Scott Tibbs
Mike Pence, despite his qualifications, will never be President
By Scott Tibbs, June 23, 2023
I have a great deal of respect and admiration for Mike Pence. In terms of pure qualifications, Pence is the best choice for Republicans in 2024 by a wide margin. He was the best Vice President in American history. As I pointed out
on Twitter when
Roe v. Wade was finally overturned, you cannot overstate the influence of Pence on Donald Trump's choice to nominate three of the five justices who voted to overturn that dreadful decision. Back in 2016, Trump floated the idea of nominating his pro-abortion sister to the Supreme Court, putting nepotism over his alleged "principles."
Pence is a solid fiscal conservative, something we desperately need in Washington. Pence oversaw a significant budget surplus in Indiana when he was governor, and the state's financial reserves grew every year when he was governor. Pence
opposed the 2008 bailout of big banks,
standing against his own party. The budget deficit exploded under Barack Obama and was even worse under Trump, and Joe Biden has continued that reckless fiscal irresponsibility. Pence, a genuine fiscal conservative as a congressman and as governor, would not continue the disastrous policies of Obama, Trump and Biden.
Pence is a man of great political courage. He knew on January 6 that he was not only denying himself four more years as Vice President by refusing to do Trump's bidding, but that he was sacrificing his own political career and aspirations to be President. Given the crowds chanting
"hang Mike Pence" that day, he was also putting his life on the line to do the right thing. At a time when we needed a statesman to do the right thing,
Pence stepped up and refused to create a constitutional crisis.
But we need to face political reality: Mike Pence will never be President. He has no lane in the 2024 primary contest. I doubt Pence could even win a statewide race in his home state of Indiana at this point. The biggest obstacle to Pence is that
35% of Republican voters "have an unfavorable opinion of him." As much as I respect and admire Pence, he has no path to the nomination and he is not a viable alternative to Trump in the primaries. This candidacy is a waste of time and resources and will only result in Pence getting embarrassed.
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