Who wins?

Interesting question about other candidates. The historical record suggests that large changes don’t happen. The structure of the federal government is on civil service management. Political appointees are superstructure. That makes it possible to have an executive level that is near complete incompetence, Trump is the most extreme example, and things mostly just continue. Reagan was also incompetent but he understood that he was playing a role so he stuck to that role. He spent his days watching old movies and was happy. He did not mess with the real government.

George W. Bush was also generally incompetent but grew up in the “business” and knew what not to touch. Unfortunately he was manipulated by the neocon faction of the old GOP that convinced him he would be famous by making Iraq and the Mideast into client democracies. This was justified by 9/11 that, ironically, happened because of forties years of US manipulation in oil exploitation by Cheney and the neocon faction. Cheney knew what he was doing and George W didn’t. The neocons are also behind the people who are trying to control Trump to continue the destruction of much of the planet for their benefit. (Only select billionaires matter everyone else is dispensable,) But Trump is too mentally unstable and has growing periods of irrationality so that tends to spiral into chaos. I’m afraid that the neocons are now in bed with Putin who is the only who can control Trump by fear. But that’s another issue.

So however ‘dangerous’ presidential candidates are the won’t and can’t change much. But that depends on them knowing the rules, reference Reagan and many others, staying out of the hands of a faction with real power, and being rational. This can produce change but primarily on the international stage producing massive military expenditures and death in other countries. Actually this is the goal as the rulers hold value in oil and their second tier hold it in finance (markets and fiat currency). The national governments are the third tier down, so bush league, who run armies buying everything from the top level, and fiat currency to support oil value and their “market” economies.

While presidents are nearly powerless to actually change things for improvement they can make things worse by triggering wars and being weak. Weakness means they are totally at the command of some very bad people. They can’t do much for good but they can make things, indirectly, much worse for the great majority. The oligarchy wins and continues to gather wealth either way while making sure no one escapes wage slavery and we stay dependent on oil which they control. It’s a tightly organized system that has been locked down over the last forty years.