If Hillary can't get in because she dropped her campaign, Bush WILL be the default nominee and continue to reign. There is nobody else.
It doesn't matter if there's no one else. I dunno if you are familiar with our constitution or not, but unless in times of EXTREME duress, such as the US is under nuclear attack, the office of the President of the United States is limited to two terms, that's it.
Maybe the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi would be the next in line, but no one from the current White House staff. It's President, Vice President, Speaker of the House, in that order that would be in line for the White House. If the President is killed or rendered unfit for office, the Vice President assumes the responsibility of Commander in Chief. Then Speaker of the House would if the Vice President is unfit or unwilling to assume command.
But this is a case of the end of both terms, and unless Dick Cheney just has an epiphany and all of a sudden wants to run for the White House, it would go to the Speaker of the House, not Bush.
And the Speaker of the House is a Democrat who is hated by the Bush regime...how do you figure this is somehow GOOD for the Bush administration? Even other Dems can't stand Pelosi.
It's all a bunch of horseshit. You see, unlike the Italian government, the American government is (at least in theory) organized, mentally fit to hold office, and has the wherewithal about it to adapt to certain situations. There is absolutely NO conceivable disaster, war, conflict, or tragedy in existence that doesn't already have a plan behind it ready to be put into place and executed. We knew in early 2001 that we were going to attack Iraq...I remember the day I found out about it. So do you really think that something as small as an election would just usurp the entire democratic process of the most powerful nation on earth? Ha.