job
RFK Jr - his breeding may be considered a positive by some and some thin he is nutty
Jackson or Barrett from the SCOTUS - maybe a little off the wall however their age and experience and training may be what we need right now

I don’t really after going through that thought exercise have anyone in mind that gets me excited. Does anyone reading this have any good suggestions?

Edit: after writing this I forgot to mention Condi Rice. I’ve never heard or read anything at all bad about her although perhaps one of you has s9mething. Maybe she would be the best of the bunch. Even better Condi and Oprah as a team might be a bandwagon worth jumping in.

soar2newhighs

You left out John Fetterman . Of late it seems he has overcome many of the effects of his stroke and has come out on issues that he disagrees on with his own party.

TexChik · F

Kristi Noem , Gov of SD for the Republican side. The democrats believe they can put the same lipstick on a different pig and trot it on out there and we wont know.

dancingtongue · 80-89, M

I don't think looking the part should be part of the criteria. Over reliance on media presence is what has gotten us in so much trouble in recent decades, imho. So that would rightfully drop Newsome considerably down the list, and means the wheelchair shouldn't be a detriment to Abbott. Didn't bother FDR through 4 terms as President. But both of those are primarily provocateurs, i mho, from polar opposite extremes, which shouldn't be what we look for in Presidential candidates. Not the job of a President. S/he is supposed to be CEO, running things administratively, a calm hand holding the nuclear codes as Commander-in-Chief, and like any CEO, able to work with , or manage, if you will, his/her Board of Directors, the Congress.

My nominee would be Senator Amy Knoblauch of Minnesota, who ran in the Democratic Primaries last time around. She has a long track record of working across the aisle to actually find common ground, consensus or at least compromise, on significant legislation. Her lack of grandstanding glitz to get attention is actually a positive, imho.