With Joe Biden barely into his first term, Republicans are already looking ahead to 2024. It’s crucial they win back the White House. Donald Trump with his humongous base of supporters seems to be their best hope. But a lot could change between now and then so it’s best to keep all options open.
Other Republican ‘wanna-be’s’ are starting to slowly sneak their hands in the air in hopes their colleagues might. notice. Florida’s DeSantis is making some noise along with a few of the regulars, and expected, potential candidates such as Ted Cruz who always runs no matter what.
But outside of Trump, there is only one Republican whose credentials outweigh the rest of them, and that’s former VP Mike Pence. And he just might decide to do it.
Pence is heading to South Carolina in April where he will speak publically for the first time since giving up his chair to VP Harris. The former VP will be attending a dinner hosted by the Palmetto Family Council where he is expected to at least drop some hints on his plan to run in 2024.
PFC is a hard-hitting lobbying group with a focus on social conservatism. They are heavily involved with organizing anti-abortion rallies and are totally opposed to gender modification. At the moment they are particularly active in the field of women’s sports, maintaining that one must be a biological female to participate.
The dinner is funded by high-dollar dinner plates to help the group’s cause. While it’s still too early in the game for Pence to simply blurt out his intentions, buying a first-class ticket to S.C. to go and speak to one of the largest and most powerful conservative groups in the country, says way more than words.
While Pence remained true-blue to Trump while in office, it wasn’t until the final weeks when the two became at odds with one another. Pence wanted little to do with his overly-occupied bosses stirring up election fraud conspiracies.
The final blow came when Pence, against Trump’s wishes, forged ahead with certifying the vote at the same time as the Capitol Building was being stormed. Only moments prior to Pence’s doing so, Trump had told his supporters he would be “very disappointed” if Pence did that.
Even as the attack was underway, Trump tweeted: “Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify.”
If Mike Pence is giving running in 2024 some consideration, he has a lot of catching up to do if he has to run against Trump. Even now, 53% of Republicans say they want Trump to run again. Only 12% cared enough about Pence to even mention his name.
Pence was more or less a kept man under Trump. He didn’t get out that much and he definitely didn’t call the shots. He was right where Trump wanted him to be. Trump preferred a church-mouse VP who would stay out of the way and not cause him any trouble. Someone who would just “sit there and shut up.”
However, should the PFC take a liking to what Pence has to say, he may walk away as a more viable contender for 2024. PFC has the money, and more importantly, with very little effort they can lock down the Christian vote for him.
Considering how Pence, if nothing else, is a man of unwavering faith, he’s making a smart move by targeting this group. Donal Trump may have the evangelical vote in his hip-pocket, but there is no one more capable of picking that pocket than Mike Pence.
Pence, if nothing else, has always been a man of unwavering faith, so he just might pull this off. If he does, you can bet he’ll be in the lineup of 2024 strong contenders.
All eyes should be turned towards South Carolina in April. This will be a make it or break it deal for Pence. What are you hoping it will be? Would you vote for the guy?
