pence viewing trump; help me understand

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. I don't think it's any kind of genuine adoration or a man-crush or anything of the kind.

I do think it's calculated - because Pence knows Trump loves to watch himself on TV, and when he watches the video of the SOTU (and you know he will), he will see Pence gazing at him rapturously. Pence also knows Trump is fickle and will turn on anyone he perceives to be disloyal in the slightest way. While Trump can't fire Pence, he could kick him off the 2020 ticket for an even more fulsome ass-kisser. Pence wants very much to be president; he thinks God wants him to be president. So, assuming Trump is still in office by 2020, Pence wants more than anything to be his running mate - because Pence knows that sooner or later Trump is going down even if, God help us, he's re-elected in 2020. If Trump doesn't make it to 2020, so much the better for Pence, but he's doing what he can to remain in Trump's good graces. That, IMO, is why Pence gazes at him with what looks like, but isn't, rapt adoration.