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If any of the lawyers on here want to chime in they may have a better take than mine but . . .

I think that on a day-to-day basis there is no difference.  The Amendment stipulates that the VP assumes "the powers and duties of the office".  On a day-to-day basis, that is equivalent to being the President.  There are no limitations. 

AFAIK, the only difference then is that if Harris becomes "acting President" she can't appoint a replacement VP.  I see this as problematic because nobody else can either because technically the office of VP wouldn't be vacant.  She'd still be the VP. 

Yeah I think that is right - I understand part of the motivation for that section was the Kennedy assassination and the idea of what if Kennedy survived as a vegetable.

House Democrats back Joe Biden after meeting (thehill.com)

If this is accurate, Biden appears to have weathered the storm so far as inside his party.  If Trump could magically start sounding rather sane and boring and uneventful, he'd have it nearly in the bag.  Coachspeak.

But, he won't.

But, if Biden has another public "issue", the Democrats will be in a deeper bind.  And if Biden indeed IS having cognition issues, he WILL have another issue.  And trying to keep him out of view won't work for long.

House Democrats back Joe Biden after meeting (thehill.com)

If this is accurate, Biden appears to have weathered the storm so far as inside his party.  If Trump could magically start sounding rather sane and boring and uneventful, he'd have it nearly in the bag.  Coachspeak.

But, he won't.

But, if Biden has another public "issue", the Democrats will be in a deeper bind.  And if Biden indeed IS having cognition issues, he WILL have another issue.  And trying to keep him out of view won't work for long.

This is not a thread about Donald Trump, but he's been very quiet lately.

Yeah I think that is right - I understand part of the motivation for that section was the Kennedy assassination and the idea of what if Kennedy survived as a vegetable.

So, that brings me back to my hypothetical and this isn't a partisan thing, it could apply either way suppose either:

Hypothetical version 1 (already set out upthread):

• The Biden/Harris ticket wins re-election.  
• Republicans maintain a small majority in the HoR and thus the Speaker of the HoR is a Republican.  
• Republicans gain a net two seats in the Senate thus taking a 51-49 majority and appoint a Republican as President Pro Tempore of the Senate.  
• Biden's condition deteriorates to the point that it becomes completely indefensible so Harris and the Cabinet invoke Section 4 of the 25th Amendment.  Then either Biden doesn't contest it, or he does and both houses of Congress vote by a 2/3 majority that Biden is in fact incapacitated and thus Harris assumes the duties of the President but she does NOT actually become President and there is NO vacancy in the office of VP to be filled.  
• Harris is struck by lightning and dies.  

Hypothetical version 2 (switching parties just to clearly demonstrate that this could go either way):

• The Trump/????? ticket wins election.  
• Democrats gain enough seats to take a small majority in the HoR and thus the Speaker of the HoR is a Democrat.  
• Democrats maintain a small majority in the Senate and thus Democrat Chuck Schumer continues to serve as President Pro Tempore of the Senate.  
• Trump suffers a debilitating stroke but survives as a vegetable (somewhat similar to the question you mentioned of what if Kennedy had survived Dallas as a vegetable).  
• Trump's VP is struck by lightning and dies.  

If our reading of this is right, then either scenario above would result in the Speaker of the HoR assuming the powers and duties of the office of President and in both of those scenarios the Speaker of the HoR would be from the other party.  

Either of these would cause a partisan shift in control of the "powers and duties" of the office of President.  In my opinion this outcome should be avoided for several reasons:

• It creates a partisan motive to kill the VP, and
• It creates partisan motivations for the members of Cabinet and Congress when deciding on the President's incapacity, and
• It fails to reflect the will of the voters.  If they voted for an R, that R should be replaced by an R and if the voted for a D that D should be replaced by a D if the need arises.  

I agree.  I think (per discussion upthread) that he could have gotten away with ducking the debates completely but after what happened in the first one, not showing up for the second one would be a catastrophe. 

It is that either way.

It's not gonna happen at 9PM. No way "they" allow that.

This is not a thread about Donald Trump, but he's been very quiet lately.

This is a REALLY interesting point.  

I also find it interesting that your comment was in response to this:

If Trump could magically start sounding rather sane and boring and uneventful, he'd have it nearly in the bag.  Coachspeak.

But, he won't.

Emphasis added.  

@Cincydawg may be right but I'll come right out and say what @847badgerfan hinted at:  He has so far.  

There is an old saying in Politics that says "When your opponent is hanging themselves, don't get in the way."  Trump has made a multitude of political errors and it would seem more like him to come out swinging at Biden in this situation but Badge makes a good point.  He has been almost eerily quiet.  

In the realm of political strategy, Trump's relative silence is ABSOLUTELY the best course of action.  Right now the country (see this board for example) is discussing Biden's fitness and mental capacity.  Trump wins from that conversation.  Anything he does or says could distract from that so the best course for him right now is to STFU and he surprisingly has.  

The other risk for Trump at this point is that coming out swinging at Biden NOW just looks brutish.  Lots of us have had elderly parents or other relatives that went through something similar to what it appears that Biden is going through.  Both Cenk Ungar and Jon Stewart referenced that fact.  I think those of us that have been there wouldn't want someone with the mental issues that we saw our loved ones go through to be POTUS, but we also wouldn't want some bully to humiliate them so for Trump to go on the attack would likely generate a backlash of sympathy for Biden.  

It is that either way.

It's not gonna happen at 9PM. No way "they" allow that.

I think they are kinda stuck.  

At this point Biden NEEDS the second debate a whole lot more than Trump does so there is no reason for Trump's camp to allow any leeway.