Rockefeller was a good Republican who pinch-hit and won the game during the last time that a defective president plunged America into darkness. I was a sophomore (wise fool) in college when Richard Nixon resigned in order to escape impeachment. The bus driver for the campus shuttle said, “He was a good president until he went to China. Then they switched him with a double.”
Maybe, current Republicans can find it in their hearts to say, “I supported the President until…” In 1973, the then recently passed Twenty-Fifth Amendment (1967) got a workout, as it mapped out a succession process for both the president and their VP. Shortly after Nixon’s reelection in 1972, the FBI uncovered corruption in the Vice President’s office and Spiro T. Agnew — who until J.D.Vance had no equal — resigned. Nixon, following the language of the 25th Amendment, asked Congress to approve his choice of Gerald Ford for VP. This was a good choice for Ford, who understood transitional principles and saw that his role was to bring healing to the nation. When Ford replaced Nixon mid-term, he went to Congress and asked them to make the then-governor of New York, Nelson “Rocky” Rockefeller, his Vice President. The two moderate conservatives, Ford and Rockefeller, enabled the country to overcome its partisan division and, I believe, saved the Republican party from disaster. This totally un-dynamic duo enabled many in Washington to save face.
Where will we find another Rockefeller? When I lived in Maine, I often drove by his birthplace in Bar Harbor. Perhaps Janet Mills or Susan Collins could be asked to take J.D. Vance’s place? I’d even support Stephen King for our next president. We could use someone who understands horror and is not afraid of it. The Twenty-Fifth Amendment states that in cases of presidential disability, the Vice President can, with the approval of half of the current cabinet, take over. If Trump resists, then Congress will have to vote to remove him. Congress can subpoena the medical tests that Trump is refusing to release. His increasingly erratic behavior is already obvious to his MAGA base. I think the voters will hold accountable anyone who fails to act appropriately with this hot potato. In order to save the party, though, Republicans need to have a real heart to heart with J.D. Vance. Is he up for the job? Can he be the healer and transitional leader we need in this moment? He shouldn’t be allowed to wait passively in the wings, for that would prove him unfit for the job.
Now, because every good political blog deserves a scripture:
Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty) and said, “Brothers and sisters, [we’ve got to replace Judas].”
– Acts 1:15-22