No, Mike Pence wouldn't be worse than Donald Trump
“If we get rid of Trump, Pence will be worse.”
You've probably heard progressives say this ever since the 2016 election. It's a popular sentiment but it's demonstrably false. We've never had such an ill-prepared, unfit, divisive threat to the republic in the Oval Office as Donald John Trump.
I've always thought one could throw a dart at a phonebook and hit upon a person who would be a better president than Donald Trump. But in regards to Vice-President Mike Pence...
At least as a Tea Party Republican Mike Pence has read the U.S. Constitution. Tea Partiers required the Constitution to be read aloud at the beginning of the 112th Congress and added a rule that the part of the Constitution that justified a particular bill had to be listed at the top of the bill. We know that Donald Trump surely has never read it. In fact, in Michael Wolff's “Fire and Fury” former Trump campaign adviser Sam Nunberg is quoted as saying he tried to teach Trump about the Bill of Rights but got as far as the 4th Amendment because Trump wasn't interested. He doesn't respect it.
Pence also understands government having served 12 years in the House of Representatives and almost two terms as governor of Indiana. He understands the separation of powers, checks and balances and the limits of executive power. Donald Trump thought he was being elected king and chafes at the limitations of the office.
President Pence wouldn't be at war with our friends. Since he's a conservative Republican there's no way he would've implemented tariffs against our allies.
America's commitment to NATO would be ironclad under Mike Pence. He's been much firmer on this than Donald Trump.
Pence isn't in the Russian Federation's back pocket like Trump. He's called Vladimir Putin a “small and bullying leader” and unequivocally has said Russia meddled in the 2016 election and further meddling would not be tolerated. Contrast that with how Trump constantly equivocates. It's inconceivable that Mike Pence would've abased himself before Vladmir Putin in Helsinki like Trump did.
Mike Pence, who had one of the lowest net worths in Congress, wouldn't have the emoluments problem Trump has. He wouldn't be raking in money from foreigners through hotels. We saw China invest $500 million in a Trump Organization project in Indonesia and within 48 hours Trump backed off sanctions against Chinese firm ZTE. We don't know if Pence has any corrupt dealings but we definitely know Trump does. And Mike Pence has released ten years worth of tax returns.
President Pence wouldn't be ranting on Twitter. We wouldn't wake up every morning to the maniacal poorly worded, misspelled rants of a Fox News-watching insomniac pushing oddball conspiracy theories and insulting people.
After Charlottesville Pence said, “We have no tolerance for hate and violence, white supremacists or neo-nazis or the KKK” and “We condemn them in the strongest terms.” How hard is that to say?
There wouldn't be the overt courting of white supremacists, the hateful statements about Mexicans or a child separation border policy. Of course, Republicans have long employed Nixon's “Southern strategy” of dog whistle politics, race baiting and appealing to the darker inclinations of their base. But no one has been so overt, so denigrating and damaging to relations as Donald Trump.
Mike Pence, who was once a talk radio host and column writer, wouldn't be calling the press the “enemy of the people.” He'd understand the sanctity of the First Amendment. While like any president, he wouldn't like negative coverage, there's no evidence he'd be threatening news organizations and social media platforms.
President Pence wouldn't have ratcheted up tensions with North Korea through name calling and then met with Kim Jong Un, handing him a public relations gift with little to show for it.
You can look at the sycophantic, rigid Mike Pence, who has wanted nothing in life more than the presidency, and tell that he would at least know how to play president. He wouldn't slip in a racial insult during a solemn ceremony honoring Native Americans. He wouldn't botch a meeting with the queen of England. There's no way he would fight with the the widow of an American soldier, or disrespect a war hero in death. He may be an empty suit but he can at least act.
A President Pence would attract better quality people to the administration. Top minds and anyone with personal integrity doesn't want to sully themselves by working for Donald Trump.
This is a man who observes the “Billy Graham rule” where he won't have dinner with a woman without his wife. He may have skeletons we don't know about but from what we can see of this straitlaced square there wouldn't be Playboy bunnies and porn stars coming out describing affairs with him. Nor would there be hush money payments and a vault somewhere full of his misdeeds.
There's also no evidence that Mike Pence has any hold on the Trump base. Without that cult of personality it would free congressional Republicans to find their balls and act like a separate branch of government again. If Republicans no longer had to fear a rabid fan base who would allow their president to shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and not care, there would be room for more Jeff Flakes and John McCains to emerge and hold the president accountable.
