Who Gets the Fallback Chair?

Who Gets the Fallback Chair?  It is a long and winding primary season for both political parties; but it is a symptom of today’s culture that the public wants a winner….like NOW.  Given that foolish and unnecessary urgency, the stakes for tonight’s South Carolina Republican Primary debate are very high indeed.

We all tend to forget that like something out of a science fiction movie, days in political lives are like years in human lives.  What seems certain today might very well seem outrageous two weeks from now.  Given those considerations, it appears to be boiling down to the point where there will be one fallback chair for each party.  Now the Democrats have cleared their deck, getting down to two remaining candidates.  If these two candidates should suddenly fall out of favor with the public, the Democrat’s primary system of autocratic party control will make it quite possible for a Biden or a Kerry to step onstage and occupy the fallback chair.  On the other hand, the Republican’s primary system is more or less on autopilot and for better or worse (from a Republican perspective), it will run its course and determine the party’s nominee.  The RNC obviously retains some influence and control over their process, but to a large extent, it is now a creature of its own volition.   Therefore, the big question that might actually be answered in the South Carolina Republican debate is: Who will sit in the fallback chair?

Now each party has two contender’s chairs.  These chairs are ergonomically-friendly, well padded, and come generously equipped with all manner of swivel and height adjustments; everything necessary to make the occupant ultra-competitive.  However, the fallback chair is more of the straight back variety with a slatted bottom and back.   It is likely not even made of oak; more likely white pine.  You can never be certain how stout it will be and how long it will last…will the slats break or will the joints come loose?  The occupants of the contender chairs don’t worry about the cost of maintenance; they simply experiment with different seating positions and let others worry about keeping the chair in top shape.  The one sitting in the fallback chair lives in constant fear of a severe chair malfunction and whether or not there will be sufficient funds to repair the chair in that case.  It is indeed a precarious position and has a limited shelf life.  The Democrats have a bit of an advantage when it comes to the fallback chair business inasmuch as their occupant does not even have to sit in it on the stage.  They can simply wait in the wings just in case an opportunity for sitting materializes.  The Republican must continually man the chair and absorb all the necessary time and expense required to maintain that presence.  That is the price you pay for an open and transparent primary.

It seems to be a foregone conclusion that Biden and Kerry are the ones waiting in the Democrat wings to seat themselves in the fallback chair…if that becomes necessary.  Who will occupy the Republican chair is a more open question.  If the South Carolina results show a clear and defined 1-2-3 finish for Trump, Cruz, and Rubio; then Marco will find himself in the fallback chair.  If Rubio can somehow manage a second place finish, he might even move up to a contender model.  On the other hand, if Marco falls back to a weak third place finish or even fourth behind Bush, he will likely relinquish his ownership of the fallback chair to Bush.  Plain and simple, Bush has an operation and bank account better suited to the precarious and expensive ownership of the fallback chair than does Rubio.  Even though there can only be one Republican fallback chair, it is essential that it continue to be occupied.  This American Presidential election process has just begun and there will be many, many surprises about all of the candidates involved.  If some of those surprises turn out to be unsavory and damaging, that fallback chair could quickly be traded in for a contender model; if it is still occupied, stable, and functional.  Although Hillary’s life appears to be an open book (except for the redacted and stonewalled chapters), there is much left to learn about Bernie, Trump, Cruz and Rubio. If the fallback chair can remain functional for a sufficient amount of time, hope will spring eternal for that seated individual that one of the contenders might just lean back too far in their elaborate chairs and tilt over backwards.