CPAC becomes the Trump veepstakes

With the Republican presidential primary all but decided for former president Donald Trump, Friday at the Conservative Political Action Conference served as an audition to become Mr Trump’s running mate.

Being Trump’s running mate is an inherently dicey prospect. For one, the last person who served in the job, the unflappable and pious Mike Pence, famously broke with Trump for the efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, which resulted in Trump supporters threatening Pence’s life.

By the same token, Trump will be 78 come 20 January 2024 and will be capped at serving only four more years. If Trump wins this person will essentially be his heir, with all the benefits and drawbacks. If Trump loses, they will be the person to pick up the pieces for the party in a wholly dysfunctional GOP. If Trump is convicted of a crime on the campaign trail or dies while in office, this person will become the standard bearer for the Republican Party.

It’s a simultaneously prestigious and thankless task for a job that former vice president John Nance Garner once called “not worth a bucket of warm piss.” Look no further than how Kamala Harris polls lower than President Joe Biden to get an idea of how brutal the job can be.

Nonetheless, the Friday cattle call featured Ohio Senator JD Vance, New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem vying for the voted spot. Here’s how they did.

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem

The South Dakotan has the benefit of having been a steadfast Trump supporter throughout her tenure both as a congresswoman, as a candidate for governor and in her current job. That gives her an advantage against Vance, a former critic-turned-Trump fanboy, and Stefanik, a former moderate