Let there be no doubt, Trump is the symptom, not the problem. Vance is the President in Waiting (I predict he will be POTUS after the November elections), and he will be far worse then Trump ever could be. Trump is knee-jerk, Vance is cold and calculating.

But the good news is, based on the mud-slinging the Republican party is doing, they are really. really afraid they will lose the Senate AND the House in November, and they are trying to shore up support in America for their failed policies. They really, really need this trade deal, and Carney knows it. Unless they get a trade deal before November, the American political scene will look very, very different.