Pence will be tainted meat. His approval rating isn’t any better than the Donald’s, and no one cares about him.
8 Likes
If this happens, where does the money go that was raised for the Trump 2020 campaign?
1 Like
To his lawyers.
7 Likes
That makes the decisions in South Carolina, Nevada, Kansas, Arizona, and Alaska to cancel their primaries interesting. I expect the impeachment process to last at least into next February, when primaries start. If the GOP changes their mind, they’d have to scramble to get primaries set up in those states (and any others that choose to cancel in the future.)
If his lawyers couldn’t even get him out of impeachment, they did “not a good job” and so he’s going to stiff them. No, that money will go straight into his offshore bank accounts.
5 Likes
They’ll agree that one specific minor thing was beyond the pale and line up behind that. It gets him out without admitting how vile the rest of it is.
4 Likes
Pence has all the dynamism and charisma of a wet dishrag, an evil wet dishrag to be sure, but still a wet dishrag.
7 Likes
Pence has the charisma of a wet plastic grocery bag. He fades into the background even when he’s the featured speaker. Mitt fuckin’ Romney looks dynamic in comparison.
If Trump isn’t in the picture, look for the GOP to field an “anti-corruption” candidate. That’s really what Trump’s “Drain the Swamp” was all about, but it’s now patently absurd. The GOP knows it plays well with the base, and they will need some reputation-washing. Keep an eye out for Paul Ryan; if things start getting too bad for Trump to survive until Nov 2020, expect Ryan to come in and rally the party around removal and “cleaning things up.”
4 Likes
I think Pelosi would be a placeholder until the 2021 inauguration of the nominated 2020 Democratic candidate, if it came to that
Your comment inspired me to read Mike Pence’s wiki article. Who is this guy? After being fraternity president, he became a lawyer and got involved in politics, and then
Shortly after his first congressional campaign in 1988, radio station WRCR-FM in Rushville, Indiana, hired Pence to host a weekly half-hour radio show, Washington Update with Mike Pence .[29] In 1992, Pence began hosting a daily talk show on WRCR, The Mike Pence Show , in addition to a Saturday show on WNDE in Indianapolis.[26][29][30][31] Pence called himself “Rush Limbaugh on decaf” since he considered himself politically conservative while not as bombastic as Limbaugh.[32][33] Beginning on April 11, 1994, Network Indiana syndicated The Mike Pence Show statewide.[34] With a 9 a.m. to noon (ET) time slot, the program reached as many as 18 radio stations in Indiana, including WIBC in Indianapolis.[26] Pence ended his radio show in September 1999 to focus on his 2000campaign for Congress, which he eventually won.[35] From 1995 to 1999, Pence hosted a weekend public affairs TV show also titled The Mike Pence Show on Indianapolis TV station WNDY.[29][36]
Radio? Television?? I had no idea.
I suspect that his “fade into the wallpaper” VP persona is at least partly an intentional defense mechanism.
3 Likes
Agreed. But the republicans might see having Pelosi as the placeholder as the better option during the campaign. That way they can pitch themselves as outsiders trying to take back the country from crazy socialist/feminists, rather than as traitors trying to avoid prison.
2 Likes
The “drain the swamp” thing was all about draining out people like Paul Ryan too. The GOP base doesn’t like Ryan, he’s not openly racist enough. The GOP base is so fully converted to hate politics, it’s not really about corruption, or policy, or any idea of “good governance” for them.
If the GOP runs a Romney/Ryan type bill again, they’ll lose, again because their base doesn’t want it.
6 Likes
Well said.
3 Likes
Tainted meat, sure… but not Democrat meat.
They’ll hold their noses and swallow.
If anyone on Earth thought Pence was someone who could get elected prez in his own right, he never would have been the VP to begin with. His sole qualification is “not pulling focus”.
People who pay attention to politics (a group that vies with Mennonites in terms of electoral clout) looove to discuss these Byzantine trick-shot electoral theories, but let’s be real. Republican politicians do not actively want Turmp to be impeached – no one wins an election because they’re under indictment – and they certainly don’t believe they’d have a shot at the White House in 2020 if he were actually forced out. The one and only consideration for GOP senators is: if I keep blatantly ignoring Turmp’s criminality, will it backfire on me personally?
That still doesn’t seem very likely. But for sure they’re all listening very closely for the first signs of the ice cracking, especially the 23 of them whose own seats are up in 2020. Not one of those craven fucks would risk their own unmerited reputation for the sake of a president who’s a pretty big liability to begin with.
So, I think this new Ukraine story will be making them skittish, because it’s an unusually straightforward and unspinnable story: even Fox News viewers might glimpse enough reality-based news to realise it has substance. And, yes, lots of those people will still support Turmp personally – but that doesn’t mean they will support the guy who played Craven Henchman #3 in the impeachment soundbites. Even if I were a nazi, I’m pretty sure the spectacle of e.g. Lindsay Graham mewling and thrusting his hindquarters at Turmp would still make me want to vomit myself into a coma.
5 Likes
This is an “improvement” from 5 to the whole 10%. Please, let’s not make boingboing just another echo chamber - there are far too many critical-thinking oriented people here to allow for something like that to happen.
Yeah, no one likes Pence. Trump, as much as I hate to admit it, has a weird talent in the personality dept. He’s funny. He’s a cartoon character.
I heard a thing years ago - a guy from a (now closed) Halloween store in NYC said he could accurately predict the presidential election by which mask sold the most on the Halloween before the election. I’m certain there were more Trump masks sold than Hillary masks. and More Obama than McCain. More Bush than Kerry. More Bill Clinton than George HW Bush etc. Not sure what that says exactly but sometimes that makes me think Bernie is the best bet to beat Trump. LOL. To get around to my original point, no way anyone wants to wear a mike pence mask. He’s boring and annoying. no one wants to be Mike Pence. He doesn’t have a chance in Hell.
2 Likes
I don’t find him so, but I can see how others do.
What I struggle with is that I do legitimately find Boris Johnson funny and charming.
1 Like
I started to click the heart on your comment, but love is the wrong reaction. nodding agreement might be better. I don’t like Trump. But he’s like Pennywise the clown or Alex from clockwork Orange. The most interesting person in the story in a horrible horrible way. I sorta see that About Boris… I guess I think of him like Lindsey Graham. He’s probably more intelligent and aware of his image than Trump, but that fact almost makes what he does more reprehensible.
1 Like
Oh, no, Mother wouldn’t like that…
That might be enough to get him the nomination–after all, the R’s don’t have anyone else lined up, obviously. They’ve already put all the eggs in the Trump basket. If he’s disqualified from office, they’d have to scramble those eggs. Pence would be coming out of a tainted administration with nothing to show for himself, no campaign organization, no money, and a late start. that definitely puts him in a real weak position for the general.
