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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe Danger of President Pence - By Jane Mayer
Trumps critics yearn for his exit. But Mike Pence, the corporate rights inside man, poses his own risks.
By Jane Mayer
On September 14th, the right-wing pundit Ann Coulter, who last year published a book titled In Trump We Trust, expressed what a growing number of Americans, including conservatives, have been feeling since the 2016 election. The previous day, President Trump had dined with Democratic leaders at the White House, and had impetuously agreed to a major policy reversal, granting provisional residency to undocumented immigrants who came to America as children. Republican legislators were blindsided. Within hours, Trump disavowed the deal, then reaffirmed it. Coulter tweeted, At this point, who doesnt want Trump impeached? She soon added, If were not getting a wall, Id prefer President Pence.
Trumps swerve did the unthinkableuniting Coulter and liberal commentators. After Trump threatened to totally destroy North Korea, Gail Collins, the Times columnist, praised Vice-President Mike Pence as someone who at least seems less likely to get the planet blown up. This summer, an opinion column by Dana Milbank, of the Washington Post, appeared under the headline president pence is sounding better and better.
Pence, who has dutifully stood by the President, mustering a devotional gaze rarely seen since the days of Nancy Reagan, serves as a daily reminder that the Constitution offers an alternative to Trump. The worse the President looks, the more desirable his understudy seems. The more Trump is mired in scandal, the more likely Pences elevation to the Oval Office becomes, unless he ends up legally entangled as well.
Pences odds of becoming President are long but not prohibitive. Of his forty-seven predecessors, nine eventually assumed the Presidency, because of a death or a resignation. After Lyndon Johnson decided to join the ticket with John F. Kennedy, he calculated his odds of ascension to be approximately one in four, and is said to have told Clare Boothe Luce, Im a gambling man, darling, and this is the only chance Ive got.
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https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/10/23/the-danger-of-president-pence
tymorial
(3,433 posts)We're familiar with his crazy. It's a crazy the Democrats have been fighting for years. Trump's crazy is just.... out there and unpredictable.
Look I'd rather not have crazy in my life but if I don't have a choice I'll take familiar crazy any day.
longship
(40,416 posts)emulatorloo
(44,131 posts)Pence can't sell like Trump can sell.
struggle4progress
(118,295 posts)emulatorloo
(44,131 posts)We get President Pence and we will deal with it. He's hated in his home state of Indiana. Most Americans don't like theocrats. He doesn't have a 1/2 teaspoon of charisma (Trump does)
red dog 1
(27,820 posts)I hope they both are removed from office!
(Pence lied about his role in the removal of former FBI Director James Comey)
pnwmom
(108,980 posts)irisblue
(32,980 posts)She made the point that Pence is owned by the Koch brothers. Interview is on FreshAir podcast, article is online. Well worth the time to read or listen.