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Observers Outline 'Only' Way Pence's 2024 Presidential Bid Can Gain Traction

© AP Photo / Patrick SemanskyFormer Vice President Mike Pence speaks about educational freedom at Patrick Henry College in Purcellville, Va., Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021.
Former Vice President Mike Pence speaks about educational freedom at Patrick Henry College in Purcellville, Va., Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021. - Sputnik International, 1920, 05.06.2023
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WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – Former US Vice President Mike Pence formally submitted paperwork to run for US presidency in the 2024 election on Monday, according to a Federal Election Commission filing.
Pence's entry into the race means facing off directly against his former boss - former president Donald Trump, senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, Florida governor Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, ex-Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, and multi-billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy. Multiple polls show that Trump, who announced his campaign in November, enjoys a commanding lead in the race for the Republican nomination.
Pence and Trump had a falling out toward the end of the latter's first term. Earlier this year, Pence expressed his preference for an alternative to Trump in 2024, and suggesting that history would hold his old boss "accountable" for the unrest which took place at the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Trump responded by pointing to Pence's poor polling numbers compared to his own. "I heard his statement, and I guess he decided that being nice isn't working because he's at 3% in the polls, so he figured he might as well not be nice any longer," Trump said back in March.
Pence and Trump's falling out has to do with the former president's belief that the 2020 election was "rigged" against him. Pence has dismissed these allegations, and moved to formally certify Joe Biden's victory. Trump's supporters have also attacked Pence over his more conventional neoconservative foreign policy viewpoints, and reluctance or outright refusal to entertain diplomatic efforts to improve relations with US adversaries like Russia and North Korea.

Curious Candidacy

Pence's presidential bid is somewhat of a curiosity because traditionally, ex-vice presidents run to succeed their former bosses only after the latter have served out their two consecutive terms.

"It's not unusual for a former vice president to want to run for president. What makes Pence's campaign unusual is that he is running against his former boss. Of course, it's also unusual for a former president who lost reelection to run again," University of Iowa political science professor Timothy Hagle told Sputnik.

"In the late 1800s President Grover Cleveland lost his reelection bid, but ran again four years later and won. In the modern era, presidents who have been defeated simply retired. That would include Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush. Trump has more incentive to run again to vindicate his believe that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. That puts Pence in an unusual position. He's running against his former boss, but not in the same way as if he were trying to unseat a sitting president," Hagle recalled.
Republican candidate President Donald Trump participates during the second and final presidential debate with Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020, at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn. - Sputnik International, 1920, 02.06.2023
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As far as Pence's chances go, Hagle pointed out that he's polling ahead of most other declared candidates, besides Trump and DeSantis, thanks to name recognition from his days as vice president.

"Unfortunately for him, hardcore Trump supporters won't vote for him because they think, rightly or wrongly, that he didn't do enough to support Trump after the election. Voters who might be willing to support someone other than Trump still prefer someone who is willing to fight for their values. Pence doesn't come across that way. He may be a solid conservative, but his low-key style doesn't suggest that he would be willing to take on the political left," Hagle summarized.

Negligible Chances

Dr. Harvey Schantz, a professor of political science at SUNY Plattsburgh, echoed these sentiments, telling Sputnik that the likelihood of Pence winning his party's nomination is "negligible."
Pence is in a difficult spot politically, Dr. Schantz believes - on the one hand being arguably "at the height" of his political prominence, but at the same time being young enough to run in four years time.
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence announces that the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services had approved the state's waiver request for the plan his administration calls HIP 2.0 during a speech in Indianapolis, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2015 - Sputnik International, 1920, 03.06.2023
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"Vice-presidents frequently run for the presidency, often winning their party’s nomination but only infrequently winning the general election. Joe Biden, however, is a former vice-president who came back after being out of office for a full four years to be elected president and Pence is following the Biden path. A major difference, however, is that Pence is now competing against his own former president, a situation that is unprecedented in modern times - for very few presidents run again after suffering an electoral defeat," the professor said.

There are at least two historical examples, from very early on in American history, that a former vice president has faced off against his former master, Schantz recalled.

"In 1792, George Washington defeated his vice-president John Adams, and in 1800 Federalist President John Adams was defeated for re-election by his vice-president Thomas Jefferson, of the emerging Democratic-Republican Party," the academic explained.

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US political commentator and Newsmax columnist Michael Shannon told Sputnik that given his mediocre polling numbers, Pence could just be running for the nomination out of "boredom."
"Pence could miss the excitement of running for office and having media types that hate him ask questions. Maybe Pence just wants an excuse to spend time on the phone talking to rich people," Shannon quipped.
Characterizing Pence as "low key to the point of invisibility" for the majority of his term as Trump's VP, the commentator stressed that "that is not the way to success" in American politics.

"Pence's only hope to make an impact is to announce he's transitioning," the observer jokingly said.

Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis waves to supporters at the Republican Jewish Coalition Annual Leadership Meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada, on November 19, 2022 - Sputnik International, 1920, 01.06.2023
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'Damaged Goods'

For his part, Columbia University Professor Robert Shapiro told Sputnik that Pence may try to distinguish himself from the rest of the Republican pack by appealing to evangelicals, as well as mainstream conservatives.
"But I think he is damaged goods among Trump's base and also nationally since he and Trump lost in 2020," Shapiro said.
The academic says he expects Pence to start raising money and trying to gain visibility, and getting a head start over rivals by campaigning in early caucus and primary states, "where he thinks he can be competitive compared to now being far behind in the national polls."
Whether such a strategy is viable or not is anyone's guess, but the consensus seems to suggest not.
This combination of photos shows former President Donald Trump, left, and President Joe Biden, right. Biden and Trump are preparing for a possible rematch in 2024. But a new poll finds a notable lack of enthusiasm within the parties for either man as his party's leader, and a clear opening for new leadership. The poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds a third of both Democrats and Republicans are unsure of who they want leading their party.  - Sputnik International, 1920, 23.05.2023
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