Mike Pence tours Iowa state fair in search of votes – but who is his candidacy aimed at?
Mike Pence tours Iowa state fair in search of votes – but who is his candidacy aimed at?
Few think the former VP can win the Republican nomination. One analyst says he may only want to rehabilitate his image
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Chris Christie had a great quote about the Republican field: "why are you going to drink new coke when you still have the option of coke classic?" He's the only one of this field saying the emperor has no clothes and for the life of me I don't know what any of these other yahoos are doing in the race. It's Trump's party now and not even him going to jail will change that in their eyes.
Well, that well could be the endgame.
If enough stars align that Trump becomes ineligible to run again, he looks a lot more compelling. Take Trump off the ballot and you're going to end up with a lot of the candidates outbatshitting each other trying to fill the Trump hole, both fragmenting that bloc, and driving away the Never Trump voters. I suspect a candidate like Pence also resonates more with lifelong social-conservative Republicans than the 4chan shitpost-a-goon-into-the-White-House crowd. He could end up getting the nomination in a brokered convention as "least objectionable option".
If the Trump train is derailed enough that treason goes out of style, "I personally refused to sacrifice the Republic" is a good look. They'll want to disassociate from the January 6 crowd as much as possible to avoid long-term damage.