That said, Pence would still be a conservative Republican president wholly owned by the Koch brothers. Pence would appoint ultra-conservative justices, threaten choice, deny climate change, increase defense spending, seek to cut social programs and cut taxes for the wealthy and corporations. So policy wise, progressives certainly wouldn't be doing back flips over a President Pence.
He's also a religious zealot. And that informs his position on abortion, LGBTQ rights and contraception. He'd be a nightmare for women. But Trump is already a nightmare for women.
It's not a matter of simply having a president who doesn't embarrass himself and us regularly or lie daily. It's not just a matter of Pence being more polite than Trump. What Trump does destroys confidence in America, weakens our relationships with allies, emboldens our enemies and damages our institutions. Mike Pence would move us to the right. Donald Trump has moved us into a mental institution.
It's easy to make Mike Pence look good in comparison to Donald Trump but frankly, most anyone you can name looks good in comparison to Trump. This is why should Mike Pence become president after a Trump impeachment or resignation, he'll have a low bar to hurdle. Just by not bullying people online, not saying stupid narcissistic things and not lying several times a day, he will seem like the second coming of Ronald Reagan.
Many fear his smooth exterior makes him more dangerous than Trump because he can enact the same Trumpian agenda with a smile, much the way David Duke ditched the hood for a suit yet delivers the same white supremacy under the guise of “white pride.”
But fearing Pence would be better at the job and thus harder to beat electorally than a Donald Trump is different than saying Pence would be worse than Donald Trump. Yes, for progressives a Pence presidency would be as bad when it comes to policy. But at least with Pence the threat of nuclear war or a new war with Iran would diminish. The fear that the president is going to get angry and do something crazy would lessen. The damage to our institutions, the courts, the rule of law and the media would lessen. Civility in public discourse might actually make a comeback. The United States would take a big step back from fascism.
If Mike Pence becomes president progressives should still fight as hard as they can to resist and to vote him out of office. If he was involved in any nefarious activity then he should be investigated. But that's different from saying he would be worse than Donald Trump because he simply wouldn't be.
You've probably heard progressives say this ever since the 2016 election. It's a popular sentiment but it's demonstrably false. We've never had such an ill-prepared, unfit, divisive threat to the republic in the Oval Office as Donald John Trump.
I've always thought one could throw a dart at a phonebook and hit upon a person who would be a better president than Donald Trump. But in regards to Vice-President Mike Pence...
At least as a Tea Party Republican Mike Pence has read the U.S. Constitution. Tea Partiers required the Constitution to be read aloud at the beginning of the 112th Congress and added a rule that the part of the Constitution that justified a particular bill had to be listed at the top of the bill. We know that Donald Trump surely has never read it. In fact, in Michael Wolff's “Fire and Fury” former Trump campaign adviser Sam Nunberg is quoted as saying he tried to teach Trump about the Bill of Rights but got as far as the 4th Amendment because Trump wasn't interested. He doesn't respect it.
Pence also understands government having served 12 years in the House of Representatives and almost two terms as governor of Indiana. He understands the separation of powers, checks and balances and the limits of executive power. Donald Trump thought he was being elected king and chafes at the limitations of the office.
President Pence wouldn't be at war with our friends. Since he's a conservative Republican there's no way he would've implemented tariffs against our allies.
America's commitment to NATO would be ironclad under Mike Pence. He's been much firmer on this than Donald Trump.
Pence isn't in the Russian Federation's back pocket like Trump. He's called Vladimir Putin a “small and bullying leader” and unequivocally has said Russia meddled in the 2016 election and further meddling would not be tolerated. Contrast that with how Trump constantly equivocates. It's inconceivable that Mike Pence would've abased himself before Vladmir Putin in Helsinki like Trump did.
Mike Pence, who had one of the lowest net worths in Congress, wouldn't have the emoluments problem Trump has. He wouldn't be raking in money from foreigners through hotels. We saw China invest $500 million in a Trump Organization project in Indonesia and within 48 hours Trump backed off sanctions against Chinese firm ZTE. We don't know if Pence has any corrupt dealings but we definitely know Trump does. And Mike Pence has released ten years worth of tax returns.
