What Pence did next

What Pence did next
Mike Pence was not the most exciting of vice presidents, but even by his low-key standards, the man instrumental in securing the transfer of power from Trump to Biden last January has managed to keep a remarkably low profile ever since.

Over the last twelve months, Pence has neither embraced his surprising new role as #Resistance hero or bent over backwards to re-ingratiate himself with the MAGA crowd. When asked about his decision to certify the election results, he hasn’t fudged. He has said that he and the former president will “never see eye-to-eye”…

What Pence did next

Mike Pence was not the most exciting of vice presidents, but even by his low-key standards, the man instrumental in securing the transfer of power from Trump to Biden last January has managed to keep a remarkably low profile ever since.

Over the last twelve months, Pence has neither embraced his surprising new role as #Resistance hero or bent over backwards to re-ingratiate himself with the MAGA crowd. When asked about his decision to certify the election results, he hasn’t fudged. He has said that he and the former president will “never see eye-to-eye” about January 6.

“What is the name of the person who told you to buck President Trump’s plan and certify the votes?” an audience member asked Pence at a public appearance in November. “James Madison,” he answered.

That counts as a fearsome zinger coming from a politician of Pence’s subdued sensibility. However, don’t be confused by the former VP’s delicate, media-shy navigation of the perilous post-Trump waters. Allies say he is serious about running in 2024, even if it means against Trump. And while other 2024 contenders perform a hyperactive jig, hungry for the national attention on them and their home state (*cough* Ron DeSantis *cough*), Pence has been criss-crossing the country, quietly charming donors and getting a word in with voters in early states.

But, whether he likes it or not, Pence will soon have to change gears. Trump has reignited the attacks on his former VP in recent days. On Sunday, he protested that Pence could have overturned the election if he had wanted to. Yesterday, Trump said in a statement that the January 6 committee should probe “why Mike Pence did not send back the votes for recertification or approval.” Speaking of the House investigation into January 6, Pence’s former chief of staff, Marc Short, by all accounts an unswervingly loyal adviser, testified privately last week. Pence will soon have to decide exactly how to engage with the committee himself.

There are signs that Pence plans to make more deliberate moves in the coming weeks. On Friday, he will speak at a Federalist Society conference in Florida, where the Washington Post reports he is expected to address his decision to certify the election. Early next month, Trump and Pence are both due to appear at a GOP donor retreat in New Orleans. Whether he is forced into it or chooses to do so, Pence will soon have to be more explicit in his views of his old boss, and what role he thinks he should play in the future of the Republican Party.

DeSantis may be the flavor of the month, but I think Pence is the more intriguing rival to Trump. He cannot make a play for the Trumpist hardcore as the Florida governor can, but as a loyal vice-president for three years and eleven months, he is well placed to explain to less fervent believers why it is time to move on. Like Glenn Youngkin in Virginia (and, on the other side of the aisle, Biden), he can turn his stolid, conventional approach into an asset. Indeed, the success of the Youngkin formula, which prioritizes conservative substance over Trumpist style, is an indicator of the potential of Pence’s candidacy.

But standing in the way of a compelling theoretical case for Pence 2024 is a personal showdown with his old boss. And that is a fight he may not be able to delay much longer.

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New York Dems’ shameless land-grab

The next time a Democratic hardliner tries to tell you that gerrymandering is a unique stain on American democracy, show them the new congressional map proposed by New York’s Democrats.

Redistricting expert Dave Wasserman calls the map “brutal” for Republicans. In fact, Wasserman has told the New York Times that he thinks the New York changes are the most aggressive gerrymander in the country. With the redrawn lines, Democrats stand to gain three seats with the stroke of a pen. Nicole Malliotakis has seen her Staten Island district redrawn to include Brooklyn’s Park Slope, home to bougie white liberals. As a result, she is very probably toast. The new map makes for a study in New York’s political contrasts — and dooms a lonely voice for urban Republicanism.

Meanwhile, Jerry Nadler will now represent an absurdly shaped snake of the city that somehow manages to take in the Upper West Side and Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. When Republicans create strange shaped districts, the establishment media cries racially-motivated voter disenfranchisement. Contrast that with the sober reporting of the New York Democrats’ gerrymander. The Times, for example, has eschewed alarmist headlines on this blue-state land grab and quotes a Columbia law professor who says, “A district may look strangely shaped, but it may be a way of holding together people with a similar economic background or ethnic backgrounds.”

Tucker Carlson Democrats

From the department of things aren’t quite as straightforward as you might think, we bring you data on primetime cable news viewers. Nielsen MRI Fusion viewership numbers confirm that Tucker Carlson, the most discussed television news personality, is also the most watched. But, as the Wrap reports, the data for October (the most recent month available) contains some more surprising findings. For example, Carlson has a much bigger Democratic-supporting audience than you might think. In fact, his 9 p.m. EST show is the most popular cable news offering among Democrats in the advertiser-coveted 25-54 age range. And in viewership across the whole day, Fox News beats out its liberal rivals among Democrats, nabbing 42 percent of that audience to CNN’s 33 percent and MSNBC’s 25 percent.

Luján’s stroke Puts legislation on ice

Ben Ray Luján, the forty-nine-year-old Democratic senator from New Mexico, has suffered a stroke. Luján is recovering in hospital and, thankfully, expected to make a full and speedy recovery. Luján’s medical setback also presents a political problem for his party, with his colleagues wondering how long he will be gone and what that means for their legislative plans. Such is the reality of life in a deadlocked Senate.