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IT’S BEEN ONE heck of a week for Donald Trump and the Republican Party.
The controversy-prone presidential nominee kicked things up a notch over the past few days, getting embroiled in arguments and making statements that are over the top even by his usual standards.
Among incidents there is the ongoing feud with the parents of a Muslim American soldier who died in Iraq; his failure to endorse senior Republican figures Paul Ryan and John McCain for reelection; and his claims that the election could be rigged against him.
He even told a mother with a crying baby to get it “out of here” while he was giving a speech.
Despite this, Trump has said that his campaign has “never been so well united”.
However, all is not well in the Republican camp – with senior figures coming out against Trump and declaring their support for Clinton, and reports of major divisions within the party.
ABC News is now reporting that Republican Party members are exploring how to handle a scenario that should be unthinkable:
What would happen if Trump was to drop out of the race altogether?
Here’s what would happen
Just to clarify, no presidential nominee has ever dropped out of the race before, so the move would be unprecedented.
As well as this, Trump has given absolutely no indication that he has any thoughts of stepping down.
If he was to go, Trump would have to do so voluntarily, as there is no mechanism in place to force him to withdraw his nomination.
Should he step down, then it would be up to the 168 members of the Republican National Committee (RNC) – which provides national leadership for the Republican Party – to choose someone to take his place.
First, they would have to reconvene the national convention (that big, week-long event with speeches and crowds and lots of cheering) and have a vote on the matter to choose a new candidate.
Members from each state would have to vote together, and a majority would need to go to any potential candidate before they could be given the nomination.
ABC said that according to one legal expert, Trump would have to drop out by early September in order to give the party enough time to choose his replacement and get that name on the ballot in enough states to try to win the election.
Why it would be a disaster
Sounds simple, right?
Well, it’s not. Because as the Washington Post reports, Trump stepping down would almost certainly gift the presidency to Hillary Clinton.
Not only would the chaos reinforce her message of being the safer candidate, but the Republicans would be hard pressed to find a viable candidate to take his place.
On top of that, Trump supporters across the country (of which there are quite a few) would be so disillusioned with the whole thing that they’d likely stay at home in large numbers.
So, while Trump may be getting on the nerves of a few Republicans, for now the thought of him stepping down is likely much worse to bear.
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Is there a link to a more detailed breakdown of the plan? It’s going to affect more than just hauliers…
Is there any chance that Irish Ferries would reverse their decision to end the Rosslare to Cherbourg route? It would relieve some pressure at Dublin.
@Harry Comber: there’s a new Rosslare Dunkirk service starting up.
@Harry Comber: IF management are completely useless
Its the governments fault for cramming everything into dublin,it’s a two tier economy.half of irelands GDP comes from dublin alone,totally unsustainable.meanwhile Waterford cork limerick and Galway were starved.the planning in this country is a disgrace
@snotser: When you see who has represented Waterford politically in the past, you’ll understand why nothing has happened there.
Ireland is too Dublin centric.
@The world outside the M50: break it into 4?
And is making Beach/Strand Road in Sandymount one way out of town supposed to help deal with this traffic congestion?
@GClare: oh yes I had forgotten about that ridiculous plan
@Fi Wyse: isn’t that “parked” now?!?
@GClare: I’m not sure how allowing people to drive towards town on the beach road in Sandymount would somehow alleviate traffic at Dublin port?
@Shane Cormican: starting in January apparently
@OnlyHereForTheComments: it will cause backlog on all the Merrion Road and all through Ringsend, Irishtown and Pearce Street, which will lead to backlog all over the area
@GClare: Allowing less traffic to drive from the beach road into irishtown and ringsend will cause backlog all through irishtown and ringsend? I don’t think you’ve thought this complaint through.
@GClare: No port-traffic HGVs use Strand Road, the Port Tunnel was built to direct them away from there, and from the Liffey Quays. The trucks on Strand Road are local traffic, not (directly) affected by Brexit.
Will affect anyone living or working around the IFSC/docks area or living near/using the M50 or any other motorway near any of the ports.
@Jacqueline McCabe: If you live in the area I’d recommend you stockpile bread, johnnies and jax roll.
Going to be fun with driving hours and tacograph rules
Say there’ll be a few smart drivers avoiding the M1 and hitting the likes of the malahide road and Fairview to make the boat on time
Just pull the plug on the UK and when they sink which they will, then we can sail right across to continental Europe in a straight line, any port, just pick one, there’s lots to choose from….. A friend was just sayin’.. ehh!! Just sayin’.
Just a suggestion, but I think we’ll see an increase in UK haulage through Ireland via Northern Ireland as they try to circumvent tariffs so would it be realistic to suggest that Irish haulage takes precedence over Uk haulage or is that too unreasonable?
have your say