We'd Better Hope Trump Doesn't Get Impeached, Convicted and Removed.

[bitterross]

I don't want Trump impeached or removed from office. Shocked to hear that? I'll tell you why. If Trump leaves office then we have Pence. After Trump's insanity Pence will look like a miracle to people. The news media will fawn over him and how he "cleaned up Trump's mess." How things are so much better now that the insane orange man is gone. Pence would be the savior.

That could easily put him in the lead for 2020. That would mean another 4 to 6 years of Pence, Sessions and their Religious Freedom Task force style of government. Which really means concerted efforts to put into place their Christian Sharia law. In their version of Christianity Corporations are just as holy as a fetus.

That's a more frightening thought to me than riding out the Trump nuttiness right now.

[marylandblue]

1. Trump is marching us to authoritarianism

If we don't stop him ASAP, we will never be rid of him or his kind.

[leftstreet]

2. If a Democrat can't be Pence, the country is fucked anyway n/t

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. Pence is as charismatic as library paste, and he does not have Trump's cult following.

The only people who like him are the fanatically anti-abortion and gay-hating evangelicals, which are really not very many people - only a relatively small sub-set of Trump supporters. And he will carry Trump's stench with him (even assuming Mueller doesn't bust him on something too, considering Manafort chose him to be VP and he managed the transition). If he pardons Trump he will suffer the same fate as Ford. I think Trump is so dangerous that he has to be removed from office even if he's succeeded by Pence, and I don't think Pence would be popular or that he would have a chance of being re-elected in 2020.

[dalton99a]

7. +1. Pence's utility is also overrated

[EffieBlack]

22. People thought it would have been impossible for Trump to win

We should be over the "it can't be much worse" assumptions by now.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

24. That's true. But I do think that Pence, a more conventional politician, doesn't have

the kind of weird, nasty charisma that attracted certain voters to Trump. He'll get the evangelicals but I don't see him stirring up much enthusiasm among other groups. He certainly wouldn't get those glassy-eyed, ranting crowds that turn up at Trump rallies.

[EffieBlack]

26. True - but he'll also attract lots of Republicans back into the fold

Especially those Republicans who are repulsed by Trump but will find Pence palatable.

[smirkymonkey]

23. +1000

This, absolutely!

[malaise]

42. As charismatic as library paste

I'm steeling that.
Manafort selected Pence. That could make great ads.

[hlthe2b]

4. Pence was never popular as Congressman or Governor.... He is as bland as he looks

and he has no way of commanding the kind of blind CULTIST loyalty that Trump has.

He's horrible, but I could not disagree more with the premise of your OP. As bad as he is, he'd not be as effective in dismantling this democracy as Trump. That alone makes him marginally better.

[dalton99a]

11. Kinda hard to imagine daily tweetstorms or wild gyrations from that snake

[4now]

5. My feelings exactly

[BamaRefugee]

6. If we get into a position where we have the power to impeach and remove...

...we will also have the power to veto anything Dense proposes, no?

[meadowlander]

8. Pence is up to his neck in Russia-gate too.

If we get to the point that Trump is impeached, Pence will be tarnished as well. We will also have a majority in the House to keep him in check.

And since he wasn't actually elected, he won't have a mandate for any kind of radical changes until the next actual election.

If Pence had enough broad GOP support to be elected, he would have run in 2016. He doesn't. And he won't just because Trump was impeached.

[Haggis for Breakfast]

30. If Pence can be tied to investigation

(And he will be) then he's just as radioactive as trmp. He may not see prison time, but his guilt will be well established beyond a doubt. And NOBODY likes him. Not even his own party.

[dchill]

33. Thanks. Now I don't have to post that!

[Voltaire2]

9. Screw that.

Knocking down Trump would implode God’s Only Party.

[Jersey Devil]

10. Pence would be horrible, but not as batshit crazy as Trump

I would personally feel a whole lot better without a lunatic having his finger on the nuke button.

[INdemo]

12. you're giving Pence way too much credit.

Pence is an incompetent that would not have won reelection as Governor...He had things messed up so bad that even his Replacement Eric Holcomb (a Republican) along with Indiana General Assembly took months to straighten out the mess Pence left behind.
So Pence's Political career was all about pleasing evangelicals and off the wall declarations "you're going to hell if " etc;

If the Truth was know that election for governor was also stolen by the Repubs.....

[sarisataka]

13. You have nothing to worry about

Cholesterol is more likely to remove him from office than conviction

[Initech]

16. His dipshit supporters will find a way to blame that on the deep state and George Soros.

They always do.

[superpatriotman]

14. pence truth

He was handpicked by moscow out of a deep bench of radical dominionist politicians.

[Corgigal]

15. Manafort pick.

We don't know what they have on him, and his brothers former Russian friendly business.

