Dem
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GOP
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The race for being Donald Trump's running mate is on. The contestants are doing what they can to get Trump's attention. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) grilled three university presidents about whether calling for genocide of the Jews was a violation of university policy. As a result, two of them resigned under pressure. Taking on elite universities and winning is definitely a plus with Trump. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), another contestant, answered a reporter's question about whether she was interested in being on the ticket and she said: "Anybody would say yes," as if working closely with Trump was every woman's dream job. Other candidates are trying to win his favor in very different ways.
Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD) really wants to get the hell out of South Dakota. There are persistent rumors that she has been sleeping with Trump insider Corey Lewandowski, presumably to get him to put in a good word with Trump about her... abilities. But now she has opened a new front in her campaign to impress Trump, the dental front.
Noem went to a famous cosmetic dentist in Texas to get her teeth fixed up. Then she tweeted a 5-minute video showing off her smile and praising the dentist, but also trying to get Trump's attention. After all, he has said repeatedly that he likes public officials who look like they came from central casting. In addition, Trump probably appreciated her for pitching herself as a product. Samantha Sheppard, a professor of cinema and media studies at Cornell called Noem "the perfect ornament for Trump." She also said Noem now exuded a "Miss America-like white femininity."
Noem's Trumpification has been years in the making. In 2010, her hairstyle was a cross between those of Jennifer Aniston and Hillary Clinton. Now it is long tousled waves. Her clothes changed from the khaki shirtdress she wore to CPAC in 2011 to a bright blue sheath. Her lips have gotten more prominent and her eyelashes are thicker. She looks like Don Jr.'s fiancee Kimberly Guilfoyle or a dark-haired version of Eric Trump's wife Lara Trump. Richard Ford, a law professor at Stanford who wrote the book Dress Codes: How the Laws of Fashion Made History, said: "It's absolutely strategic. She is signaling that she's going to be Trump's kind of woman. And, at the same time, she isn't going to challenge him. Trump has noticed her. At a Trump rally in Ohio, he said: "You're not allowed to say it, so I will not. You're not allowed to say she's beautiful, so I'm not going to say it." The transformation from cowgirl to Trumpgirl worked.
The speculation about whom Trump will pick has become a cottage industry but some people really don't understand him. Reuters ran this article by Tim Reid yesterday. Here are his picks (and our comments). Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) (Tim, sorry to break the news to you but too many Republicans don't like Black people), Noem (a real possibility), Stefanik (another real possibility), Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R-AR) (dubious; has a couple of minor scandals), Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) (Black and unknown), Vivek Ramaswamy (Trump may be dumb, but he is not that dumb, and he's already said it won't be Ramaswamy), Tulsi Gabbard (maybe, but not as white as Noem), Ben Carson (who knew he was still alive?), Kari Lake (a possibility, but that would complicate the Arizona Senate race), Nikki Haley (she's not interested), and last, but surely least, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) (the Democrats would give their eyeteeth for Trump to pick her). You would think that a major news organization like Reuters would have an experienced political reporter go over any list of the veepables to see if it makes sense. For example, Byron Donalds and Trump are both from Florida and the Constitution kind of frowns on that. And what about Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH)? He pretends to be Trumpier than Trump. Surely he is a possibility. (V)