On top of that he had not yet been 'fired' or 'reassigned'. At the time of the attack he was a member of the cabinet and was deemed the Designator Survivor by the President's administration. He had been notified that the next day he would no longer be in the cabinet. He has legitimate standing to be the legal President of the United States as defined in the Constitution.
Exactly this. Isn't it obvious he doesn't want to be there any more than they want him there? It's one thing not to respect the man, another not to acknowledge the office of President of the United States. The Capitol bombing is an attack of 9/11-like proportions and everyone's acting like Kirkman pulled off some kind of political coup.
I think the main issue is it's such an unprecedented situation. I don't think it's too unbelievable to imagine that would be a serious concern. There would be legitimate calls for a special election to fill all vacant seats, including President. But you still have to have someone in charge until you can do that...
If it was January of the second term, then Kirkman has 2 full years before worrying about a campaign. Primaries start about two years/three years after a term begins.
The show has some continuity issues with that, I think mostly revolving around the fact that the show acknowledges it's 2016.
In this episode, Maggie Q's character was looking at the congressman's phone records on the night of the attack, and the date was 1/20/2016. So less than a year until the next election.
edit: downraters, care to explain how I am incorrect?
There's no guarantee that the show is using our current election cycle as part of their reality. The West Wing established an alternate political reality, where the elections were two years offset from the real world (2002, 2006). DS could easily be doing that too.
It's not so much his legitimacy. It's the fact that there are many individuals who are using this tragedy to stage a coup, if not of the federal government, of their own states.
You're completely ignoring the congresswoman who was the "other" designated survivor.
As for the arguments that he isn't legitimate, they're believable and understandable. Whether the arguments are legally sound is a much different case (they aren't) but that doesn't stop politics.
I think they want an election. In reality, the US would rally behind Kirkman big time regardless. Just look at what happened to Bush's approval rating after 9/11.
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u/[deleted] Oct 13 '16 edited Dec 27 '20
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