I s’pose one good thing to come out of an assassination attempt is it’s shut the Dems up about replacing Biden.
For the time being, anyway…
The interesting "What If...?" is, had it succeeded[1] (...presuming it didn't, how it turned out
), is who would then be selected in his place. The last one to drop out against him in the Primaries? The person (whose name is) currently sealed in some hypothetical emergency "Current probable pick for VP" envelope? One or other of his sons[2] or his latest wife? There's no obvious answer, and doubtless plenty of opinions who it should be (and shouldn't be) who would suddenly have to reignite all the old questions they had before resigning themselves to just going along with the current presumptive candidate.
(Dems are in a similar position, at this stage. Though you could perhaps possibly imagine Jill getting the call, had it happened
but to the other fella. Cue "House Of Cards" (UK original, without the "longest term of office served" element to it) plot-twist on the conspiracy front. Never mind the possibility that this
was going to happen so what actually happened was a clever counter-plot to spoil the other plot by lampshading it and spoiling the 'spontineity' of it, making it look like the thing it was copycatting would itself be the ill-thought-out copycat[3].)
[1] Or enough to make it a factor... Because voting for a currently comatose president is one thing, but
putting them forward for the vote is another.
[2] I know not all of them are old enough, but haven't yet double-checked if
any are...
[3] Hey, Hollwood! Call me. I got loads of these 'spaghetti political-thriller' ideas. I can give you a convoluted plotline that's going to keep audiences guessing until well
after the end-credits, if you want it! All the way through a trilogy, even. I could work with Tom Cruise, Matt Damon, Tom Cruise (again), Harrison Ford, Gerard Butler, Harrison Ford (again), Martin Sheen, Charlie Sheen, Michael Sheen... I can be fairly flexible. For a price.