The good news is there isn't a backup. There's no room for someone to be a second Trump -- they'd get destroyed as long as Trump is in power. I am hopeful that the party will split into two pieces, forever.

> The good news is there isn't a backup.

Recently Charlie Rose [1] interviewed Michael Wolff,[2]

* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlrRr4ljLFM

who just published his fourth book on Trump, and who labelled Trump sui generis:

> Sui generis (/ˌsuːi ˈʒɛnərɪs/ SOO-ee ZHEN-ər-iss,[1] Classical Latin: [ˈsʊ.iː ˈɡɛnɛrɪs]) is a Latin phrase that means "of its/their own kind" or "in a class by itself", therefore "unique".[2] It denotes an exclusion to the larger system an object is in relation to.

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sui_generis

A unique personality that happened to come along at a unique time, and who which probably cannot be replicated.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Rose

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Wolff_(journalist)

I think Vance is trying to position himself to be the Next Guy. That means doing whatever he has to to not be destroyed now, but trying to leave himself the room to shift when it's his turn.

But I'm not sure he can pull it off. He's too stiff. He doesn't have "it" - whatever "it" it is that Trump has.

Same for Russia and China, who will replace Putin and Xi, I guess the answer is "someone" but I can't imagine it being easy to replace these "kings" without clear successors.

Donald Trump Jr