President Pence wouldn't be ranting on Twitter. We wouldn't wake up every morning to the maniacal poorly worded, misspelled rants of a Fox News-watching insomniac pushing oddball conspiracy theories and insulting people.
After Charlottesville Pence said, “We have no tolerance for hate and violence, white supremacists or neo-nazis or the KKK” and “We condemn them in the strongest terms.” How hard is that to say?
There wouldn't be the overt courting of white supremacists, the hateful statements about Mexicans or a child separation border policy. Of course, Republicans have long employed Nixon's “Southern strategy” of dog whistle politics, race baiting and appealing to the darker inclinations of their base. But no one has been so overt, so denigrating and damaging to relations as Donald Trump.
Mike Pence, who was once a talk radio host and column writer, wouldn't be calling the press the “enemy of the people.” He'd understand the sanctity of the First Amendment. While like any president, he wouldn't like negative coverage, there's no evidence he'd be threatening news organizations and social media platforms.
President Pence wouldn't have ratcheted up tensions with North Korea through name calling and then met with Kim Jong Un, handing him a public relations gift with little to show for it.
You can look at the sycophantic, rigid Mike Pence, who has wanted nothing in life more than the presidency, and tell that he would at least know how to play president. He wouldn't slip in a racial insult during a solemn ceremony honoring Native Americans. He wouldn't botch a meeting with the queen of England. There's no way he would fight with the the widow of an American soldier, or disrespect a war hero in death. He may be an empty suit but he can at least act.
A President Pence would attract better quality people to the administration. Top minds and anyone with personal integrity doesn't want to sully themselves by working for Donald Trump.
This is a man who observes the “Billy Graham rule” where he won't have dinner with a woman without his wife. He may have skeletons we don't know about but from what we can see of this straitlaced square there wouldn't be Playboy bunnies and porn stars coming out describing affairs with him. Nor would there be hush money payments and a vault somewhere full of his misdeeds.
There's also no evidence that Mike Pence has any hold on the Trump base. Without that cult of personality it would free congressional Republicans to find their balls and act like a separate branch of government again. If Republicans no longer had to fear a rabid fan base who would allow their president to shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and not care, there would be room for more Jeff Flakes and John McCains to emerge and hold the president accountable.
That said, Pence would still be a conservative Republican president wholly owned by the Koch brothers. Pence would appoint ultra-conservative justices, threaten choice, deny climate change, increase defense spending, seek to cut social programs and cut taxes for the wealthy and corporations. So policy wise, progressives certainly wouldn't be doing back flips over a President Pence.
He's also a religious zealot. And that informs his position on abortion, LGBTQ rights and contraception. He'd be a nightmare for women. But Trump is already a nightmare for women.
It's not a matter of simply having a president who doesn't embarrass himself and us regularly or lie daily. It's not just a matter of Pence being more polite than Trump. What Trump does destroys confidence in America, weakens our relationships with allies, emboldens our enemies and damages our institutions. Mike Pence would move us to the right. Donald Trump has moved us into a mental institution.
It's easy to make Mike Pence look good in comparison to Donald Trump but frankly, most anyone you can name looks good in comparison to Trump. This is why should Mike Pence become president after a Trump impeachment or resignation, he'll have a low bar to hurdle. Just by not bullying people online, not saying stupid narcissistic things and not lying several times a day, he will seem like the second coming of Ronald Reagan.
Many fear his smooth exterior makes him more dangerous than Trump because he can enact the same Trumpian agenda with a smile, much the way David Duke ditched the hood for a suit yet delivers the same white supremacy under the guise of “white pride.”
But fearing Pence would be better at the job and thus harder to beat electorally than a Donald Trump is different than saying Pence would be worse than Donald Trump. Yes, for progressives a Pence presidency would be as bad when it comes to policy. But at least with Pence the threat of nuclear war or a new war with Iran would diminish. The fear that the president is going to get angry and do something crazy would lessen. The damage to our institutions, the courts, the rule of law and the media would lessen. Civility in public discourse might actually make a comeback. The United States would take a big step back from fascism.
If Mike Pence becomes president progressives should still fight as hard as they can to resist and to vote him out of office. If he was involved in any nefarious activity then he should be investigated. But that's different from saying he would be worse than Donald Trump because he simply wouldn't be.
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