Mike Pence is stuck between a rock and a hard place.

[kentuck]

He would like very much to be the standard bearer of the GOP in 2024. But unfortunately, half of the GOP hates his guts. The other half believes they can still get on the Pence bandwagon and claim he is the savior of the Republican Party and whatever integrity they may have had before they sold their souls for a ride up the Big Rock Candy Mountain.

There are rumblings deep under the foundation of the Grand Ol' Party and it appears inevitable that there will be an political earthquake of unpredictable proportion headed their way. They are having a very difficult time envisioning a way to escape the catastrophe.

Mike Pence is not the savior of the Republican Party and neither is Donald J Trump. They have created an irreparable division within the GOP that is of their own making and they see no light at the end of the tunnel.

Mike Pence thought that if he were just silent, everything would blow over in time, and he would pick up the pieces and lead the GOP as the leader that saved the constitutional order for our great nation.

Mike Pence and the GOP are delusional.

[madaboutharry]

1. If Mike Pence was a decent man he would not be between a rock and a hard place.

The place would be clear. It would be standing up for democracy. He just isn't a good enough person or American to do the right thing.

[2naSalit]

7. +1

[H2O Man]

2. Recommended.

Pence didn't realize that there is a price to be paid for serving as Trump's sidekick. He thought being VP was a path that would lead him to the Oval Office. But that isn't happening.

[PJMcK]

3. Pence did the right thing on January 6th

He certified the Electoral count. He knew he had to do the right thing. He didn't let the Secret Service whisk him away. He stood up to Trump's un-Constitutional power grab.

He's still a piece of shit and I hope he's terribly uncomfortable with that rock jamming up against the hard place.

[relayerbob]

4. Actually, he's not

He’s stuck in a place between his ego and his cowardice. Anyone with real conviction would do what’s right and not be concerned with the outcome … especially since if he did it right he could actually end up on top. He’s disliked because he’s a spineless, useless POS, in reality not because he didn’t go all-in for the coup, But because he didn’t demand the 25th Amendment on Trump.

[tetedur]

5. Is the Republican party headed for a split?

That might be a good thing. Perhaps it depends on which way Independents swing.

[Cracklin Charlie]

6. How can any of them be trusted again?

They stood up there for four years kissing that crazy man’s ass, knowing full well the extent of his crazy.

Maybe they did the right thing once…but most of them would still vote for, and work for, crazy man again.

Those who stayed silent are also responsible for all that happened. Unforgivable.

[llmart]

11. Yep.

Sums it up to a tee.

Staying silent in the face of all the crazy man's nuttiness is considered actively participating in the nuttiness. The country was crying out for him to invoke the 25th many times. There were two - TWO impeachments. Anyone who let the orange menace off the hook is complicit.

[sop]

8. It's amazing how low the bar has been set for Republican candidates these days.

You're the savior of the party for refusing to go along with a violent attack to overturn a lost election.

[Historic NY]

9. Well he better decide because Trump wanted him under a carved rock.

Eliminate the Veep and win the prize, that's what Trump wanted. Grassley would take over and certify, using the false elector slates.

[Martin Eden]

10. Mike Pence on Jan 6 didn't want to be the Fall Guy for an illegal coup

Mike Pence was covering his own ass. He has no integrity, but his hypocrisy is off the charts.

This 2016 commentary by Steve Chapman referenced a 2010 lecture Pence gave t The Federalist Society's National Lawyers Convention, in which he extolled the virtues of character required by a president. His target of criticism was President Obama's lack of those virtues, though he didn't mention Obama by name:

The presidency's "powers are vast and consequential, its requirements -- from the outset and by definition -- impossible for mortals to fulfill without humility and insistent attention to its purposes as set forth in the Constitution of the United States," declared Pence, his gaze steely and his jaw firmly set. Of power, he said, "Those who are entrusted with it must educate themselves in self-restraint."

"A true statesman lives in what Churchill called a continuous 'stress of soul,'" Pence informed his audience. "And that's why you must always be wary of a president who seems to float upon his own greatness."

Pence told a story to illustrate the humanity and humility of Calvin Coolidge. "A sensibility like this -- and not power -- is the source of presidential dignity, and it must be restored," he said. "It depends entirely upon character, self-discipline and an understanding of the fundamental principles that underlie not only the republic but life itself.

"It communicates that the president feels the gravity of his office and is willing to sacrifice himself, that his eye is not upon his own prospects but upon the storm of history, through which it is his responsibility to navigate with the specific powers accorded to him and the limitations placed upon them not merely by man but by God."

This is the same "steely jawed" conservative who supplicated himself and licked the jackboots of the most egregiously immoral POtuS ever to despoil the White House.

[peggysue2]

12. Whatever rock and hard place Mike Pence finds himself in?

Was by his own hand and lousy choices. There was no question about the Squatter-in-Chief's character from Day 1. Even during the primary, The Former Guy was a total jackass, a crude douche-nozzle of a man whose arrogance was matched only by his ignorance.

Yet, Mike Pence jumped at the chance to serve as the clown's VP for the sake of power and prestige leaving all those "Christian values" on the doorstep to enable a malignant narcissist.

Pence doesn't deserve a single vote or consideration, merely a nod that he at least did the right thing--his job--by certifying the vote of a legitimate election.

[NewHendoLib]

13. he is just a fucking asshole to me - a Handmaid's Tale world wannabee. Weak sauce.