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