Vice President Doomed
D. S. Mitchell
In today’s (8-8-2017) New York Times, writer Frank Bruni had an excellent piece on the Vice President. I can’t reprint it here, but I decided I would paraphrase Bruni’s opinion piece.
According to Bruni Mike Pence was furious over recent reports by NY Times reporters, Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns, that indicated Pence might be readying himself for a presidential run in 2020.
Problem 1) Trump is only six months into a four-year term. 2) Trump is vicious in attacks on anyone that might be putting their agenda ahead of his.
Pence felt endangered by the reporting and pushed back quickly and vigorously, with a red-faced proclamation of “disgraceful” assertions, never detailing exactly why the assertions were disgraceful. According to Bruni, the Vice President’s anger “reflects the inconvenient truths, it is overarching. It’s existential. On some level he (Pence) must realize that he’s in a no-win situation. Without Trump he’s nothing. With Trump he’s on a runaway train that he can’t steer or brake. If it doesn’t crash, Trump can scream down the tracks straight through 2020. If it does, Pence will be one of the casualties.”
The question is why has Pence formed a political action committee, the only sitting vice president in history to do so? It could be that he is generating contributions to a legal defense fund, which is permissible under election laws. The Russian conspiracy probe is broadening and Mike Pence is not as financially well off as the President and attorneys in such circumstances charge big bucks.
However, all those donations and bridge building efforts could also be a quiet effort to make himself a viable 2020 presidential candidate. It seems unimaginable, but according Bruni, “there could be some imaginable future in which Trump falls and Pence is left to soldier on. But, mostly he is in denial , and he’s living very dangerously.”
The various scenarios of the future are mere speculation. But, it is within the realm of possibility that Trump will self destruct-be impeached and run out of town-or throw a tantrum and stomp off on his own. Who the hell knows? Anything now seems possible. Bruni theorized that, “Pence indeed needs an infrastructure and a network of his own.” But there is a rub to this, “there is no way to assemble those without looking disloyal to Trump and courting the wrath of alt-right types who know how to go on a Twitter jihad.”
Other possible primary challengers include a Ohio Governor, John Kasich and Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse. These adversaries don’t owe Trump what Pence does. They didn’t pledge complete allegiance. Kasich started his unofficial campaign before Trump’s inauguration. He is free to raise money, hold news conferences, become a fixture on cable news and attack Trump’s proposals and his failures. When Kasich and Sasse go after the President the Trump base will react but they will not be targeted like Pence would be.
Pence is being squeezed into a box of “compulsory worship”. And despite his behind the scenes machinations, he has done a masterful job of appearing perfectly content” looking devoted, and damn near infatuated.
Before being tapped by Paul Manafort as Trump’s running mate Pence was losing popularity in Nebraska based on his performance as their governor. Before accepting the role of Trump running mate Pence blasted Trump’s “travel ban” calling it “offensive and unconstitutional”. Pence advocated free trade and Trump’s protectionism was alien to Pence’s earlier stated trade stance. Pence claims to stand for “Christian values” and refuses to be alone with a woman other than his wife, yet he stands beaming next to an admitted gropper and female abuser. Mike Pence has even admitted feeling guilt over his past political behavior as a “negative campaigner” while he collaborates with the most corrupt and dirtiest politician in U.S. history. Pence seems to have given up his core values to stand next to such great power.
Bruni finishes his piece as follows, “No wonder he (Pence) wants and expects a reward as lavish as the White House itself: He sold his soul. but I don’t think he studies the contract closely enough and thought the whole thing through. There’s no political afterlife in this equation, just the loopy, mortifying limbo where he and so many of Trump’s other acolytes dwell. Maybe the howling is cathartic, but it won’t change a thing.”
Mike Pence has protested loudly that there is no 2020 presidential election run in his future. I think he is right, but not because he doesn’t want to be president, but because he can’t afford to enrage Trump.
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