“Pence supporters see a lane for a reliable conservative who espouses many of the previous administration’s policies but without the constant tumult. While he frequently lauds the accomplishments of the ‘Trump-Pence administration,’ a Pence nomination in many ways would be a return to positions long associated with the Republican establishment but abandoned as Trump reshaped the party in his image. Pence has warned against the growing populist tide in the party, and advisers see him as the only traditional, Reagan-style conservative in the race.”
“As vice president, Pence had been an exceedingly loyal defender of Trump until the days leading up to Jan. 6, 2021, when Trump falsely tried to convince Pence and his supporters that Pence had the power to unilaterally overturn the results of the 2020 election. That day, a mob of Trump’s supporters violently stormed the U.S. Capitol building after being spurred on by Trump’s lies that the 2020 election had been stolen. Many in the crowd chanted ‘Hang Mike Pence!’ as Pence, his staff and his family ran for safety, hiding in a Senate loading dock.”
i think it’s closer to “they’re all trying to be Trump without Trump’s baggage” but yeah. Pence has a good case on paper for this since he’s literally just a token evangelical Trump selected, and also Trump tried to get him stochastically killed. the problem is he’s an unlikable, uncharismatic freak who wasn’t particularly popular in his own state–and that was before he was perceived by at least a third of republicans as why the Democrats were able to steal the election. he’s also running against like 10 other people trying to do this, none of which have their own unique constituency. it’s very stupid.