Civics question: If both candidates die in a pandemic just before the election...

[Lady Florida.]

On 10/2/2020 at 7:57 AM, Ausmumof3 said:

Well apparently the betting agencies said that odds on mike pence being president went from 300 to 1 to something like 27 to 1 then betting on the election got suspended.  

The odds on him being president or the odds on him being the presidential candidate? 

[Lady Florida.]

On 10/2/2020 at 4:03 PM, katilac said:

That would be the most likely, but it definitely doesn't have to be the vp candidates. It's whoever the party puts forward. 

I'm hoping that pondering this scenario leads America to nominate people who are not in their 70s for the next election. If there can be a minimum age, there ought to be a maximum age too - and I say that as a pretty old person 😄

Maybe this will also be the scenario that has us finally looking at the EC and either eliminating it or making major changes to it. As was posted upthread, most states have rules about how electors are allowed to vote but there needs to be something at the federal level that addresses this very outdated system imo.

[Tanaqui]

Quote

Maybe this will also be the scenario that has us finally looking at the EC and either eliminating it or making major changes to it.

Nag your state legislators to join in the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact then - because I don't think we really have a realistic chance of getting Congress to approve an amendment over this.

[Ausmumof3]

1 hour ago, Lady Florida. said:

The odds on him being president or the odds on him being the presidential candidate? 

I think it was president but it was a day ago and so much has happened since then I’m feeling a bit vague.

[Ausmumof3]

1 hour ago, Lady Florida. said:

The odds on him being president or the odds on him being the presidential candidate? 

I found this

https://www.betfair.com.au/exchange/politics/event/28009878/multi-market?marketIds=1.128151441

I don’t bet so I’m not really sure what this means exactly.  And apologies it seems kind of gross thinking of betting on it when one of the candidates is ill but I can’t figure out how else to answer your q.  

 

[Ausmumof3]

2 hours ago, Lady Florida. said:

The odds on him being president or the odds on him being the presidential candidate? 

And I found it.  Looks like odds of being president

https://au.news.yahoo.com/us-election-2020-betting-suspended-on-presidential-election-as-trump-tests-positive-to-covid-080916585.html

[Pen]

4 hours ago, ktgrok said:

Some are now raising the idea that if it went beyond the VP, it could get messy. That Speaker Pelosi is designated next via law, but not the constitution, so there could be court cases challenging the law. 

 

For any number of reasons I strongly hope that whatever happens it stays within what the Constitution covers.  

[kiwik]

On 10/3/2020 at 12:41 PM, Dreamergal said:

See, but I can live with that because that happens in an extreme situation and normally there is a primary where people get to choose their candidate. It is one of my most favorite things about American democracy.

From where I come from which is based on the British way, the Prime Minister is the "leader of the party" and it can give way to nonsense like 4th generation dynast leaders who have no qualification except last name at the expense of more qualified leaders because of sycophants. That is absolutely annoying and nuts to me. Thankfully that is changing.

In NZ too but we have never had a situation like other countries - it is probably different depending on culture. If Jacinda Adern dies the Labour party will vote in a replacement.  It won't be the deputy PM because at the moment we have a coalition government and the leader of the coalition party got deputy as part of the deal.  It has the advantage that if the prime minister goes rogue they can be replaced before the next election.

[Pen]

On 10/2/2020 at 6:00 PM, Ausmumof3 said:

I think between around 50-70 is a good kind of age.  I agree in the very young but I think dementia issues aside just the instability that can result from a serious health scare in the older people is an issue.  And I worry that the added stress might accelerate or exacerbate the health issues.  

 

Except that many people are mentally sharp and have excellent judgement (some wisdom?) older—while early onset dementia is perfectly possible.

And capable (whether agreeing with policies or not I don’t think many would dispute capable of getting things done in Office) US Presidents have included FDR with polio issues and JFK with (? something - was it Addison’s?) So physicality is not necessarily a top requisite. 

Another option might be to decrease typical demands for physically strenuous and demanding activities/campaigning etc  It would be a hard change.  Do Australian candidates and PM have rigorous travel and speaking demands? Canada whic is a similar size country afaik has relatively less both national and international travel by its PM than tends to be case for US Presidents and campaigning candidates. I don’t think getting everything done via distance technologies would work, but maybe somewhat more could be. 

http://sleepeducation.blogspot.com/2010/02/bill-clinton-importance-of-sleep.html

possibly things like the above could help educate the public as well as people in politics  - younger Presidents are not immune to health problems from overdoing and under sleeping. So part of the answer may be behavior change and public expectation change.  Workers of all sorts and drivers and students also probably have problems when they over do and under sleep. 

[Pen]

13 hours ago, kiwik said:

In NZ too but we have never had a situation like other countries - it is probably different depending on culture. If Jacinda Adern dies the Labour party will vote in a replacement.  It won't be the deputy PM because at the moment we have a coalition government and the leader of the coalition party got deputy as part of the deal.  It has the advantage that if the prime minister goes rogue they can be replaced before the next election.

 

When it is said that the Party votes in a replacement, is that elected members of Parliament belonging to the Labour Party? Or is that like what in USA would be something like the Democratic National Committee? Or something else?