Update:
Over year ago (August, 2018) Stephen Zunes, a professor of politics and international studies at the University of San Francisco wrote Impeach Away! Thoughts on a Possible President Pence in The Progressive.
Suffice to say he was optimistic:.
With the latest evidence of Donald Trump’s involvement in illegal activities and even more damaging revelations likely to come, there is now serious talk about impeachment, which would pave the way for Mike Pence to become President.Some pundits dismiss the possibility, noting Republican majorities in both houses and the need for a two-thirds Senate majority to convict and remove a President from office. Others have expressed concern over Pence, a Christian supremacist with more consistently hard right wing views than Trump, in charge of the White House.I would argue that Trump will likely be forced from office and that this would be a positive development.
Zunes explained why he thought replacing Trump with Pence would be a positive development despite the later’s Christian fundamentalism and far- right ideology. He wrote “Pence is less impulsive and therefore probably less dangerous than Trump in terms of starting a war or engaging in engaging in other really disastrous actions.”
In April of this year Zunes wrote “The Other Reason Biden Shouldn’t Run” in The Progressive but I couldn’t find anything he’s written about Vice President Pence in the past year about Trump’s becoming so impulsive that he appears to be on the verge of having a psychotic break. I wonder what he’d say about that now. Consider just two ofTrump’s tweets:
If Trump’s allies manage to get through today repeating the ridiculous and intelligence insulting talking points and perhaps concocting new even more irrational defenses for his attempt to extort the president of Ukraine I suppose I should say I’d be amazed. However at this point little amazes me about how infectious Trump’s insanity is. Case in point, the civil war re-tweet from a deranged pastor who preaches on radio and TV, has said that Jews are going to hell, he has characterized both Islam and Mormonism as heresies from the “pit of hell,” and called evangelical Christians who don’t support Trump “morons.” (HuffPost)
Robert Jeffress also “appeared on Todd Starnes’ radio program yesterday, where he told climate change activist Greta Thunberg to read the Bible and stop worrying about the “imaginary crisis” of global warming because God has promised never to destroy the world with rising sea levels.” (Right Wing Watch)
The impeachment of Trump in the House is now as close to a sure thing as possible. The next few days may seal Trump’s fate if his tenuous grasp on rationality loosens even more and enough Senate Republicans realize that the public is watching in real time as his rage tweets verge into treasonous territory. Yesterday Mitt Romney was quoted in The Hill: “There's such enormous power associated with being the party in power, both in the White House as well as in the Senate and the House. I think it’s very natural for people to look at circumstances and see them in the light that’s most amenable to their maintaining power and doing things to preserve that power.” The power comes from their constituents, and if the polls show that voters in their districts and states have abandoned Trump they will follow suit.
As I was looking for a photo to illustrate this I found this relevant article in Newsweek: Pence Should be 'Subservient to Trump,' That's His Role, Former White House Official Says. The article isn’t particularly interesting except that the editors choose the photo which shows more of a worshipping sycophant than a subservient toady. That gleam in Pence’s eyes are evident in numerous photos of Trump gazing on the president as if he is having a holy vision.
I’ve read that Pence has entertained ambitions to be president himself and that Trump wanted to keep him in his place. Now Pence could actually become president without having to run.
Now even Pence is getting sucked into the Ukraine story (MSNBC this morning, for example, right). In his desperation to avoid his own obvious culpability Trump will throw anyone and everyone under the bus including Rudy Giuliani, William Barr, and even Mike Pence. Of course he can fire the first two but can’t fire Pence.
Pence is unlikely to be impeached, if only because there wouldn’t be time.
He is more likely to end up in a primary where I think Mitt Romney would be the front runner if he ran. I doubt Pence would stand a chance if only Mark Sanford, Joe Walsh and Bill Weld ran against him.
My poll is only partially tongue in cheek….