I'll take my chances. Batter up.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

17. Oh. The Pence bogeyman is shoved in our faces and we should be frightened away from our duty.

We deal with opponents as they appear.

Besides, Pence could be impeached / convicted / resign / indicted / removed before tRump, simultaneously, or soon after.

[jberryhill]

19. These threads are tiresome

We can’t arrest the bank robber, because the arsonist will remain on the loose.

[ProfessorGAC]

41. What Berryhill Said!

These people don't remember Ford. He was actually an honorable man, but he had the influence of a dishrag once he got into office.

Geez, he didn't do a thing wrong and ended up a national punchline.

A VP being installed after a POTUS leaves in disgrace has no political will.

[dchill]

34. +1,000,000!

[Kaleva]

18. Pence is the Jar Jar Binks of the Trump Universe

[NCTraveler]

20. We get the numbers in the house and senate starting 2019.

Impeachment gets underway with investigations. Congress will start acting like the check on power it should be. Democrats drag this out. House votes then senate. I think that’s how it goes. Trump would most likely already be their presumptive nominee or their nominee and we would be in full campaign mode. Turning the tides even further. Pence will be tainted at a minimum by way of contact.

If it happens, I don’t think it’s going to be as quick as some think. The timing is going to be hell for them. Or all neat and tied in a bow. Sounds simple in writing.

[EffieBlack]

21. I'm with you

And it could be more than 4 to 6 years. Because he would have succeeded Trump more than halfway through his term, Pence could run twice - making it possible for another 6 to 10 years of a Pence presidency.

[ChoppinBroccoli]

25. Pence Is An Awful Candidate Anyway

He has no personality. He's an awful campaigner and even worse in a debate. And then he'd be dipped from head to toe in Trump stench. Pence would have no shot to pull that off. Besides, he's eyeball deep in Russian connections himself. If Trump goes down, Pence is going with him.

[GaYellowDawg]

27. Pence is the political equivalent of Elmer's glue.

White, pasty, gives you a nasty sticky feeling, and even those who swallow what he’s serving aren’t excited about it.

[lapfog_1]

28. Risk versus Reward

The risk is that the orange idiot Russian agent will somehow fuck up everything in some non-repairable fashion (nuke war, NATO disintegration, economic calamity, environmental catastrophe).

The reward is that in another 2 years we could see a landslide Democratic win, including the Presidency, the House for 20 year, and a super majority in the Senate (and we will then figure out reasons to impeach, convict, and remove all of the federal court judges appointed by the asshole and his traitor party... including any SC appointees).

I vote for risk mitigation... and take my chances with theocratic Pence.

Environmental Catastrophe is at hand right now... as is economic calamity and NATO disintegration.

Pence may not be any better on the environment... but he is more stable than Trump.

[Takket]

29. pence would be an unelected lame duck with a Dem congress and no mandate to do anything

he would be doing nothing but keeping the seat warm until 2021. He isn't 1/10th as dangerous as drumpf. and chances are he's going to prison as well anyway eventually.

[brush]

31. Makes sense. Let's just win the House back at least so we can blunt trump's moves.

Two more years of trump swinging in the wind in fear of more Mueller and the Southern District of New York indictments will surely weaken repugs for 2020.

[spooky3]

32. My favorite scenario...

Blue wave brings Dems control of the House.
Mueller brings down Trump AND Pence in late November.
Dems elect Nancy Pelosi or an equally competent other leader to be Speaker of the House.
The Speaker become Pres when Trump and Oence are driven out.

[Squinch]

35. No. Pence is a Munster. He'll never be popular.

[Lucinda]

36. Pence was Manafort's doing. He will be leaving with Trumpy. n/t

[tirebiter]

37. Repubs lost the House for 20 years after Watergate

We'll have it after November and whatever strength/power Prnce has now will be lessened somewhat by the transparency of open trial. Be brave.

[Kablooie]

38. Pence does not have a fanatical cult of worshippers.

They are Trumps strength.
If he didn't have them the Republicans would have turned on him long ago.

Pence will have to play politics and won't have anywhere near the power Trump does.

[Humanist_Activist]

39. Who says that Pence isn't unimpeachable himself, he's been lying and covering up...

for Trump since he joined the Campaign, the question is what did he know, and did he violate any laws in the process? I'm hoping he get's roped into the investigation.

My pipe dream would be that Dems take back the House and Senate, and that the crimes of the Trump administration leads to both his and Pence's removal from office, this would make the Speaker of the House the President. I know, a bit fantastical.

[VOX]

40. Pence MUST be showered with as much shit as possible when Spanky Dennison explodes.

Any Democratic challenger is likely to be facing Pence anyway -- I don't see 45 as being up to 2020 right now. He's gained a ton of (more) weight, and his emotional state is fragile, at best.

Pence has to be marinated in Trump-shit if he becomes the GOP candidate. He has all the charisma of a banana slug, anyway. Pence is very beatable.